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2/3 childbirths we missed one (tiny, in both cases) medical bill and it ended up in collections. We were getting like 3-5 letters per provider per visit, and m
by corrral 4y ago
2/3 childbirths we missed one (tiny, in both cases) medical bill and it ended up in collections.
We were getting like 3-5 letters per provider per visit, and many visits resulted in bills from multiple providers.
"NOT A BILL" (so why the fuck are you sending it to me?) same thing again from insurance for some reason, incorrect bills we had to fight, insurance refusing to pay on things they should so that drags out for months and you're getting "FINAL BILL" in the meantime but the hospital billing people are telling you not to pay them until insurance is sorted out.
Many providers sending a bill exactly once and it goes to collections if you don't pay in 30 days, no calls or follow-ups (that's how both of ours ended up there—again, they were tiny, we'd have paid them instantly if we'd known about them).
Bills showing up two months after a visit and you've had 30 medical appointments in the last year so you can't remember WTF it was for. I think in one case we were still sorting crap out from the birth and prenatal care when the kid was 6 months old.
Hospital requiring full payment months in advance for the births. And getting it very wrong in one case (on the high side, of course—every billing error is in the hospital's favor, super weird how that works, bet it's just an accident and not them being actual no-bullshit criminals, though eyeroll) because they refused to use our version of what insurance would pay (which was correct) and basically just made up a number.
Total fucking mess. Horrible experience every time. Can't wait to get to deal with this horseshit when one of us is actually, seriously sick. I've added hospital billing departments to the list of medical-related folks I truly, sincerely wish the worst on, and I mean the worst—show me the headline, I'll open the champagne. They're either shockingly incompetent in ways that mess up people's lives, or they're malicious. Maybe both.
- peteradio 4y ago> not them being actual no-bullshit criminals Thou shalt never assume malice so sayeth lord Hanlon (brought to you by Carl's jr.)
- corrral 4y agoI truly don't think everyone involved could be making so many mistakes in their own favor if it weren't the result of policies tuned to ensure that happens.
- bombcar 4y agoThe policies are designed to find errors in the client's favor, that's manifestly clear. Penalties need to be attached to misbilling; it needs to be made effectively illegal and allow others to help collect the penalties, then an industry of scummy lawyers will appear to help customers reduce their bills at the expense of the hospitals. And they'd deserve it.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- bombcar 4y agoWe've encountered similar situations (especially the "NOT A BILL" fuckery) and the "oh don't pay it when it arrives because insurance is always slow" shit - but luckily none of our three births have been that bad cost/handling wise, even though we used three different hospitals (same insurance). The smaller hospitals in general have been better but it's so obviously a giant clusterfuck. I can't even imagine how someone without partner support (who the hell wants to deal with hospital fuckery post-partum) does it.
- electriccatblan 4y agoMy wife and I have good insurance (like $200 out of pocket for surgery good) and I still hate going to the doctor because I know I'm going to get stuck with an involuntary side hustle as a medical billing clerk if I want the benefits we're entitled to to actually be honored. Our insurance paid maybe ~6k in charges one time, then 6 months later retroactively denied the claims and billed us for them. There's just no repose ever at any time, and you have to deal with a system that is always stacked against you.
- corrral 4y agoNo joke. If we'd been compensated at any kind of reasonable rate (not even our day-job rates) for time spent dealing with billing and insurance crap, it would've covered a good chunk of our (substantial) bills.