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Gah. This is such a shitty thing. "Sorry, the anesthesiologist was out of network, though everyone else in the hospital is in network"

sumoboy 8y ago
If you're in an in-network hospital it's not your job to interview every doctor that sees you and determine if they're in or out of network. Take it up with the hospital billing when you get the bill is what I was told by hospital admin people and tell them it's not my problem.
- telchar 8y ago
  They'll tell you the exact opposite once you get your bill and they're trying to collect. I just had that conversation with a provider myself, after I got the bill.
tfigment 8y ago
This did literally happened to my dad. I guess the fact that he is so poor helped negotiate the quoted price down later after much harassment. You have flesh eating bacteria eating away your leg and you need to make sure that everyone is in the same network and its not like you have other concerns or even really the ability to figure this out easily. After that I went to Kaiser because I'm not sure its possible to go out of network at least like that.
- pmiller2 8y ago
  That's part of why I have Kaiser, too. I don't need to worry about providers of any sort being out of network (nurses, assistants, docs, labs, etc.)
- Balgair 8y ago
  Happens to my SO constantly. We went in for a urology visit, scheduled for months beforehand by the urologist, get a test done, yadda yaddda yadda. Now, up to 3 years later, we still get bills for that particular visit (in addition to other follow-ups) on a monthly basis. It's ~4/8 hours per week of extra work nearly every week in dealing with this nonsense. It's as if they don't even bother with sending us a bill anymore, they just go straight to collections companies. At this point, I know better than to think it's ever going to be fixed. The insurance and Hospital billing phone numbers are literally on speed dial. On particular phone call stands out. We got our insurance on a 3-way call with my SO and the hospital billing. For a urology test they charged us ~$800 for the test strip (just a single one!), which the hospital tried to claim was not covered (nothing, it seems, is ever 'covered'). Even the insurance person on the phone was aghast at the hospital: "Wait, so you are telling us that even urological tests, like a basic pH strip, at the specific office for urology, is $3000? What is our client even paying for, like, what is it exactly, that a urologist does? How much does a smile cost?" US Medical billing makes Kafka blush.

sumoboy 8y ago

If you're in an in-network hospital it's not your job to interview every doctor that sees you and determine if they're in or out of network. Take it up with the hospital billing when you get the bill is what I was told by hospital admin people and tell them it's not my problem.

telchar 8y ago
They'll tell you the exact opposite once you get your bill and they're trying to collect. I just had that conversation with a provider myself, after I got the bill.

tfigment 8y ago

This did literally happened to my dad. I guess the fact that he is so poor helped negotiate the quoted price down later after much harassment. You have flesh eating bacteria eating away your leg and you need to make sure that everyone is in the same network and its not like you have other concerns or even really the ability to figure this out easily. After that I went to Kaiser because I'm not sure its possible to go out of network at least like that.

pmiller2 8y ago
That's part of why I have Kaiser, too. I don't need to worry about providers of any sort being out of network (nurses, assistants, docs, labs, etc.)
Balgair 8y ago
Happens to my SO constantly. We went in for a urology visit, scheduled for months beforehand by the urologist, get a test done, yadda yaddda yadda. Now, up to 3 years later, we still get bills for that particular visit (in addition to other follow-ups) on a monthly basis. It's ~4/8 hours per week of extra work nearly every week in dealing with this nonsense. It's as if they don't even bother with sending us a bill anymore, they just go straight to collections companies. At this point, I know better than to think it's ever going to be fixed. The insurance and Hospital billing phone numbers are literally on speed dial. On particular phone call stands out. We got our insurance on a 3-way call with my SO and the hospital billing. For a urology test they charged us ~$800 for the test strip (just a single one!), which the hospital tried to claim was not covered (nothing, it seems, is ever 'covered'). Even the insurance person on the phone was aghast at the hospital: "Wait, so you are telling us that even urological tests, like a basic pH strip, at the specific office for urology, is $3000? What is our client even paying for, like, what is it exactly, that a urologist does? How much does a smile cost?" US Medical billing makes Kafka blush.