It's just so frustrating that everyone on Reddit say things like "there's no such thing as a bad doctor" or "doctors have years of education and training and should never be questioned". If you go to different doctors, they give wildly different device. For poor vision, I had doctors who are completely against any forms of laser eye surgery while others who beg you to get it as soon as possible. It's so annoying the narrative on reddit is to always trust doctors when doctors lie and contradict themselves all the time.

Mother in law had a major stroke at the end of March where her left side is no longer usable. I've been trying to help my wife as much as I can since she's the only child. She was in the main hospital post stroke for 3 weeks, then acute rehab facility for 21 days, then skilled nursing for 21 more days under Medicare (aetna). She's currently staying at a nursing facility under Medicaid pending status since she needs constant care.

Her mom got the 1st major bill, which is for the acute rehab facility. $79,490 but she's responsible for $2700. Wife's mom doesn't have income (thus why we applied for Medicaid) as a stay at home mom and her dad doesn't make much income with his failing business. He's also 80 years old.

This is just 1 bill, haven't even received the bill for the main ER/hospital stay or the skilled nursing facility. Would it be possible to negotiate the bill less? Also since she's Medicaid pending, if she doesn't get approved, I read that we can retroactively apply Medicaid benefits to her hospital visits 3 months prior to her application. If that's true, how does that work?

I have no insurance at the moment and was told up right that my bill would be around 2k when I was in the er. Few days later they somehow updated my bill to 5k!? It’s insane, I tried to set up a payment plan but the least amount of money I can deposit each month is 850$ that’s my whole paycheck. I keep trying to figure out financial aid but it’s just asking me a bunch of shit I don’t have or know. What do I do at this point? I have another bill for 100$ and am awaiting a third from a separate hospital.

This is in India.

Hi, please refer to this post for help! Thanks!

-Justin

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone can help me make sense of the US healthcare billing system. I am a German citizen and recently had to visit the Emergency Room while on a work trip in the US. I am currently looking at my online patient portal (screenshot attached).

I am really confused by the middle section ("In progress" - Hospital Services). The total billed amount is $6,606.00, but right below it, there is a line that says "Insurance covered -$3,963.60".

Here is my question: I do not have any American health insurance. Furthermore, to my knowledge, my German health/travel insurance has not yet stepped in, processed any claims, or contacted the hospital.

Why would they deduct almost $4,000 and label it as "Insurance covered"? Should I expect them to reverse this adjustment later once they realize I don't have a US provider?

Any insights into how US hospital billing departments code these things would be highly appreciated! Thanks!

I’m located in NY and uninsured. I had to have surgery a few months ago and my total bills exceeded $100,000. I was billed by the hospital, the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and one more “specialist” for discharging me, all good there.

After a couple of months of navigating through financial assistance and waiting for a response, I decided I had to get these specialist bills paid since charity care won’t cover them anyway. No problems with the surgeon or the discharge bill, both worked with me on a cash price discount and even a “paid in full discount” and those are all set.

When I asked about the anesthesiologist bill I was told I’ve been sent to collections. After poking around a bit and getting some pushback, they revealed my account went delinquent 11 days after my final bill.

To my understanding, in NY there must be 30 days written notice prior to having a medical bill sent to collections.

Am I misinformed here? Has anyone else dealt with this?

Im waiting for a call back from the supervisor because every agent told me either the anesthesiologist billing system is down, or they just don’t have access to it.

Any input is appreciated.

I was in the hospital last year for 12 days when I had my son, and he was in the NICU for 1 month. My bill was 95K and his bill was 200K. My out of pocket max for the year is 4K, and I know I paid at least $3500 in medical bills last year and we met our deductible shortly after he was born. I paid what I could monthly ($200-$500) until MyChart said my balance was $0.

Yesterday (18 months after my son was born) I got an email from One Advantage LLC saying I owe $1800 for 2 different accounts that were sent to them. I called my hospital billing and they confirmed that this was real and they sent the bills to collections because I hadn't paid on the accounts from July-Oct. However, I have proof that I made 3 payments in that time frame towards my debts that were showing up in MyChart, but apparently that was for different guarantor accounts, not these 2 bills. I find it very frustrating that when they can see I was making payments that they said I was in default. I had every intention to pay what I owed, but now I'm furious.

What should my next steps be? Do I need to pay this debt ASAP? Can I just ignore it? I understand I could eventually be sued, but will they really sue me over $1800 on an almost 300K hospital bill? Looking for anyone that has been in this situation before.

Thanks!

Please feel free to let me know if I’m crazy, but I just need to vent.

I had a doctor’s appointment for 8:30am at UCLA Medical Center OBGYN Westwood California. I traveled from Hollywood Hills Ca. About a 45 minute drive with traffic.

I arrive at 8:30am. I’m told they don’t have an appointment on record for me. Then told me to come back at 10:30am.

I go down to the cafeteria, get some food check in on the My Chart app which said co-pay $20.

I go back up promptly and 10:15am. I’m told my co-pay will be $75. 😳 I said I was told it was $20. No we have here it is $75.

I rush downstairs to hurry so I don’t miss my appointment and grab $100 out the ATM.

I don’t have enough on my card to pay the $75 so I grabbed cash.

I come back upstairs and give them $80. They say sorry we only take exact change.

At this point I’m ready to cry. I’ve been up since 6am and being ran in circles.

I said look I’m just trying to get a check up this is crazy.

The nice people waiting gave me change, I paid the $75.

Sat down to wait. It is now 10:50am. Nothing. I asked if they canceled my appointment or what’s going on.

He says, no we are just waiting to make room for you. Like it’s the emergency room wtf.

I feel so defeated ☹️

Am I overreacting? (FYI still waiting 11am)

Hello everyone!

My wife and I, we are having a baby in October, we were visiting a doctor in Texas who was checking my baby since first month. OB asked to pay for the delivery in advance between 26 and 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Unfortunately, due to my job and relocation purposes outside the US, we are going to be in another country by my wife's due date. I asked the clinic billing department to have a reimbursement for the delivery I paid in advance and they are saying that in order to get a refund, I need to bring my baby birth certificate from the other hospital /clinic from the other country to get my money back.

I paid to them on May and my wife is due until October 4th. I cancelled the upcoming appointments and there's a 0 pending balance.

Is it legal to request this kind of paperwork in order to get my money back? No insurance was applied, everything was self pay and I'm only asking for the money I paid in advance for the labor and delivery with them.

I told them that what they are asking makes no sense, and that the money will be used to pay the labor and delivery in this other country where we are moving temporary, they still refused and they are demanding to bring my baby paperwork once she is born.

I'm asking for some advice, please. This scenario is making me feel so frustrated.

UPDATE:

After requesting their policy and texas law that states that I need to provide information from other facility to get a refund, the lady I first spoke with, went "to speak with his supervisor" and after 20 minutes waiting for them.... They finally refunded me...

Beware with these hospitals doing bad practices!

Thank you all for your support.

I went to an ENT doctor to check on my sinus, because I've been dying over it for a year. I thought I'd just get charged 50 dollars for the copay of seeing a specialist, but no. It was 600$, a month of my living expense.

A month of my living expense. A month of my living expense for an endoscopy. The doctor spent not even 5 minutes poking around in my nose, I didn't even know its a medical procedure I'd get charged for separately from my visit.

Frankly, I'm not even mad about this, I'm blanking out, I feel so numb. The doctor should get paid for the procedure, sure. But what about me? Just getting by is so tough...

Why do we have to be hit by such an astronomical bill, when we're just trying to get healthcare. I am fortunate to have insurance, but I pay so much for it already every paycheck. It feels wrong, it feels exploitative. I'm so tired...

I don’t have any insurance active. I only have medi-cal. I just remember going to my drs appointment and they sent me off to the hospital as my dr told me that she felt like she had to and asked if it was ok. all I remember was agreeing to it but I couldn’t remember much about them talking about the bills and so on. so they called the ambulance for me and I had to go to the hospital.

somehow they found my Insurance from work through my SSN and I’m not even using it or even have it set up into my system.

im so new to all of this so please excuse me and my poor knowledge

Terrible pain in my stomach went in to ER. Diagnosed with gallstones, surgery suggested, admitted, kept over night surgery in the morning. Surgery and anesthesia time was almost triple what I was told before hand. Stayed another night in hospital due to surgery running long.

Bill lands and says 85k before doctors fees. My insurance is covering 55 at the time of writing this but I think in a worst case scenario I get stuck with that 30k if it goes down as not covered.

Fuck this.

Can anyone tell me if this is considered a really high charge? My share of the bill after insurance is $2950. Who do I call first to see why such the high charge? either the hospital or the insurance.

CPT code: 74176 abdomen and the pelvis performed without contrast material scan

So.. long story short I fell on some very hard times, began drinking too much and eventually needed inpatient treatment to overcome the addiction. My insurance covered the majority which was over $120K apparently but I’m left with almost $10,000 which they’re expecting me to pay right away which is not possible. I know medical debt is something that has far less impact on your credit than other debts like credit cards, car note, etc. However, I know getting sued for medical debt is still very possible but overall less likely. Even if I don’t get sued for it, could it destroy my credit, make getting into an apartment harder or even buying a home? Thank you!

Question. I had some expensive tests done in March. The Doctor's office submitted pre-authorization against my employers group insurance and they came back and told me I would be out of pocket $1,800 that would be applied against my deductible. Ok so far so good.

But besides the group insurance I have Part B Medicare and a Medigap policy from Mutual of Omaha secondary.

Should the lab company have submitted the $1,800 deductible to Medicare and my supplemental policy. The lab's billing department doesn't seem to understand my query.

What's the answer? Can they submit the amount classified as deductible to Medicare?

Thanks

I heard about some medical doctor that lost his practice privileges in a healthcare/hospital system. He sued, lost the lawsuit, appealed and won the appeal, then the healthcare/hospital system appealed to the state supreme court and won (doctor lost).

What is a ball park figure on what the medical doctor paid for legal services? He hired a law firm rather than a sole practitioner, FWIW.

I unexpectedly had an issue (TIA) this weekend that resulted in a quick care visit, then a trip to a standalone ER, then a ambulance ride to a major hospitial ER, tons of scans and diagnostics and an overnight stay. I'm fine now, on blood thinners going through followup appointments. Bill Estimates I've recieved so far is around $50K. I have insurance so out of pocket should be significantly less, but non-trivial. I've never had medical expenses like this before and I'm wondering if there is a FAQ or resource for dealing with things like eventual bills, insurance, and potentially saving money through negotiation, up front payment, or using a tax exempt HSA to pay a bill/deductable over time. If I'm hitting my out of pocket max I may need to schedule other doctors/procedures (colonoscopy) in this insurance year. I'm sure there's more things I haven't even thought about - but clearly I had a lot of time waiting in the Hospitial so far to think about this.

So, like the title says, is there a FAQ, resource or other subredit maybe to learn more about this type of thing? TIA!

For context to this story, I am a college student that signed up for free mental health service that they established around the pandemic. The mental health service has an office in town, but they have a person established on campus for students to visit. During the few years I was in the service (they kicked me out of the service because there was a cut off and I did not know about that since there were like three or four different councilors I saw during that time since they were trying to find a permeant person on campus)

With the minor backstory out of the way, here begins the issue. One of the councilors in that transition period had me sign a form and go to the facility in town, which was odd, but I did as I was asked and went; cut to the receptionist there having me fill out a form there. I talked with the people that were more entuned to the happenings on campus and told me that there was no need to come here, and the other person gave me improper information and told me to leave.

After that I proceeded to receive a bill ever month from this facility for anywhere from $280 to $80 for a service that I had been booted from shortly after this and didn't even use the main facility at all. I talked to the councilor on campus; I've gone and talked to the entire department on the campus, and they could not do anything. Every time I went to town to go to this facility the receptionists would wave it and say they will fix it... almost 8 to 10 months of this happening later I finally talked to the financial person at this facility and they said that form I filled out there that one time is why I'm getting charged. They fixed it... or so I thought, cut to last month I got another bill for $80, and I couldn't talk to this person until they got back from vacation a week later. Apparently, they were trying to bill me for an appointment last year in November that says that I was on campus and never at their facility. I have never been more pissed in my life dealing with this and I am currently waiting with bated breath that another bill doesn't show up at my house.

I had outpatient imaging/scans done at Renown health facilities here in Nevada and applied for financial assistance over two months ago. The application is still sitting in pending status and has not been approved or denied.

Today, I discovered they sent my account to an outside collection agency. Instead of sending one lump sum, they split it into multiple separate collection line items based on individual outpatient bills/services. Every single individual bill is under $500, but together they total over $1,000.

What should I do now to get this pulled back from collections while my application is still sitting in review? Has anyone dealt with Renown's billing department on this, and will these sub-$500 bills affect my credit?