How can they do this?

[cbzdel]

So my wife has been having headaches and has been going to a neurologist for the past year or so, they have went though about 4-5 different treatments for hear headaches and nothing was working as well as planned. Then the doc had the bright idea of asking how her sleep habits are.. She says I don't know probably could be better, so the doc says let me send you over to my sleep study friend.

So she decides to go there.. She has her initial consolation, they sent her a package of paperwork asking 20 questions related to sleep. She goes in for her appointment, hands the receptionist the papers and the doc comes out and says hello Im the doc I will be reviewing your papers and we will discuss them next time you come in.

So we just got a bill in the mail for $325 for an initial consolation and insurance covered $75 of it. That is INSANE, $400 for a hello, nice to meet you!! At the neurologist the bill would be about $60 after insurance.

It sucks to have a tight budget Gotta call up and ask for a payment plan just to cover the damn consolation!!

How can they get away with doing that, if they told us up front it would cost that much we would of said screw you!!!!

Read More

 

[NoAim]

if they told us up front it would cost that much we would of said screw you!!!!

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I always ask before it starts.

The initial review also includes getting other medical records, reviewing the case details, creating the initial record, etc.

 

[cbzdel]

well i know that now, I have leaned the hard way

I have NEVER in my life had a initial consolation cost that much, nor expected one to ever cost that much.

 

[raftman]

Yeah it's kind of surprising what the medical establishment can do, as well as the insurance companies. A few years back, my father had a seizure while driving a car, he was NOT known to be epileptic prior to that. He didn't hurt anyone and only suffered minor injuries himself. A few days later a bill for $150 or something arrives in the mail just for the ambulance ride. I always assumed that sort of thing doesn't cost anything, and shouldn't unless the call for an ambulance was frivolous. I mean, if you've got a fire and call the fire department, you don't get a bill from them after they put the fire out, or do you? Or if you need the police and call them up, they don't bill you after they've done their job, do they? I could understand them wanting compensation if you've done something to waste their time/resources unnecessarily, such as falsely reporting an emergency, but that wasn't the case.

Insurance is weird too. My mother needs a diagnostic procedure, and has insurance, but found it will cost her $1500 after insurance does its part. I've needed the same procedure myself a couple of years ago (to rule out cancer), and with my insurance ended up paying something like $78 out of pocket.

 

[Father of four]

My father in law died during a race(running) here in Portland 5-6 years ago. He had a heart attack and died on the spot in the race. The ambulance and paramedics showed up and tried to revive him but couldn't. They took him to the Hospital which was less than 5 miles away and he was pronounced dead just a few minutes later.
My mother in law received a bill from the Hospital for near $7,000. No surgery was involved, Just basic materials used to try and revive him. Buy the time the ambulance arrived to help him until he was announced dead was less then 30 minutes.

Hospitals will rip you off. Only go there when you GOT TO. And be ready to pay an OUTLANDISH fee when you do.

 

[elsullo]

Many specialists in the "medical establishment" are simply crooks. They seem to think that they are gods and that they deserve their absurd fees, wrongly rationalizing that insurance will take care of it.

Decades ago I had gotten examined by such a specialist, who then had a technician make me a heat-formed back brace. It was badly done, so I made an appointment with the technician, NOT the doctor, to re-do the job. During that visit the doctor stuck his head in the door and said, "Hi, how ya doin'?" and I said just fine and that was it. For that greeting he billed me several hundred dollars, knowing that I did NOT have insurance.

Here is the kicker: it is very possible to REFUSE TO PAY and win. Just write a clear letter asking how they justify the bill and why you think the charges are not founded in actual services, and keep a copy in case you have to go to small claims court. In my case I wrote to that doctor and not only refused to pay but threatened to picket his office on the public sidewalk outside if he persisted in that billing! He backed down.

The last thing that these medical cons want is any negative publicity that threatens their game. They will blame it on a "clerical error" and back down. Do not hesitate to challenge them and mean it!............................elsullo

 

[Redcap]

Many specialists in the "medical establishment" are simply crooks. They seem to think that they are gods and that they deserve their absurd fees, wrongly rationalizing that insurance will take care of it.

Decades ago I had gotten examined by such a specialist, who then had a technician make me a heat-formed back brace. It was badly done, so I made an appointment with the technician, NOT the doctor, to re-do the job. During that visit the doctor stuck his head in the door and said, "Hi, how ya doin'?" and I said just fine and that was it. For that greeting he billed me several hundred dollars, knowing that I did NOT have insurance.

Here is the kicker: it is very possible to REFUSE TO PAY and win. Just write a clear letter asking how they justify the bill and why you think the charges are not founded in actual services, and keep a copy in case you have to go to small claims court. In my case I wrote to that doctor and not only refused to pay but threatened to picket his office on the public sidewalk outside if he persisted in that billing! He backed down.

The last thing that these medical cons want is any negative publicity that threatens their game. They will blame it on a "clerical error" and back down. Do not hesitate to challenge them and mean it!............................elsullo

That about sums it up.

 

[longcolt]

I never want to defend the Medical Community, but I can tell you that the problem is their cost of insurance due to massive awards in lawsuits. You pay for that.

The other big factor is the cost of supporting all the folks that do come in to the hospitals and never pay a dime. Illegals and many others that can't or won't pay their bills or even try to pay a small portion.

Its a cost based industry and the salaries of Doctors have been going down for some time due to billions being paid out to lawyers and awards resulting from lawsuits . We need tort reform to put a reasonable cap on this stuff or we will all be bankrupt if needing a short term hospital stay.

But it will never happen since lawyers make all the laws.