Holy hospital bill!

MangoMama82 · August 2013

I've been dreading the bill from my 2 night stay in L and D two weeks ago. I've never stayed in a hospital so I had no idea what to expect, not to mention they ran every test and drew all my blood. Pre-insurance pay-out it came to $33,000! For 2 nights!! My insurance rocks, and all I pay is $20, but my goodness! How do people without coverage do it??

Amjoy25 · August 2013

They don't. That's why our healthcare system is bankrupt and why Mr. Obama has made some changes.

lbethke99 · August 2013

Wow- I can't imagine- that is crazy. Glad that your insurance covered it!

Throw3ks · August 2013

Omg! We're you given platinum medication?! I have been in the hospital for over a month for PTL and I get weekly insurance pay outs sheets and I haven't even reached 15k! Thank goodness I only pay a $250 copay for being admitted.

MangoMama82 · August 2013

kicius56 said:
Sounds impossibly high. Are you sure that's what the insurance paid the hospital or is that what the hospital "billed"?

Bill says "pre-discount charges" at the $33k. About $13k of that is laboratory charges. I had a heart attack until I saw the "what you owe" line. Like I said, never had to deal with this before

MangoMama82 · August 2013

Throw3ks said:
Omg! We're you given platinum medication?! I have been in the hospital for over a month for PTL and I get weekly insurance pay outs sheets and I haven't even reached 15k! Thank goodness I only pay a $250 copay for being admitted.

Ha! For that price I should have been given top of the line meds!

LeahV78 · August 2013

I have a $6000 bill to pay for delivering at the hospital..... And that is after my insurance.

norbert5 · August 2013

When I was in the hospital for three days without proper insurance I was charged 10,000 dollars for my stay. I did end up receiving a grant through the hospital for help and still paid quite a bit. I was a student teacher and only had catastrophic insurance that didn't cover the procedure I needed.

It is crazy. Glad your insurance is so good.

reederah · August 2013

Yeah, crazy. I was in the hospital for 7 days about 2 weeks ago and have yet to get the bill... Plus I was transferred to a bigger hospital via ambulance 5 days in. Needless to say, I'm terrified haha. I hope my insurance is as nice as yours!

MissLauraPants · August 2013

Hospital charges are ridiculous....I went to the ER for an early miscarriage last year and they did ultrasounds, tests and drew blood. My insurance paid 15 k for my 6 hours that I electively checked myself out of....

bionicb · August 2013

My bi monthly check ups plus lab work are about $600. Thankfully insurance still covers that stuff. I'm interested in seeing the statement after I deliver. With my kidney transplant I had multiple statements of $20k+.

yesthisiskim0401 · August 2013

I remember getting the EOB for DD1's birth and seeing all the charges broken down. DH and I laughed pretty hard for a lot of the things they charged, and how much they charged for them. Something stupid crazy like $250 for a tray that held medical supplies.

GinaDRA · August 2013

Holy Cow. Being Canadian, Ive never even thought much of medical costs since were covered through taxes. These prices are insane. I wish you all a safe and cost effective delivery.

germanpickle · August 2013

GinaDRA said:

Holy Cow. Being Canadian, Ive never even thought much of medical costs since were covered through taxes. These prices are insane. I wish you all a safe and cost effective delivery.

Ditto, except I'm in Germany.

Arya207 · August 2013

GinaDRA said:
Holy Cow. Being Canadian, Ive never even thought much of medical costs since were covered through taxes. These prices are insane. I wish you all a safe and cost effective delivery.

This.

Sdeux · August 2013

This!!!

GinaDRA said:
Holy Cow. Being Canadian, Ive never even thought much of medical costs since were covered through taxes. These prices are insane. I wish you all a safe and cost effective delivery.

JuneBug86 · August 2013

When I see posts like this it just makes me speechless. It makes me so grateful I live in Canada. We live close to the Canada/US boarder and a friend of mine went down to the states last weekend with her family to a camp ground. Her son got sick (he has CF and asthma) and they had to debate on whether or not to take him to the hospital (her insurance isn't the kind that direct bills, she'd have to pay the hospital and wait to get reimbursed). Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as it usually is and he was able to wait until they came back to Canada the next day. In Canada, you'd never have to think twice about going to a hospital.

kdjudd · August 2013

Holy Cow! I can't even imagine how your bill was that high...

sdjurado84 · August 2013

Insurance companies always negotiate with doctors and hospitals on a price they will pay. They never pay the outrageous price the bill shows you when you get it.

BTW... ObamaCare is already out of money. My mom works for the government dealing with ObamaCare and the program has been out of money for awhile now. So we'll just go into more debt trying to fund a program that is "supposed to" solve all our problems. In the meantime, the cost of my company's insurance will keep going up. But thank god I have insurance through my company and Tricare through my husband's military service.

sisterindigo · August 2013

Wino0920 · August 2013

sisterindigo said:

My husband and his family are Canadian citizens and said that even over there, the health program has failed twice. His uncle had a major heart attack and had to come here to get treatment because they put him on a two month waiting list.

sisterindigo · August 2013

Wino0920 said:

My husband and his family are Canadian citizens and said that even over there, the health program has failed twice. His uncle had a major heart attack and had to come here to get treatment because they put him on a two month waiting list.

fack. guess its not much better than America. DH's mom is on a waiting list for liver transplant that's about 17k people long. smh.

MangoMama82 · August 2013

Jeeze. Health care is just pricey. I'm so thankful for my great insurance with TJ's!

allieb543 · August 2013

Even with my expensive monthly premium and the thousands we have already paid, I am still looking at a $5500 bill for delivery.

LeahV78 · August 2013

In the U.S. we have wait lists all the time. I waited over 6 months to see an endocrinologist after an abnormal thyroid scan, my hubby was hospitalized twice for lung issues during the 3 month wait to get an appointment with a pulmonologist. It really depends on where you live in the U.S.

I am surprised that most moms here have hardly any out of pocket costs..how much do you pay monthly for your health insurance? We pay about $450 monthly for insurance coverage, $2500 per person deductable (seperate lab deductable) and then a 20% cost of share. Our prescriptions cost about $400 a month (and we are relatively healthy-just have an asthmatic child.)

Do you ladies work (or hubbies work) for major corporations like Google, IBM, Dell, etc?

huntjul · August 2013

I work for a major corporation and my employer pays my entire heath insurance premium. I have to pay DH's premium ($350/month) from my paycheck though. Each of us has a yearly $250 deductible, then 80-100% coverage depending on what the service is. Thankfully we also have a yearly out-of-pocket max of $1500 per person, after which insurance covers everything. So far this year I've paid $1000 out-of-pocket for my medical care, so there's only another $500 to cover before I say see-ya to the medical bills for 2013.

sfshorter · August 2013

ntrick said:

GinaDRA said:

Holy Cow. Being Canadian, Ive never even thought much of medical costs since were covered through taxes. These prices are insane. I wish you all a safe and cost effective delivery.

Ditto, except I'm in Germany.

Besides the elderly, we only provide free health care for people who don't pay taxes in the US. The less you work and the more kids you have, the more benefits you can get from the government. That's why our tax-payer subsidized government health insurance is bankrupt and the rest of us get stuck with huge insurance premiums and hospital bills.

It's basic math. When you have more people at a negative tax bracket than you do people paying in, then your government programs begin to collapse. When middle class households with two full-time workers can't pay their bills and taxes, feed and provide medical care to their kids, is when the shit really hits the fan.

Our government has continuously bred this problem, literally, with it's hand-out instead of hand-up programs with no limits or oversight. The numbers are mind blowing. Medicaid and Medicare only pay a tiny percentage of the same medical care that insurance companies and individuals pay. Ten Medicaid patients have a test done and the hospital gets $100. They make up for it by charging the insurance companies (that means those of us that work) $1,000 for the same one test for the one person with private coverage. So not only are we paying for the $100 out of our paycheck in taxes, we are paying for the $1,000 out of our paychecks with premiums or average decreased wages. Obamacare is an unfunded smoke screen that has been falling apart since it was thought up.

pinkypinklolly · August 2013

I agree with wino0920 - MOVE TO CANADA!! That's craziness! We pay taxes over the long term, but we never pay for a hospital visit. Even if we don't have coverage for a private or semi-private room we at least get a room. And care.

Some waiting lists are long, but they are long in the states too. It's sad that people who can "pay" get seen first. *end rant*

pinkypinklolly · August 2013

Sorry I meant sisterindigo - my bad

huntjul · August 2013

sfshorter said:

It's basic math...

Obamacare is an unfunded smoke screen that has been falling apart since it was thought up.

I found a particularly ironic gif to say how I feel about this statement.

https://assets0.ordienetworks.com/images/GifGuide/clapping/1292223254212-dumpfm-mario-Obamaclap.gif

Leggett44 · August 2013

My mil had hip replacement surgery last month. She doesn't have insurance and received a hospital bill for $97,000 for one week in the hospital and that didn't include the doctor's charges. However, they were supposed to have negotiated the bill down to almost 0. I work for a university and my insurance premium costs me $200 and my employer $600 per month for a family plan. We have a $500 per person deductible and then insurance pays 80% for in-network. Once my family has paid $3,000 oop, then the insurance pays 100%...only for in-network. Out-of-Network is a totally separate deductible, 70% insurance paid after deductible, and a different total family oop of $4,000. The problem with health care and insurance is that people don't care and don't pay attention. My doctor's office billed my insurance for surgery services which I never had...I never even saw a doctor on that visit, just a nurse and they didn't even take my blood, much less have any type of surgery service. On a different visit, they also billed for lab services for a thyroid panel that I never had done. I contacted my insurance and they said they take the word of the doctor's office over mine because that's the way they coded it and the insurance will accept that coding. I don't have any proof dealing with the surgery services, but I do have the lab paperwork that says nothing at all about a thyroid panel. When I brought this to their attention (insurance company), they said they would look into that charge. However, it's been over a month and nothing has been done.

huntjul · August 2013

Leggett44 said:

My mil had hip replacement surgery last month. She doesn't have insurance and received a hospital bill for $97,000 for one week in the hospital and that didn't include the doctor's charges. However, they were supposed to have negotiated the bill down to almost 0. I work for a university and my insurance premium costs me $200 and my employer $600 per month for a family plan. We have a $500 per person deductible and then insurance pays 80% for in-network. Once my family has paid $3,000 oop, then the insurance pays 100%...only for in-network. Out-of-Network is a totally separate deductible, 70% insurance paid after deductible, and a different total family oop of $4,000. The problem with health care and insurance is that people don't care and don't pay attention. My doctor's office billed my insurance for surgery services which I never had...I never even saw a doctor on that visit, just a nurse and they didn't even take my blood, much less have any type of surgery service. On a different visit, they also billed for lab services for a thyroid panel that I never had done. I contacted my insurance and they said they take the word of the doctor's office over mine because that's the way they coded it and the insurance will accept that coding. I don't have any proof dealing with the surgery services, but I do have the lab paperwork that says nothing at all about a thyroid panel. When I brought this to their attention (insurance company), they said they would look into that charge. However, it's been over a month and nothing has been done.

If you see a coding/billing mistake, you need to call the doctor's office to have them fix it. The insurance company just responds to what they are billed.

meloscar · August 2013

sfshorter:

You make a few assumptions that I'm not sure are true: 1) that there are "more people at a negative tax bracket than you do people paying in" and 2) that everyone is either a Medicare/Medicaid recipient that pays no taxes or a middle class family that is paying a ton of taxes.

I'm not saying that I know that you're wrong -- you could very well be right. But I suspect that you're 1) overestimating the impact of Medicare/Medicaid; 2) underestimating the impact of people who choose to be uninsured; 3) underestimating the private insurance company's ability to negotiate.

beccabrad · August 2013

As someone said above. Hospitals and insurance companies have negotiated rates. What they charge isn't truly what is paid. If you look at your EOB you will see the amount the insurance paid which is probably a lot less than what the hospital originally billed. The problem comes in if you don't have insurance and your OOP. In that case, you don't have those negotiated rates and would be responsible for that amount. Those high rates go way back to an old way of doing billing before negotiated rates were in place. The whole process needs a major overhaul and updating.

huntjul · August 2013

beccabrad said:

As someone said above. Hospitals and insurance companies have negotiated rates. What they charge isn't truly what is paid. If you look at your EOB you will see the amount the insurance paid which is probably a lot less than what the hospital originally billed. The problem comes in if you don't have insurance and your OOP. In that case, you don't have those negotiated rates and would be responsible for that amount. Those high rates go way back to an old way of doing billing before negotiated rates were in place. The whole process needs a major overhaul and updating.

If you don't have insurance and are OOP, it's worth calling the provider and asking for a reduction in price also. Some will do that.

beccabrad · August 2013

huntjul said:

beccabrad said:

As someone said above. Hospitals and insurance companies have negotiated rates. What they charge isn't truly what is paid. If you look at your EOB you will see the amount the insurance paid which is probably a lot less than what the hospital originally billed. The problem comes in if you don't have insurance and your OOP. In that case, you don't have those negotiated rates and would be responsible for that amount. Those high rates go way back to an old way of doing billing before negotiated rates were in place. The whole process needs a major overhaul and updating.

If you don't have insurance and are OOP, it's worth calling the provider and asking for a reduction in price also. Some will do that.

Yes. Most hospitals will reduce the amount you owe based upon income and then put you on a payment plan.

Leggett44 · August 2013

huntjul said:

Leggett44 said:

My mil had hip replacement surgery last month. She doesn't have insurance and received a hospital bill for $97,000 for one week in the hospital and that didn't include the doctor's charges. However, they were supposed to have negotiated the bill down to almost 0. I work for a university and my insurance premium costs me $200 and my employer $600 per month for a family plan. We have a $500 per person deductible and then insurance pays 80% for in-network. Once my family has paid $3,000 oop, then the insurance pays 100%...only for in-network. Out-of-Network is a totally separate deductible, 70% insurance paid after deductible, and a different total family oop of $4,000. The problem with health care and insurance is that people don't care and don't pay attention. My doctor's office billed my insurance for surgery services which I never had...I never even saw a doctor on that visit, just a nurse and they didn't even take my blood, much less have any type of surgery service. On a different visit, they also billed for lab services for a thyroid panel that I never had done. I contacted my insurance and they said they take the word of the doctor's office over mine because that's the way they coded it and the insurance will accept that coding. I don't have any proof dealing with the surgery services, but I do have the lab paperwork that says nothing at all about a thyroid panel. When I brought this to their attention (insurance company), they said they would look into that charge. However, it's been over a month and nothing has been done.

If you see a coding/billing mistake, you need to call the doctor's office to have them fix it. The insurance company just responds to what they are billed.

My insurance company has stated that they will contact the doctor's office, not me. Which I can understand because they know more about what they are talking about coding wise. The few times I have called the doctor's office, they can never give me a straight answer and give me tons of codes that are usually incorrect.

MangoMama82 · August 2013

This is all great info about how the billing process works. I work for Trader Joe's and I pay less than $200 a month for coverage for me and my husband. Also, they are discounting our premiums by 15% until 2014. We have coverage with Anthem Blue Cross. My doctors are amazing. I'm so lucky. Also, L and D copay is $250, but I signed up for a Healthy Moms Program where they send me books, have RNs call me to check in, and cover the $250 copay.

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