Medical Bills - PSA

mlynn333 · March 2014

For those who haven't paid hospital bills yet - I found out that I was able to get a huge discount by paying in full up front. It varies by facility, but other people have told me their hospitals offer similar deals as well (mine gave us 20% off the bill even after insurance adjustments). If you can dig into your savings to make that happen it could be well worth a try! I had to call (and stay on hold forever) to get it, but when the bills are big the discounts really add up.

MamaAllison · March 2014

Thanks for this! Though I think DH just paid them last week!

lihau88 · March 2014

Good to know!! I just received my bills a few days ago.

Magnolia+Mama · March 2014

What did you ask when you called? My bills are huge and would love to take advantage of any saving!

mlynn333 · March 2014

ciurke3 said:
What did you ask when you called? My bills are huge and would love to take advantage of any saving!

I just call the phone number on the bill ask if I can get a discount for paying in full. I've had a couple places sound confused and say no, but it's worth it for a yes!

hopefuldog · March 2014

Are you saying they gave you a discount off of your portion/copay after the instance paid? Thanks for the heads up, I'll have to check into this.

Flyingtoast · March 2014

You can do this with all medical bills. I once got 40% off dental (after insurance) if we paid in full. Basicly they give you more of a discount if it doesn't have to go to the billings department (a high cost for them). Sometimes the receptionist gives a confused 'no' but I alway ask to talk higher, just to make sure.

I fully admit I'm frugal. If it isn't NEEDed, it can wait. If it is, how can I save money to get it.

MissDemeanor · March 2014

This is totally none of my business, so I'm sorry if I offend anyone by asking. But as a Canadian (ie no medical bill) I'm curious what it actually costs to have a baby?

mlynn333 · March 2014

MissDemeanor said:
This is totally none of my business, so I'm sorry if I offend anyone by asking. But as a Canadian (ie no medical bill) I'm curious what it actually costs to have a baby?

It varies so much, and the numbers are pretty irrelevant because of the (stupid) ways insurance works. My hospital bill was 36,000 by my insurance company only allowed them to charge 12,000, and then my insurance covers part of that amount.

mlynn333 · March 2014

golfergirl08 said:

hopeful0328 said:

Are you saying they gave you a discount off of your portion/copay after the instance paid? Thanks for the heads up, I'll have to check into this.

I was wondering this, too. Based on the OP, I think yes? I will have to call and ask about mine!

They discounted everything after my deductible and copay (I think it's the portion classified as coinsurance). That policy may vary by place though.

C12H22O11 · March 2014

MissDemeanor said:
This is totally none of my business, so I'm sorry if I offend anyone by asking. But as a Canadian (ie no medical bill) I'm curious what it actually costs to have a baby?

Well, with DS, it cost $150 for delivery and $30 for my OB fee, but I had kickass insurance that my employer no longer offers. All told, I think the total for OB + delivery would have been about $6K.

This time around, the estimate given to me by the hospital was ~$750. I also paid ~$250 for my OB. My new plan has me responsible for 10% of the total. I'm guessing without insurance, it would have been $10K.

FWIW, both births were vaginal with an epi. The kids didn't need any NICU or anything. I had a friend who's daughter needed about 4 weeks in NICU and their bill was $100K+ before insurance.

hopefuldog · March 2014

MissDemeanor said:

This is totally none of my business, so I'm sorry if I offend anyone by asking. But as a Canadian (ie no medical bill) I'm curious what it actually costs to have a baby?

@MissDemeanor,
I'll gladly share, but its not a short answer. Total charges were $47,200. All claims except one small one (for $35ish) have been processed and my insurance paid $21,066.51. I will only owe my $500 deductible. These charges include hospital charges ($32K), OBGYN charges ($4k), Anesthesia charges ($3k) and charges for the LO from the hospital peditricain ($7K). Crazy, huh?! Just having insurance saves us $26,000, I can't imagine people who pay cash. Obviously the hospital will often give a discount in those situations, but still...
:-O

MamaAllison · March 2014

MissDemeanor said:
This is totally none of my business, so I'm sorry if I offend anyone by asking. But as a Canadian (ie no medical bill) I'm curious what it actually costs to have a baby?

Too freaking much. My OB bill was 5,000, of which I had to pay almost 2,000. Hospital bill was 18,000, again had to pay about 2,000. We also had a 775 pedi bill and a 500 nursery bill. This was for a c-section.

MissDemeanor · March 2014

Wow! The only thing we would even have seen a bill for was my private room for the night and meals, which was $165, but insurance covered that.

Unknown · March 2014

This content has been removed.

mlynn333 · March 2014

@golfergirl08‌ I'm pretty sure that's what it is. I get confused by all the insurance hooplah

ahare2009 · March 2014

I'll definitely be checking on this. After insurance we will still owed over $4000 between my doctor, the hospital and DS's NICU stay. I had to pay my OB's portion by 28 weeks which was $1290 and has already been paid. I guess I will still try with the hospital and LO's charges.

Flyingtoast · March 2014

For my intervention free birth center birth was $4k. My crappy insurance yearly deductible is $3,500, so they paid $500. I paid cash in full by 34 weeks( their deadline), so instead of $3,500, I paid $1,900.

JackieP1023 · March 2014

I am so thankful for my insurance! My cerclage procedure cost me $300. OB charges (my portion) was $300ish. Hospital bill was also around $300. Pediatrician in the hospital was $15. Out of pocket, we owe less than $1,000. Now, the infertility bills... That's a whole other story. I think we owe around $2,000 on those, and we didn't even do any procedures-just a few tests a month and a couple prescriptions.

iwubrory · March 2014

Our hospital copay was $250. That's all I've had to pay since I got pregnant. Thankful for my insurance.

dizzycooks · March 2014

Wow. I thought I had good insurance and we are still paying $3k + after insurance. I will be calling when the next bill comes. I asked for itemized statements and learned that every single ibupropheb pill was charged at $40. I didn't have any other meds, but let me tell you I could have taken the ibuprophen dh bought at Walgreens for the headache he had while we were there ands I would have saved over $400. That pissed me off, what a raquet.

JessWhatINeeded · March 2014

our bills are still coming in. So far for my prenatal & doctor to do the regular vag delivery: $4800. My hospital stay: $10,400. Baby's pediatrician in hospital: $500. Still waiting for: Epidural charge, nursery charges, labor room charges. Our deductible is $2000, and out of pocket limit is $6000. In sure we'll meet it.
The hospital offers 10% discount if paid in full before discharge.

PeachLove25 · March 2014

My copay (fertility, OB prenatal, bed rest, vag birth, LOs portion) was $175 and that included a reproductive endocrinologist for three months prior to conception. I work for the federal government and we have zero maternity leave- so this makes up for it!!!

futuremrswinfree · March 2014

My 2 hour labor and 2 day hospital stay was $12,500 before insurance kicked in. Our out of pocket was around $4,500.

jpoindahouse · March 2014

JessWhatINeeded said:

our bills are still coming in. So far for my prenatal & doctor to do the regular vag delivery: $4800. My hospital stay: $10,400. Baby's pediatrician in hospital: $500. Still waiting for: Epidural charge, nursery charges, labor room charges. Our deductible is $2000, and out of pocket limit is $6000. In sure we'll meet it. The hospital offers 10% discount if paid in full before discharge.

you can definitely negotiate. You should not have to pay $400 for an over the counter drug.

dunvilles · March 2014

Ds is 7 weeks old and I still haven't seen a bill yet.

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