DH is handicap and I deal with a lot of medical bills. I have just finished paying the last one even though their computer bill paying system leaves much to be desired. If these hospitals want to keep up with bill pay technology, they need to pay IT something to get it right. Finished sorting through the other messes of bills we really don't owe anything yet because they haven't filed with insurance. I truly believe that they think I am stupid and will just pay it. Nope.

I have 9 claims ready for the mail for the supplemental health policy we have. Some date back to 2015. With all the time it took me to fill out their forms by hand, they want stamps not FAX. So archaic! I subtract my hourly wage from those claims and they will be worth about $12. OK I exaggerate. But you know what I mean.

Now I have a bill for a PETscan back in July. The lab was having trouble getting it approved by insurance. But they told us to come on in for the scan that a Peer-to-Peer meeting was set up and it was sure to be approved. It was not. I see that it was appealed in November after the first turn down. So you think $10K PETscan is worth having a "benign" diganosis? Sort of. But I'M NOT PAYING IT!!!!!!!!!

Thanks. I feel sorta better now. Where's my shovel?? I need to DIG!!!

I've been trying to get prices BEFORE procedures, which is just about impossible. Everything is out of pocket for me (huge deductible) so I want to be a bit judicious about what I have done (or not). I just went through a rigamarole with a heart monitor which was supposed to be on for 14 days but the unit just up and quit after 6. I called the biocompany and told them I would pay for half of whatever the bill is, and they told me it's the same price for 3 days or 28 days. Whaat? Makes no sense. And still no clue if it is going to be $40, $400, or $4,000 - I just want a ballpark idea! And neither my doc nor I think there is anything particularly wrong with my heart, other than my 'family history' so he wants to rule it out. I think docs should take some ownership for keeping abreast of how much various procedures actually cost, and factor that in, along with a discussion about whether it is really needed or not.

Here's my new plan: be your own doctor.

It's crazy....last time I was in the hosp. (pneumonia that time instead of the angio edema) a woman from the business office came by to talk. Said when I got the bill to call about payments. Last angio stay cost me $1280.00 after medicare pymt. They kept me one night. So she tells me the MOST my bill will be is $1280.00. Do what??? I have not been released yet. They kept me 2 nights and did a WHOLE LOT of tests not done during the previous stay plus a bunch more meds etc. etc. Here comes the bill....$1280.00. Talk about a racket...I really don't know how they could have been the same. No wonder medical bills are so high

Wound Care sent hydrocolloide 4x4 bandages. Yes, specialty healing bandages are expensive. Even in the stores they run $1/pc for 3x2" for Johnson and Johnson "Advances Care" bandages. I love them. They work. He was prescribed the right thing for his wound. So for a bandage twice the size of the $1 bandage you would expect $2-$3, right? Guess again. They billed the insurance $389! That is for 30 bandages. Quick math is over $10 each! You know the insurance companies will eventually pad on that cost to all of us! What a scam!

6 years ago I spent about 5 hours in the ER for dehydration. They gave me 2 liters of fluid. I told them when admitted that i had no insurance, just "catastrophic"..... a $5,000.00 deductible. When i got the bill, it was over $2100.00......BUT.......because i had no insurance the "bottom line" was a little over $1600.00. In small print was this "if balance paid in full in 10 days, deduct 10%. Ended up costing a little over $1400.00. What a racket!

Prior to an operation, make sure that you find out if all the individuals that work on you are within your network,. Apparently several people have got burnt when they find out that someone that works on them are not in the network...like anesthesiologist.

Good advice, and often difficult to determine. Sometimes the hospital won't know who the support team is until the day of surgery. We got a 'surprise' bill after a surgery for I don't even know what. I finally just sent them a check for half of what they were charging with a note that negotiating the check would indicate acceptance of our settlement offer. They cashed the check and that's the last I heard from whoever they were. Still not sure if it was a scam or a legitimate charge.

After my first pregnancy I got a huge bill from the hospital outside of what my insurance had already covered. I asked for an itemized statement. Among many things I never used or received was an enema. When I told them I refused to pay the amounts for those things, I told the lady "I would remember (and never forget) if I had an enema!" and to send the bill to my insurance company. I never heard from them again.

Just my thoughts, but with what different places bill insurance, invariably what the insurance "allows" is usually only a fraction of the amount. And then the insurance makes their payment and tells the patient what is their amount they are responsible for. So even if you have a big deductible it is important to submit it to insurance first to get that "not allowed" portion which will reduce the amount you have to pay to the medical provider. I hope that makes sense to everyone.

I have bills back farther, but bills still from my surgery three years ago. If the insurance company wont pay them, because they are ghost billing, double billing,etc, then Im darn sure not going to pay them. I dont care what it does to my credit. I own my house and car anyway. Luckily, medical bills dont seem to hurt credit like other things.
Balance billing is against the law in FL. A hospital cant charge you for the balance of the charge, that the insurance didnt pay.
Also, a non profit hospital, such as shands here, has to offer you meicaid rates, if you dont have insurance.
Im really irked right now, because the pacemaker people are really ripping me and the insurance company, but if ever in my life Ive been 'stuck;. its now. I cant live without that pacemaker. Luckily, Shands will...I think they have too...work with you on payment plans.

We get those double bills often. If they think I wouldn't blink about paying $1200 they've got another thing coming. Got on a 3-way call between us, the insurance company and the doctor's office to get rid of it. Doctor's fault. But I am sure they didn't send him a credit threat. Me too, credit threats don't scare me much at all.

Yikes, just got an Explanation Of Benefit from an emergency room visit last September - over $20K and so far all disallowed as out of network and invalid billing. Hope this all pans out OK, although I'm just not going to think about it for the time being. I believe all ERs are valid and am hopeful this just needs to be sorted out between the hospital and my insurance provider. Crossing fingers.