c'est moi ([info]sarainc) wrote,
@ 2008-09-08 15:51:00
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I didn't know this was illegal, and it has definitely happened to me. I have already been completely HATING our health care system today. If there is anything in our country in need of an overhaul... I'd say health care takes the cake.

Beware Balance Billing


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[info]atomicpixi
2008-09-08 08:39 pm UTC (link)
Seriously, that happened to me last summer. I went to the University of Iowa hospitals for a general check up. I had blood work done. The guy who saw me wanted to diagnose me with something, so the blood work came up under that instead of preventative. I get charged $300. I call the insurance -'We can't cover blood work if it's under a condition' "But it was a check up" 'No it wasn't'...I paid for it. I also had to call the hospital for my blood work, since they never contacted me except with a bill. So i did find out I have high cholesterol. i complained. I got an apology from the doctor. But i still paid the bill.

Confusing, right? And that's not even my worst insurance story. But I'm trying to put that behind me. Someday.

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[info]whirledpeas
2008-09-08 09:29 pm UTC (link)
I've only ever received a bill like this once and then I called Dr.Julie. She got so pissed because that's why you pay a copay...so you don't HAVE to pay anything else.

It's interesting b/c Dr's offices don't have to own up to it, they can just hide behind the "oh it must have been a slip in our billing"....but the truth is any $$$ they get they can keep.

I hate our healthcare system.

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[info]sarainc
2008-09-08 10:36 pm UTC (link)
I KNOW! That's what bothers me too! "Oops! Please ignore that!" Meanwhile people that don't any better pay it and they get paid TWICE.

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[info]be_awake
2008-09-08 09:29 pm UTC (link)
That has happened to me SO MANY TIMES.

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[info]actionjackson36
2008-09-08 11:26 pm UTC (link)
Glad i have good insurance... one of the benefits of working in medical research.

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[info]ms_pooka
2008-09-09 02:18 pm UTC (link)
my father, whom i consider to be an intelligent individual, was only able to give me this advice when i asked him how i know what bill to pay when i get several with different amounts:

"we just wait until we receive several of them and then we pay."

even he can't figure it out.

after the birth, i even requested an itemized list of charges after hearing a story about a man being charged for things like a vaginal birth. the list was so confusing, the only items i could really pick out that were wrong were the least expensive and not worth the fight: two stool softeners i told the nurses i didn't want because they were gel caps and they didn't remove the charge.

i'm still wondering what would have happened if i hadn't called the OB's office about 9 months after the birth to find out what we'd paid in order to do our taxes. all of a sudden, there was a refund in the mail for something insane like $1700 that they said the insurance company had covered. would they have sent it otherwise?!

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