SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Update 9/27 - Negotiated - As I Negotiate Medical Bills I Realize Nothing Has Changed
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| Thank you Very little  |
Contact the carrier, tell them you never received the check, where is it, if they agreed to reimburse you, and you have the receipt showing paid in full. When the carrier sayd they sent it to the Dr office explain you have a PIF receipt for settling personally prior to them repaying you. Request a reissued check to you, they will contact the Dr office and request reimbursement, or should, and they should mail you a check for the difference. If they don't file a complaint with the Alaska Department of Insurance, you should be able to do that online, I can tell you that a dept of ins investigation charges the carrier for the investigation, in many cases the fine is $5 to $10K per investigation, that makes carriers settle quickly. Even if you lived out of AK your claim is in AK. Can't hurt to try for $1200 and the satisfaction of making the gal pay it back I'd stay on it until it's done. here's the link, just clickit and stickit to them. https://www.commerce.alaska.go...nsumercomplaint.aspx | |||
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| Shit don't mean shit |
Thanks for that! | |||
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| Member |
I tried to fight it, they sent me a form that I had to fill out detailing my savings, investments and money in the bank, home ownership, monthly bills etc. Upon review, they determined that I could afford to pay the bill (which I could but that wasn’t the point). So in the end I had to pay the bill. I went back and forth with insurance but they weren’t having any of it and I was just told that the anesthesiologist has the right to charge higher than the customary rate. | |||
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Glad you weren't my patient...............crude, rude and unnecessary ..... If you had abused my office staff like that, I would have enjoyed sending you to the collection agency.This message has been edited. Last edited by: mike28w, | |||
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| Member |
Excuse me??? I didn’t abuse any staff, I went through their appeal process, lost the game and made my payment in full. I’m not sure how you junped to the conclusion that I abused the staff and deserved to get sent to collections. I called and asked if there was any way the bill could be negotiated and they said yes and sent me a form, I talked to the insurance company, filled out and returned the paperwork. When t became clear I was getting nowhere with it, I paid. They offered a payment plan but I didn’t want to bother worth it. Again there was no abuse to any staff anywhere along the way. Try reading more carefully next time | |||
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Drill Here, Drill Now |
My surgery was at an outpatient surgery center in Anchorage and the facility, nurses, and anesthesiologist were all in network so they had a negotiated rate with Aetna (my insurance company). It was just the surgeon himself who didn't have a negotiated rate with Aetna so I took the approach that the specialty surgeon's rates were the standard for Alaska as the 4 of them from that office were more than 50% of that specialty in all of Alaska. Therefore, I fought the insurance company's definition of "reasonable and customary" since their Washington state based "reasonable and customary" (seriously, there was a couple pages worth of in-network surgeons from that specialty with negotiated rates in Seattle alone) was more than $2000 too low for an Alaskan specialty surgeon. I had no beef with the surgeon, but the c*nt that ran the front office was a miserable human being hell bent on making everyone else equally miserable. Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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| Member |
My bill was for a nerve block that I didn’t ask for and wasn’t pre approved, I would have done without it if I’d been asked. It was never discussed during pre operation visits and they did it to me while I was waiting for my surgery all doped up on whatever that stuff is that lets you just sit there and wait for surgery all calmly and dopey like. I was just laying on the cot thing in the corner behind the curtain and the guy came in and was like ok, let’s get your nerve block ready. Ok. | |||
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Member |
That's my experience also. After a year or two of small monthly payments, they call you up and offer you a worthy discount for paying the balance in full. I'm always ready for that call. I had a 12k balance once for an extended stay of one of my children in a childrens' hospital, and they called me up and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. There is NO WAY MOST PEOPLE can pay what hospitals and specialists charge, it just isn't mathematically and economically possible. I think the system is fucked up because of exactly what JHE said - if they can't quote you a price, they're not operating in a true free market. I don't know what you call it, but it's certainly nothing like a free market. Traditionally I guess you could call it a clusterfuck. Lover of the US Constitution Wile E. Coyote School of DIY Disaster | |||
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Ammoholic |
Side note, not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing or not, but I just hit my deductible. Skins is only paying 20% of the silly high medical costs up to Nov. when the new policy year starts. $25,000 more in medical bills and I hit my Max OP Expense of $6,500, whoo hoo, and then it's all covered by insurance! I remember pre ObamaCare when I had $500 deductible and Max OP of $1,500. All for a third of my current policy premiums. Ahhh, the good ol' days. Jesse Sic Semper Tyrannis | |||
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Member |
This is what makes Mexico a great, or at least helpful, place for Rx if you can get there. I used to get eye infections every couple of years. $150 to Doc and the same script every time. Since wife's parents lived in Tucson, across we got to Nogales and buy the same drug for far less and skip doc altogether. No Rx needed in a lot of the 3rd world except maybe opioids. Can't say on opioids, never needed them. However, BP is an interesting experience on the recrossing. But they see this a lot. Algodones, Sonora is also a hub for dental work. American trained Mexican dentists doing quality work for less. ************* MAGA | |||
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| Member |
The last patient that I took care of that had been to a Mexican dentist not only got a good deal on her dental care but they also threw in a free case of Hepatitis C....64 year old grandma with Hep C....explain that to your grand kids. Just saying it's not risk free...... | |||
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safe & sound |
I was pretty close, but I didn't get 25% off from the collection company. I did get 20% off. Nothing reported to my bureaus. So instead of giving me 10% off like everybody else right up front, they waited several months, I got 20% off, and the collection company (that works for them) will get a percentage too. Half maybe? Hospitals have zero business sense. | |||
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| Nature is full of magnificent creatures |
The important thing is that you had good business sense. | |||
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| Page late and a dollar short |
If the hospital has a Patient Advocate office or something of that ilk contact them. I contacted them after what I felt was a skewed result sleep apnea test performed by a hospital facility on the instruction of a doctor who's relationship with the hospital was abruptly terminated one week after my test. Short story, hospital agreed with me and waived the charges not covered by my insurance. -------------------------------------—————— ————————--Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even, usually, surpassing knowledge(E.J.Potter, A.K.A. The Michigan Madman) | |||
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I have two MRI's coming up for my back and one for my pelvis. I cannot begin to imagine how this will cost. The good old days when we had decent insurance. Wow thanks JRC for adding that link I will definitely be checking that out. | |||
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| Member |
I’m wondering if there is any profession that takes more money and schooling to achieve and then no one wants to pay you for services rendered because insurance companies suck which has nothing to do with you. | |||
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| Save today, so you can buy tomorrow |
Reading this thread is raising red flag for what is happening and what is about to happen to my case. Since I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer last month, I have been through multiple lab tests with Quest Lab, different tests with Steinberg Diagnostics, and multiple visits with my PCP, Endocrinologist and initial consult with Oncologist. For each visit and procesure, I have been paying out of pocket that goes to my Individual $4,500 deductible. I just passed halfway mark. After that, it will be 80/20. My surgery is in 3 weeks. I was informed already that the surgeon will need his fee upfront, before surgery. I have no choice. I can’t imagine the hospital and “other” bills to follow. I feel the OP’s concern regarding billing and actual patient cost. My head is spinning as it is from confusion. _______________________ P228 - West German | |||
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Nosce te ipsum |
Call up several imaging places and tell them you are a cash patient. I *think* the MRI series will be $750 each at our local quickie Scan'N'Go spot. There's probably a discount for the three at once. | |||
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| safe & sound |
I'm wondering if there is any profession, full of highly intelligent people with fantastic educations, that can't begin to give you a price for their services prior to sending you a bill. And not only can they not give you a price, but they charge 20 different people 20 different prices for the exact same procedure. I have no problem paying for services rendered. In fact, I demand that I pay. I don't expect anything for free. I don't work for free, and I don't expect a doctor to work for free. But if patient A is billed $200 and patient B is billed $2,000, then $200 is the acceptable rate and $2,000 is gouging. And this may be a direct result of insurance companies that clearly suck. Don't take it personally. My insurance company apparently didn't negotiate the best rates. I know this because I negotiated them down even further. I'm pretty sure my doctors and hospitals still made money on the deal. Well, maybe not the hospital, because instead of taking the 90% of their bill I offered at the beginning, they likely only ended up with about 33% of it as a result of their game playing. | |||
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SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Update 9/27 - Negotiated - As I Negotiate Medical Bills I Realize Nothing Has Changed
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