Anyone freaking because of the hospital bill?

courtneyklv · March 2012

I am SO confused. I have gotten about 5 bills so far.. Mine, lo, anesthesia, etc.

It seems like the companies want them paid off in full. They just have boxes for credit card info. Not a payment plan. Is this right?? Must I pay $2500 for one place in whole? Will they let me make monthly payments?

How are u doing this and how the hell do I even know if my insurance is charging me correctly with so many companies I need to pay??

chipdip · March 2012

If you have any friends, family etc.... that are in the medical profession, go over your bill with them. I am assuming you have a copy of ALL the charges. My sister is an MD. I was in labor for 45 minutes, and they charged my insurance for 9 hours on the fetal monitor....that's what caused the "red flag." I called my sister and went over my bill with her. They had typed me twice not my DD. My sister said it was normal to type DD twice, but not me. Anyway, we found over 2,400 dollars of charges that were wrong. O.K.....so here is what is the weird thing....the hospital ends up sending me the $ and not my insurance co.

If all your charges are lagit, call......they will make a payment arrangement with you.

Do not worry about this situation....just enjoy your LO and take it a day at a time.

sagoon · March 2012

If you call the hospital they should be able to set up a payment plan with you.

ksen820 · March 2012

Lurking from April 2012...

I have a rule that I never pay a bill until I have seen the EOB (explanation of benefits) from the Insurance Co. To see what they have paid for and what the billing codes were ( you can call and ask them to explain the EOB and the billing codes in detail).

The insurance co should be able to tell you all of the information that was submitted so you will know if it is accurate or not. If it is not, you should call the doc/hosp. and have them re-submit the claim with the correct information. The insurance company can help you with this as well. And a payment plan (and possibly reduction in your bill) can ALWAYS be negotiated. Don't take no for an answer!

Good luck!

jju_stb_jju · March 2012

I sure am! I'm under dh's private insurance and although they covered alot, theres alot left over:/ but yes like pp said if you call the company, they can set up a payment plan (hopefully).

courtneyklv · March 2012

Hmm ok. None Of the bills really have a breakdown of anything. And they made lo stay in nicu for 6 days. She was fine. I want to make sure I am not overcharged for that either. And I also only pushed for 40 minutes so will check on that.

Do I just call each place separate and ask for a mailed copy of the breakdown of charges then?

SaintDorothyMantooth · March 2012

courtneyklv:
Hmm ok. None Of the bills really have a breakdown of anything. And they made lo stay in nicu for 6 days. She was fine. I want to make sure I am not overcharged for that either. And I also only pushed for 40 minutes so will check on that.

Do I just call each place separate and ask for a mailed copy of the breakdown of charges then?

Call the number on each bill and ask for an itemized billing statement. They have to send one to you. It will have the breakdown of everything on each bill. They normally don't send that out first, they wait to be asked, but its no problem to get your hands on one.

As far as the insurance not screwing up, make sure to keep copies of everything you're billed and the payment plans you set up on each one. After a few months, I would call and ask the insurance co. for a statement of what has been paid on your behalf. Compare that to what you have set up to pay monthly on the remainder of the bills.

bride2005!! · March 2012

ksen820:
Lurking from April 2012...

I have a rule that I never pay a bill until I have seen the EOB (explanation of benefits) from the Insurance Co. To see what they have paid for and what the billing codes were ( you can call and ask them to explain the EOB and the billing codes in detail).

The insurance co should be able to tell you all of the information that was submitted so you will know if it is accurate or not. If it is not, you should call the doc/hosp. and have them re-submit the claim with the correct information. The insurance company can help you with this as well. And a payment plan (and possibly reduction in your bill) can ALWAYS be negotiated. Don't take no for an answer!

Good luck!

This. Great advice!

alstumb@gmail.com · March 2012

I ended up having to pay around $6,000 of my hospital bills that the insurance didn't cover. I called the hospital right away to set up a payment plan. The woman actually had the nerve to ask "Now you're sure you can't just pay it all right now?". Um, no. She then told me that the minimum I had to pay each month is $80. Well, even if I had $6,000 to give you, I'd still rather have a payment plan (and pay more than the minimum, of course) than to give it all to you at once!

mben1119 · March 2012

courtneyklv:

I am SO confused. I have gotten about 5 bills so far.. Mine, lo, anesthesia, etc.

It seems like the companies want them paid off in full. They just have boxes for credit card info. Not a payment plan. Is this right?? Must I pay $2500 for one place in whole? Will they let me make monthly payments? Of course they want them paid in full-who wouldn't want all their money at once. To set up a payment plan, you need to call and talk to someone. Wait until your receive your insurance EOBs though, to make sure the amounts match.

How are u doing this and how the hell do I even know if my insurance is charging me correctly with so many companies I need to pay?? My insurance covered everything except for a co-pay here or there for DS's circumcision and post-natal care. With each bill, I found the matching EOB, then made sure Carefirst paid them the right amount. If I owed anything, I paid it. You can't let it overwhelm you, just take each bill one at a time.

talitha712 · March 2012

alstumb@gmail.com:
I ended up having to pay around $6,000 of my hospital bills that the insurance didn't cover. I called the hospital right away to set up a payment plan. The woman actually had the nerve to ask "Now you're sure you can't just pay it all right now?". Um, no. She then told me that the minimum I had to pay each month is $80. Well, even if I had $6,000 to give you, I'd still rather have a payment plan (and pay more than the minimum, of course) than to give it all to you at once!

Sometimes they'll give discounts on big bills like that if you pay in full. And maybe I'm in the minority, but I hate owing money and being in debt, so we would rather for out $6k at once than be making monthly payments for a year or whatever.

SaraTF · March 2012

talitha712:
alstumb@gmail.com:
I ended up having to pay around $6,000 of my hospital bills that the insurance didn't cover. I called the hospital right away to set up a payment plan. The woman actually had the nerve to ask "Now you're sure you can't just pay it all right now?". Um, no. She then told me that the minimum I had to pay each month is $80. Well, even if I had $6,000 to give you, I'd still rather have a payment plan (and pay more than the minimum, of course) than to give it all to you at once!
Sometimes they'll give discounts on big bills like that if you pay in full. And maybe I'm in the minority, but I hate owing money and being in debt, so we would rather for out $6k at once than be making monthly payments for a year or whatever.

Me too.

SaraTF · March 2012

courtneyklv:
I am SO confused. I have gotten about 5 bills so far.. Mine, lo, anesthesia, etc.

It seems like the companies want them paid off in full. They just have boxes for credit card info. Not a payment plan. Is this right?? Must I pay $2500 for one place in whole? Will they let me make monthly payments?
How are u doing this and how the hell do I even know if my insurance is charging me correctly with so many companies I need to pay??

Call and ask about a payment plan.

To know if you are being charged correctly, you should get an explanation of benefits for each bill. If not, call your insurance company. You'll want to keep in mind what your annual deductible is (if you have one), your coinsurance, your copays, annual maximum, etc. You should have some sort of documentation that tells you all of this, if not, call and ask. Also, remember that LO has his own deductible, separate from yours.

preggyamy · March 2012

I called the hospital billing department and they were more than happy to set up a payment plan. I also work for a doctor's office, and our billing department also does payment plans. There are so many people out there who just ignore their bills, that our office figures if you're responsible enough to pay your bill through a payment plan, it's better than having to outsource to a collection agency (and we still likely won't get the money).

alstumb@gmail.com · March 2012

SaraTF:
talitha712:
alstumb@gmail.com:

I ended up having to pay around $6,000 of my hospital bills that the insurance didn't cover. I called the hospital right away to set up a payment plan. The woman actually had the nerve to ask "Now you're sure you can't just pay it all right now?". Um, no. She then told me that the minimum I had to pay each month is $80. Well, even if I had $6,000 to give you, I'd still rather have a payment plan (and pay more than the minimum, of course) than to give it all to you at once!

Sometimes they'll give discounts on big bills like that if you pay in full. And maybe I'm in the minority, but I hate owing money and being in debt, so we would rather for out $6k at once than be making monthly payments for a year or whatever.

Me too.

I guess I just can't imagine having an extra $6,000 laying around.

JaysonandKristin · March 2012

I think you sound absolutely clueless about your insurance coverage, and have absolutely no concept about where your money is going. Educate yourself and take some control. How else do you expect to protect yourself from billing errors and missed payments by your insurance carrier?

You should already know what you owe in terms of % and deductible and you need to know your annual OOP max. Call the insurance company and the medical billing office. Get copies of the itemized billing and the EOB. Go through it all. Ensure that you know what each of the charges are for. You can google most CPT codes yourself if you don't want to wait on the phone with your insurance company forever. If you find any discrepancies, clarify with your medical office and then alert your insurance company.

Call your medical office for payment plans. Most of them will work with you. You aren't paying your insurance company, you're paying your medical provider. Your OP says something what your insurance company is charging you... Your insurance company doesn't charge you anything... they let you know what your patient portion is after they've paid their portion.

SaraTF · March 2012

alstumb@gmail.com:
SaraTF:
talitha712:
alstumb@gmail.com:

I ended up having to pay around $6,000 of my hospital bills that the insurance didn't cover. I called the hospital right away to set up a payment plan. The woman actually had the nerve to ask "Now you're sure you can't just pay it all right now?". Um, no. She then told me that the minimum I had to pay each month is $80. Well, even if I had $6,000 to give you, I'd still rather have a payment plan (and pay more than the minimum, of course) than to give it all to you at once!

Sometimes they'll give discounts on big bills like that if you pay in full. And maybe I'm in the minority, but I hate owing money and being in debt, so we would rather for out $6k at once than be making monthly payments for a year or whatever.

Me too.

I guess I just can't imagine having an extra $6,000 laying around.

That would terrify me! DH and I panic when we our easily accessible savings are less than about 6 months salary...

drewbon13 · March 2012

I agree with PP, call and talk to someone about setting up a payment plan. I haven't received our bill yet but I'm terrified to get it because I had to have an emergency C-section and I was pushing for two hours before.

The only problem with setting up payment plans that I have had experience with is that every single place wants it and you get bills from like 5 different places. You get a bill from the hospital, from the doctor, from the anesthesiologist, from the pathologists, etc. and every single place expects you to pay a monthly payment of (usually) at least 75 dollars. I dunno about anyone else but it's damn near impossible to pay an extra $450 a month. So we usually just have to pay one off at a time. :-/ Sucky, but you do what you can.

Squirrel29 · March 2012

As a pp said, you really need to figure out what your insurance covers and what portion is your responsibility then talk to each provider to make sure you aren't paying more than your yearly out of pocket max. When I had DS I got separate bills from each doc, the hospital and the anesthesiologist but the total due added up to my out of pocket max so I knew I wasn't being over charged on my portion (which I was worried about because I had a CS and the total cost pre-insurance was close to $25,000). You mentioned your lo had a NICU stay - that is going to run you tens of thousands of dollars before insurance kicks in so you really need to know what is covered and what is your responsibility so you don't get screwed.

courtneyklv · March 2012

JaysonandKristin:
I think you sound absolutely clueless about your insurance coverage, and have absolutely no concept about where your money is going. Educate yourself and take some control. How else do you expect to protect yourself from billing errors and missed payments by your insurance carrier?
You should already know what you owe in terms of % and deductible and you need to know your annual OOP max. Call the insurance company and the medical billing office. Get copies of the itemized billing and the EOB. Go through it all. Ensure that you know what each of the charges are for. You can google most CPT codes yourself if you don't want to wait on the phone with your insurance company forever. If you find any discrepancies, clarify with your medical office and then alert your insurance company.
Call your medical office for payment plans. Most of them will work with you. You aren't paying your insurance company, you're paying your medical provider. Your OP says something what your insurance company is charging you... Your insurance company doesn't charge you anything... they let you know what your patient portion is after they've paid their portion.

I am clueless now because this is new insurance and I didn't know I would have so many separate bills. And I never use my insurance this much. I am takin control and that is why I wrote this post.. Geez..

thank you everyone! I'll call them on Monday.

beckybeth123 · March 2012

courtneyklv:
JaysonandKristin:
I think you sound absolutely clueless about your insurance coverage, and have absolutely no concept about where your money is going. Educate yourself and take some control. How else do you expect to protect yourself from billing errors and missed payments by your insurance carrier?
You should already know what you owe in terms of % and deductible and you need to know your annual OOP max. Call the insurance company and the medical billing office. Get copies of the itemized billing and the EOB. Go through it all. Ensure that you know what each of the charges are for. You can google most CPT codes yourself if you don't want to wait on the phone with your insurance company forever. If you find any discrepancies, clarify with your medical office and then alert your insurance company.
Call your medical office for payment plans. Most of them will work with you. You aren't paying your insurance company, you're paying your medical provider. Your OP says something what your insurance company is charging you... Your insurance company doesn't charge you anything... they let you know what your patient portion is after they've paid their portion.

I am clueless now because this is new insurance and I didn't know I would have so many separate bills. And I never use my insurance this much. I am takin control and that is why I wrote this post.. Geez..
thank you everyone! I'll call them on Monday.

Yea, that was pretty snarky. I'm with you, medical bills are super confusing, especially when anyone who walked into your room is sending you a bill for it.

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Anyone freaking because of the hospital bill?

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