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My beef w/ the US healthcare system is that doesn't even need to be an accident. My wife went to see a specialist for a checkup. At the front desk, they said sh

by lhorie 6y ago

My beef w/ the US healthcare system is that doesn't even need to be an accident. My wife went to see a specialist for a checkup. At the front desk, they said she had to pay around $200. She's the type to decide whether to do things based on cost, so she asked: "That's all?" Them: "Yes." Six months later, I get a letter from a collections agency saying I owed $700. Confused, I call Kaiser to find out that not only was the $200 not the entire amount, they also apparently had no way of quoting accurately ahead of time (even though they knew exactly what she was coming in for), and as the icing on the cake, they forgot to mail us the bill, which is how it ended up going to collections. I had to then press them to get an actual bill with itemized numbers, but it doesn't matter because the numbers make no sense anyways: none of the numbers match up to the amounts we paid, the insurance quoted price or the collections amounts. When pressed they all basically shrugged and said they don't understand how any of it works, and that's just how it is. And the reason for this whole ordeal? We changed health insurance plans and Kaiser said they couldn't renew a prescription because it was a 2-in-1 and insurance only covered the two drugs if they came in separate vials.

cgriswald 6y ago
That wasn’t the reason. I went to the ER with no insurance. While I was lying in a bed between visits from the doctor a woman came in and wanted payment for the ER. I asked in no uncertain language if it covered my ER visit and explained I knew the doctor would charge me separately. She said yes, so I paid. I went home. The doctor billed me. I paid. The X-ray tech billed me (a surprisingly small amount). I paid. The hospital never billed me. Then the collections calls started.
- maxerickson 6y ago
  Was it the X-ray tech or a radiologist that billed you? Radiologist is often $30 or whatever. (I would expect the cost of the tech to be included in the hospital billing)

by lhorie 6y ago

cgriswald 6y ago

That wasn’t the reason. I went to the ER with no insurance. While I was lying in a bed between visits from the doctor a woman came in and wanted payment for the ER. I asked in no uncertain language if it covered my ER visit and explained I knew the doctor would charge me separately. She said yes, so I paid. I went home. The doctor billed me. I paid. The X-ray tech billed me (a surprisingly small amount). I paid. The hospital never billed me. Then the collections calls started.

maxerickson 6y ago
Was it the X-ray tech or a radiologist that billed you? Radiologist is often $30 or whatever. (I would expect the cost of the tech to be included in the hospital billing)