Be a good consumer when looking for a doctor. We did not realize that, since the surgeon we selected for my husband's surgery is affiliated with a hospital, each visit was charged to us as an emergency room visit because the hospital does the billing. A $50 copay turned into a $550 surgery. Neither the hospital or the Medicare type insurance company will adjust the bill.
While we are grateful for the insurance this unexpected amount is something that we are struggling to pay off. So, as the call center employee said, "It's the patient's responsibility to be aware of the costs." (And yes, I'm writing everyone in the companies and government to see what can be done.)
By Leslie Textor from Metairie, LA
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Alert! Make an appointment to speak with the head of the billing dept. Start with an appt. to speak with the President of the hospital. This person's sec'y will direct you to the Head of billing.
My DH says contact the attorney general office. They should be able to help you. If that doesn't work contact local TV stations, many are doing consumer aware type programs. Ria
So sorry that you have been treated so wrong. Thanks for the heads up on hidden billing cost. My husband's company is changing insurance Jan 01-10 I will be looking for such hidden cost.
Every state has a group which reviews patients concerns. I found out the name of the group, I believe, thru the hospital in one of the discharge papers. I was admitted to the ER of a Denver hospital and they tried to discharge me to the airport. I had to fill out paper work and then the group reviewed my concerns and responded to them. The group was CFMC, it was a Medicare review organizarion, the Quality Improvement Organization for the state of Colorado.
I had a similar experience several years ago. It wasn't until I returned to a previous doctor and was sharing my experience that I realized each hospital has a Liaison person who takes complaints from patients and works to take care of problems. I spoke to the liaison and she reduced our $2,500 bill to $25!
Another time in our insurance meeting at work we found out that if we went to the ER during office hours, if we asked for their urgent care services our charges would only be the co-pay. If someone went in assuming they were getting urgent care services but did not ask for them, they would be charged the ER rate and it could not be changed. I was glad they explained this to us, but sorry others had to pay for the consequences of not knowing.
Good luck, I hope things work out for you.
Wow, is this ever consumer garbage! Leslie, you need to complain to whoever runs this Dr's service. If you were not informed ahead of any appointments how you were going to be charged it seems you have a right to ask the Dr.
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