So my friends dad broke his leg the other night

[Sawbonz 27562]

On 6/3/2021 at 7:25 AM, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

We have friends in Austin that had a child that was born with some sort of debilitating condition that would have resulted in a shorter life span rife with all sorts of problems. While in the hospital, the baby got some sort of infection and died.

The parents were left with a $250k bill. They consulted a lawyer that said “while it was most likely the case negligence at the hospital resulted in the infection/death, because of the baby’s condition there would be no quality of life therefore there was nothing they could do about it.”

So every penny they “save” goes to paying down a debt for their dead child.

God Bless America!

Why would they pay that?

 

 

[UT_OB1 2223]

I don’t have that many surgeries, so I didn’t even know this was a possibility. I went to an in network doc for ear pain. Turns out I had a hole in my ear. Scheduled surgery with a hospital in my network. Quick few hour procedure. My insurance paid most of it and what I owed seemed reasonable ($1000?). About 6 weeks later I got a bill for $3500 from the anesthesiologist. I called and said what is this and why isn’t it covered?  Turns out they used someone that day that was out of network, so my insurance didn’t cover much of it. Maybe I should have checked in to that first, but I think it’s BS. Not paying it. They’ve sent it on to collections 

[conVINCEd 21469]

7 minutes ago, UT_OB1 said:

I don’t have that many surgeries, so I didn’t even know this was a possibility. I went to an in network doc for ear pain. Turns out I had a hole in my ear. Scheduled surgery with a hospital in my network. Quick few hour procedure. My insurance paid most of it and what I owed seemed reasonable ($1000?). About 6 weeks later I got a bill for $3500 from the anesthesiologist. I called and said what is this and why isn’t it covered?  Turns out they used someone that day that was out of network, so my insurance didn’t cover much of it. Maybe I should have checked in to that first, but I think it’s BS. Not paying it. They’ve sent it on to collections 

If you go to an in-network doc, at an in-network hospital, you should have the right to assume that anyone brought into to help is also in-network.  Good for you for telling them to pound sand.

[ROFL BOX 6649]

On 5/27/2021 at 11:20 PM, staboner said:

put some ice on it you be alright

Disappointed you didn't go with "rub some dirt on it", but then you probably went to Shands.

[ROFL BOX 6649]

When my 1st wife died (I am 98% convinced it was due to surgical negligence, left a 2x2 in her), the bill crushed me.  I tried making arrangements & her parents were very old school about it... "if you have a bill, it gets paid."  I should have sued, but again, old school in - laws & they talked me out of that option.

The meager life insurance we had, I put that against her outstanding CC bills she had accrued prior to marriage when she was living off those.  In retrospect, since the bills came to her maiden name I should have ignored them, I don't know - I'm not up to speed on how those debts pass on to the spouse, etc.  It's nearly 25 years ago.  It took me awhile to get past all of that, both mentally, emotionally & financially.  I finally tracked down her parents phone # around 3 months ago & called them - it was quite an emotional thing to speak to them & hear their voices.

When ROFL-ette was in 3rd grade, she got a really bad case of pneumonia; 75% effusion in her lungs & intubated @ DeLL Children's for 3 days.  Tore me apart to see her like that but thankfully my Mom who is now a retired Respiratory Therapist (40+ years in the trade) was there almost every moment of it & she kept me sane.

My wife had the insurance & apparently it was good, however the $$ was still a whopper (I don't recall the exact amount).  She worked the system, did what she had to do, made a shitload of calls, did this & that (she's a Paramedic; not really relevant to the bill paying but she understands what's legit, what isn't) & finally around 2 or 3 years ago we got that big bill completed.

100% Cloak Room here, but the healthcare system in America has been accurately described as both the best AND the worst in the world.  Best = capability, training, available resources, technology, etc.  Worst = perception of why some go into the business + how things are paid for & funded.  I'd rather pay 4% taxes or a national VAT to provide universal healthcare than 20% of a paycheck to some scatterbrained company aided program.

[Armybrat 40847]

Mrs. Brat was the Texas Department of Health program manager for licensing respiratory therapists in the late 1980s. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

I have a hereditary immune disorder that requires me to take one dose of a medicine called Takhzyro a month.  The cost per dose? $24,454.   Fortunately there is a group called OnePath who somehow covers everything except my $5k yearly copay.  I’m not sure who is paying for the rest, but someone is. Takeda isn’t giving that shit away for free.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

I get that some people worry about everything, but I would laugh if a hospital sent me a bill for $400k. At worst, it would be years before they would get any money from me. 

The key, to keep hospital bills low, is to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. I don’t claim to know orthopedic surgery procedures, but the most shocking part of the OPs story, to me, was staying in the hospital for 4-5 days PRIOR for surgery to fix a broken leg.  Is that normal?I get that he’s 80, but what treatment was he receiving in that time?  Why didn’t he go home once he was stabilized and come back for the surgery?

You should always push the doc for you to go home. And I don’t mean, “should I stay here?” but rather, “what’s it take for me to leave ASAP?”  

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

18 hours ago, Sawbonz said:

Why would they pay that?

 

 

I had to bite my tongue when that was going down. I have no clue why they would pay it.

[ROFL BOX 6649]

9 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Mrs. Brat was the Texas Department of Health program manager for licensing respiratory therapists in the late 1980s. 

My Mom didn't move out here until around 2002.  Either way, good on her.

Edited June 6, 2021 by ROFL BOX
"her" meaning Mrs. ScoPro.

[tbone_ 14123]

I get that some people worry about everything, but I would laugh if a hospital sent me a bill for $400k. At worst, it would be years before they would get any money from me. 
The key, to keep hospital bills low, is to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. I don’t claim to know orthopedic surgery procedures, but the most shocking part of the OPs story, to me, was staying in the hospital for 4-5 days PRIOR for surgery to fix a broken leg.  Is that normal?I get that he’s 80, but what treatment was he receiving in that time?  Why didn’t he go home once he was stabilized and come back for the surgery?
You should always push the doc for you to go home. And I don’t mean, “should I stay here?” but rather, “what’s it take for me to leave ASAP?”  

They were trying to get his heart stabilized before surgery. They saw something on the EKG they didn’t like. Like I said, not in the best of health. Plus he couldn’t move around on his own with the broken leg.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

16 hours ago, tbone_ said:

They were trying to get his heart stabilized before surgery. They saw something on the EKG they didn’t like. Like I said, not in the best of health. Plus he couldn’t move around on his own with the broken leg.

Gotcha and that makes sense. The 400K was partially for the broken leg and partially for other health problems that may have been preventing him from surgery. 

There was someone making a point about surprise billing when you unexpectedly have a bill from a provider that doesn't accept your insurance. I know this occurs from time to time with anesthesiologists, especially since they rarely work for the hospital. Isn't that a law that prevents them from working for the hospital and therefore accept the same insurances, or did I just completely make that up?

[Wiler77 1566]

On 6/5/2021 at 10:35 PM, UT_OB1 said:

I don’t have that many surgeries, so I didn’t even know this was a possibility. I went to an in network doc for ear pain. Turns out I had a hole in my ear. Scheduled surgery with a hospital in my network. Quick few hour procedure. My insurance paid most of it and what I owed seemed reasonable ($1000?). About 6 weeks later I got a bill for $3500 from the anesthesiologist. I called and said what is this and why isn’t it covered?  Turns out they used someone that day that was out of network, so my insurance didn’t cover much of it. Maybe I should have checked in to that first, but I think it’s BS. Not paying it. They’ve sent it on to collections 

We had to go to the ER for some reason years ago, and now I can't remember if it was my wife or my son.  But we went to the ER at an in-network hospital.  Got a bill from the Dr. who treated us.  He's contracted by the hospital, and he's out of our network.  Uh, fuck you dude.  If I'm at an in-network hospital, do I need to check insurance coverage of the Dr. that I have no choice on?

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

10 minutes ago, Wiler77 said:

We had to go to the ER for some reason years ago, and now I can't remember if it was my wife or my son.  But we went to the ER at an in-network hospital.  Got a bill from the Dr. who treated us.  He's contracted by the hospital, and he's out of our network.  Uh, fuck you dude.  If I'm at an in-network hospital, do I need to check insurance coverage of the Dr. that I have no choice on?

There is a 2020 Texas law that prevents this now. In this scenario, your bill is capped at the in-network rate. I would still check with scheduled procedures to ensure that anyone billing me, accepts my insurance.