Medical Bills
Every where you look there is something in the news about the health care system. I don’t want to get all political here because golly forbid some whisper a word about “change” and the entire country is in an uproar. If you want to go there, the comment section is all yours to go left, right, red, blue, donkey, elephant.
All I’m going to say is that health care is way too expensive, and it thoroughly plucks my nerves that you are required by law to have car insurance (or pay a huge wavier fee), but for many people it’s impossible or criminally expensive to get health coverage . If someone can begin to make sense out of this, I would love to hear from you because I just don’t get it! It also makes my skin crawl that if you make little or no money, your pregnancy is covered by the government, however, if you are working to support your family but do not qualify for insurance or you’ve not had insurance long enough to cover a pregnancy you’re up a creek without a paddle or canoe. You are screwed.
Slowly step down and walk away from your soapbox Renee. This is not supposed to be about politics. This is supposed to be about medical bills and finances.
Last fall, I went through some serious medical stuff complete with emergency surgery. We’re talking expensive stuff. Thankfully, we are blessed with insurance that pays for 80%. That aside, we still owe a crap ton (remember, we learned that tern the other week) of money. I’d say the whole shindig (labs, doctor visits, ambulance transport, surgery, hospital stay) is going to set us back upwards of 2k. For some of you that may seem like nothing for good medical care, but when you are on a tight budget 2k stings.
Here is the other kicker. The medical field is quick to send your tail to collections. They have no patience.
Get this, the first bill I received from the hospital was a letter saying that my account was 90 days past due, and that I had 21 days to pay off the balance in full before they sent the bill to collections. HA-HA-HA! First, the letter was dated February 1, and I didn’t receive the thing until February 16. Second, I don’t know what I’m paying for because I’ve not seen the itemized bill. Third, how can this be 90 days past due when this is the first bill you’ve bothered to send me. Forth, I don’t have the $1,500 plus you want in full. I can’t give you money I don’t have.
After I stewed, no fumed, for a day or two, I called the hospital in a calm tone, firm, but calm. The poor woman on the phone had no idea what she was in for when she answered my call. I was nice to her, but I did force her to spend a good half an hour on the phone with me. I told her that I was not at all happy that the first bill I received was a final notice. There was also no way on Earth that I could pay for this thing in full, and I was absolutely not paying a dime until I had an itemized bill in front of me to confirm that the charges were accurate.
The lady was understanding. She read me the entire bill line-by-line and is mailing me a hard copy. We talked about payment options, and she removed the 21 day ultimatum giving me a month to make the first payment after I receive the hard copy.
Now that I have bought myself some time, I am planning my next move (it feels like I’m playing chess with these people). When the itemized bill comes, I’m going to review it line-by-line. Anything is appears to be inaccurate will be fought. Once I am confident the charges are accurate, it’s time to negotiate.
Did you know you could do that? Your insurance company negotiates with the hospital before they pay up. You can do the same. A hospital would much rather cut you a deal and get a large chunk of money up front than to wait each month on the tiny payments you’re going to make over the next two years. It costs the hospital a lot of time and money to deal with your pesky payments.
Now this is just one example of the many medical bills I’ve been playing hardball with over the past few months. A few went to collections before I had time to blink. I’m telling you they are sneaky little buggers. We’re seeing to it that nothing touches my credit. It takes a lot of time and organization to keep it all straight, but it’s necessary.
There is one bill in particular that I really don’t want to pay. I have never been treated with such disrespect by doctors and nurses before in my life. They do not deserve a single cent for the lack of care I was given. I’m not going to get into that whole saga here, but I’m going to have myself a chit-chat with this particular facility before I hand over a check.
I’m not telling you to not pay your medical bills. I don’t need your hate mail telling me that I hate hospitals or that I am trying to cheat the medical folks out of money they deserve. That is not what I’m doing. During a very scary time in my life, I received excellent care by excellent doctors in excellent facilities (with one exception), and I am happy to pay them what they deserve. What I am telling you is that it is important to be vigilant when it comes to medical expenses. It is important to review your bills carefully. Hospitals make mistakes all the time, and if you do not catch and correct them, you will pay for them. You have the right to negotiate your medical bills, after all, that is what your insurance company did. You also have the right to be given proper medical attention in a respectful and manner. Don’t let people walk on you, especially when you’re feeling crappy to begin with.
Alright Politician, the floor is yours. Speak your peace.
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I’m surprised that the hospital was that helpful for you. We had a horrible experence when our first daughter was born. Prior to her birth we were told to pick a pediatrician, we did. Go into labor, she’s born and our pediatrician is on vacation so another one stepped in. Fine. Thirty days later we get two bills, one from each ped, and a letter from our insurance saying they only cover one. Of course the absent ped is the one the insurance paid. As we are trying to sort this out a week later we get a collection bill from the other ped. We didn’t even have the bill in our hands for 30 days. It was crazy stressful and some people were down right rude instead of helpful. Best wishes to you!
I could not agree more! I got screwed over by the hospital I went to the ER for. I got a last-notice bill (first one I ever received) for $400. Called them up immediately, only to find out that they closed at 4 pm? And were closed at lunch? Days later finally got someone on the phone and got that bill paid. Asked if I had any other outstanding balance. No. Two months later, I received another last-notice bill for the same ER visit. Turns out the first bill was for the actual hospital and the second bill, $600(!!) was for the ER’s doctor. Here’s how much treatment I got from said ER doctor:
“Well, I’ve reviewed your lab results. If I were your primary doctor, I’d want to look into why your result was X and I’d want you to get a holter. The nurse will be back in a minute. Have a good day, Miss.”
BOOM! $600!! Anyway. I got that negotiated down and my stepmom paid it for me. But the whole thing is BS. It’s ridiculous that my dad (who paid for my insurance then) paid hundreds of dollars each month for me to be full insured, only then to pay no less than $800 out-of-pocket for a two hour ER visit.
I feel for you! Medical bills are so horrible to deal with. Negotiate away though. You’d be surprised how low they’ll go. Or, some hospitals or facilities have charity applications. If you don’t qualify for state assistance, but are still unable to pay, sometimes the hospital will look at your income and write the bill off as charity. I used to work in financial assistance for our local hospital, and they did that occasionally. Good luck!
I truly think that the biggest reason our medical costs are so outrageous is because there is so much graft and padding the bills and horrible waste. The hospitals and docs pass their expenses onto the patient instead of fixing the problem and stopping the waste. Sounds like the way our country is being run today doesn’t it? I am on medicare which frankly is a blessing because I have been hospitalized a LOT. There is no way I would be here today without the medical intervention. When the government gets through with medicare payments to the docs and hospitals, it is a small percentage of what the bills would be if it was regular insurance. Guess who is paying for we medicare recipients discounted bills? YOU ARE! Of course before I went I medicare I was the one paying outrageous premiums and the uncovered parts. YES, our country needs a change in our medical insurance coverage. I don’t pretend to have the knowledge to know what the best way to handle this problem is, but spending more and more money without a change in the graft, waste, etc. is not going to solve the problem but just make it worse. I’ll get off my soap box now. I am not red or blue; just really pissed off.
80% only sounds like good coverage. If you ever have a choice – go for the higher coverage. My husband is chronically ill now and we would have been in such $ trouble if we did not have 100% coverage. Even that does not cover all the co-pays which alone can be a small fortune. Glad you are well.
Enjoyed my visit to your blog!
Julie
http://www.equusvilla.blogspot.com
http://www.ridingaside.blogspot.com
Since we got a royal screwing from GM, our medical insurance and deductibles will be $8,600 this year and that’s the best we can do for health insurance. That is more than my mortgage payment and we have a substantial mortgage! Being on a fixed income it’s only going to get worse as our premiums go up but our income stays the same. Got a dental bill today for Larry. We paid more for his dental insurance than they paid towards a couple thousand dollars worth of dental work. They had the nerve to ask why we cancelled his policy!!! You just tell the hospital you can pay what you pay and sending you to collection isn’t going to get them more. It’s only going to lose them money since they have to pay the collector a percentage and you arent’ going to send the collector anymore than you’d pay the hospital directly.
I just wanted to quickly clarify what qualifies as “low income” for a pregnant woman to get Medicaid (at least in the state of Florida). The gross family income must be 185% of the poverty or less — for the typical family of four, that’s $3400/month. Now, that’s a good chunk of change — $40800/yr. In all actuality, you could have a woman who’s working full-time to make $20/hr and still qualify for Medicaid. (Or perhaps she stays at home while her husband makes that.) While that sounds like she doesn’t need it, let’s pretend for a moment we’re not concerned with her type (i.e., people on the cusp of need vs. non-need). Say you have a working mother who’s making ends meet but isn’t being offered health insurance due to a “hiring freeze” (where “hiring freeze” really means they’re only giving you “temporary” status and won’t offer you any benefits whatsoever, regardless of the time and effort you put into it). Say she conceives a surprise baby and doesn’t believe in terminating the pregnancy. Say she was previously skipping by uninsured simply because she could not afford to be covered. Now, she at least has the peace of mind knowing that her choice to keep the baby isn’t going to result in an unhealthy child — or worse, the possibility that somewhere down the line she’s going to be labeled a horrible mother simply because she could not afford prenatal coverage.
Okay, I’m biased. I’ve been there. I’ve put in a lot of time and work, and I’m still watching the value of my degree plummet while more experienced (read: Baby Boomers) candidates snatch up all the jobs with benefits and higher pay. I’ve been living this Medicaid system for too long — and free doesn’t necessarily mean good, either. They practically treat you like a second class citizen simply because you don’t earn enough money to earn their respect. It’s like somehow my perseverance doesn’t count because — oh my goodness! — I’m some young mother. Nevermind we were engaged before we conceived any of our children. Nevermind we’ve been married for over seven years. Nevermind I didn’t let my life’s circumstances stop me from completing my degree. Suddenly, my worth is based upon the fact that I am inherently sub-human. I did it wrong. Wasn’t I aware that I had “choices”? Wasn’t I aware that I’m no longer allowed to be a respectable person? It’s a joke. And what about these people who were working hard and got laid off? Say a woman was working and conveniently gets laid off from her job while pregnant? What should she do? It’s a slippery slope. I know there are the people who abuse the government — I used to live in a neighborhood where that was very prevalent — but there are people who are doing everything right only to get screwed over. (I apologize, but I’m very bitter about this whole not having “real” healthcare bit.)
This is exactly why there needs to be change. I’ve already gone on one soapbox, so I’ll spare you my next soap-box-rant about how the big, bad insurance companies (seriously, you don’t want to get me started on how a c-section scar can disqualify a woman from honest healthcare coverage) are out of control and need to be put in their place. But yours is a situation that is all too common — the medical system forgets all too often that that patient is a customer of their services, and the patient can take his or her business elsewhere. A very wise woman consistently tells people to “vote with [their] feet.” I also won’t go into my rant about how our two party system is failing us, and miserably at that. Suffice it to say, our elected officials are not doing what we elected them to do — they’re underworked, overpaid deadbeats who need to start listening to their constituents.
I commend you on calling them on their mistakes and making sure you’re not being forced to pay what you cannot afford or for services that were not rendered. Don’t let them bully you into something like that. Just because you might owe your very life to them for saving you doesn’t mean you should literally owe them in a dollar amount.
to what Meredith says…..absolutely YEAH!!!
wow, not fun, yep kids, sugeries can be expensive, that is about what was left after Bry was born, not so fun
Happy to see you are following my advice. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate those bills. It can be done! Also…DO NOT let any of the hospitals, docs, labs, etc…bully you into paying in full or you will go into collection crap! You have the right to make payments you can afford! And…they CANNOT charge you interest on it! Just do not make a late payment or miss a payment because then they can go after you! Send out the payment the day you get the statment if you tend to forget to get your bills out on time! If it takes you 2 years to pay off a bill…so be it! The hospitals. et al should be happy they are getting anything in this economy.
As for the institution you were not happy with… make an appointment with the risk management team /patient representatives. Take your grievances directly to the heathcare facilty. If they are unwilling to work with you, then file a compalint with your state’s hospital association. You can file a complaint against the doctor(s) with your state’s medical board..although that may fall on deaf ears because doctors tend to protect their own rather than police them the way they should be. Be firm! If you need to…go to the media and/or write a letter to your newspaper!
Check to see if you qualify for any state/Federal assistance with your bills. Alot of it is income dependent, but you never know what you may find that you qualify for if you don’t try.
As a healthcare professional, I am appalled at the manner in which other HC professionals treat individuals. Just don’t get embroiled in a workers’ compensation case because you can’t touch those bastards! If you could, I would have just cause for a major medical malpractice lawsuit since I could have died . Amazing for someone who didn’t have anything wrong with her according to those BWC medical prostitutes. ( I had to have 2 major thoracic surgeries from my workplace injuries).
OK…now I need to get off my soap box about BWC. Makes my blood pressure rise to unhealthy numbers!
Hang in there!
[...] medical expenses are mostly for my medical drama in 2009. Don’t get me started again about medical costs . About $100.00 is for new medical and dietary adventures that we’ll get into [...]
makes me glad i live in canada…. I’m rooting for obama to reform the american medical piracy system. i have a friend in the us who ended up setting his own broken finger because the deductable on his hmo plan was $2000.
Thanks for such a nice post !
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