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Paying your hospital bill..
I'm just wondering how fast everyone paid their hospital bill after giving birth. With Jocelyn I delivered at Rex and they hounded us for our CC to pay. We paid before being discharged only to be refunded the full amount, since I had met my deductible.
This time around my OB told me we have 3 months to pay and even if they harass you at the hospital they can't file insurance that quick so they don't need to collect the money. Our deductible is larger this time, so I'd like to wait for the itemized bill to arrive. We do not owe our OB anything, so it would be all hospital charges.
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Re: Paying your hospital bill..
We were self-pay, and we paid half a couple of months later, and then got them to give us an extension to pay the rest like 3 months after that. Plus, I asked about possible discounts for prompt payment and they gave us like 15% off I think - for paying within I think 6 months of the delivery. And yes, they hounded us in the hospital to pay right then. We said no.
HTH!
I think it is so bizarre to hear stories about people being harassed in the hospital to pay! I've only ever gone to UNC, but I've never had anyone talk to me about paying anything while in the hospital. In fact, I think the most annoying thing is getting the bills months and months after I've been there.
I would think that would will have to pay your deductible, so I guess they could always ask for whatever is remaining of that, but if you don't want to pay it while you're there, I'd just ask to be billed.
When I had Ella - they came in and collected payment, but only to be refunded (which took 1-2 months). For Zachary - the lady came in and asked us about payment and I told her to send me the bill!
Unless you have a copay, then you don't HAVE to pay anything before you leave the hospital. Just tell them you're not paying until it goes through insurance and they can send you a bill. Trust me, it's a nightmare if they don't do it right.
It took me 18 months to get all DS' bills correct from his NICU stay. I realize you won't be dealing with that, but I wouldn't pay them anything until you have itemized bills in hand along with your EOB's from the insurance company to make sure it's all correct.
I don't recall paying anything at the hospital. We paid everything immediately as we received the bills in the mail about 2 weeks after we were home. Somehow the anesthesiologist's office sent their bill to Benson, NC and I just found out 18 months later when it went to collections. Freaking idiots!
There is a rule that if you pay any amount on a medical bill, they can't send it to collections. If they give you a hard time just pay them $25 and tell them to send you the rest in a bill. GL!
This is so bizarre to me. I totally would have bit someone's head off any of the times I was in the hospital if they had come in asking for money.
I'm still paying off my bill from L's delivery. And will be until early next year at 0% interest to the hospital.
My hospital rocks though
I'm in Charlotte but the day after I had my csection someone from the finance department came in and asked how much of my bill I wanted to pay that day. I told her I didn't even have a wallet and wasn't paying anything until I got an itemized bill in the mail. She handed me a brochure on their payment plan and left.
My OB billed me before the delivery and I had until like 25 or 30 weeks pregnant to pay that portion in full or they said they could discharge me from services. It wasn't a big deal because I knew they would bill the insurance quicker then the hospital and I was no where near paying my deductible because my delivery was in March so I paid that portion.
A billing rep came in the room right before I was discharged after having Wesley. I paid a small amount of the bill since the lady was hounding me and I was ready to get rid of her, and am still making payments at this time. The bill to my OB has been paid prior to delivery both times, although, now that my husband is being deployed, the military will be covering the hospital charges for DS2.