What should I do? ( Medical Related)

[Montanasvt]

I'm going to try to condense as much as Possible. So I go to the Dr.(Specialist) about my wrist which I've had problems for years. Im just now finally wanting to do something about it. I hate going to the Dr.* So I get there, do an Xray, he says he really can't pin point where the pain is really coming from and a shot could help. "Here, wear this brace for a month and see if it help and then come back." Im like "Okay", he's the Dr. I should listen to him. Go to another room where they put the brace on get me to sign this sheet and send me on my way. ( Literally in there 2 minutes tops).
A couple weeks later I get a bill for $125 for this wrist brace. Im thinking dang, thats kinda high, especially since it didn't help. So I get to thinking, obviously my insurance didn't cover it, but where was this cost disclosed on the product??? I was not told in the office. So I call the Dr. Office and speak to some high up person how No one told me about the price. She basically said you're SOL and to call the company that makes the Product(which is who billed me). So I Call them, and tell them how no one disclosed the cost with me if my insurance did not cover it. They said that I signed something saying I would pay for it. I ask them if the price is anywhere on this, they respond with "No". So I'm thinking and tell them" So you're telling me, that I signed something saying I would pay for something and there is no cost at all on there?" They say "Yeah". Don't you see something wrong there. What if this device was $2,000, or $10,000? You can basically decide to charge whatever the heck you want.
It's not a big deal that its $125, its the fact that these medical companies can charge you without disclosing cost ( in-person, or on paper). What if this would have been someone that could not afford to pay this?

What should I do. Just pay the dang $125, or should I argue with them more on the principle of the matter? It just really gets to me they can do this. Very bad business and practice if you ask me. I could be wrong. I don't want it to affect my credit since Ill be buying a house within the year and possibly another car. Give me some feed back, Good or Bad. Sorry if its jumbled around. Thanks

 

[RJ13GT]

They really know how to screw you don't they?

 

[Crimson2v]

Probably not much you can do, just watch what you put your signature on. To piss that place off call and get on a payment plan.

 

[HYBRED]

Welcome to the current state of American healthcare. The doctor has to overbill because no matter what they submit - even if it were a fair rate, the insurance company will only pay what they feel like paying - usually a fraction of the billed amount, leaving you to pay the difference. The doctor can't fight the big bad insurance company, and you can't fight the big bad doctor. I've seen this over and over and over in the year and a half since my car accident. At this point it's such a screwed up mess of a cycle I don't even know who to blame.

 

[Zemedici]

Probably not much you can do, just watch what you put your signature on. To piss that place off call and get on a payment plan.

Is that a wrist joke?

icwatudidthere

 

[DriftwoodSVT]

Thanks Obamacare.

 

[Katy TX5.0]

Ask them what the lump pay off amount is. They'll usually cut it down.

 

[sleek98]

Always ask for the front staff to call and see what the cost is on the item. They might groan a but they can do it.

I learned that when we had to get my sons helmet. My wifes cousins kid had to get one at the same time, they had them call and it was like 1,950, I had them call and our insurance rate was 1,575 I think.

Even if your insurance wont cover it still have them run it as they could have a per-negoiated rate, the cash price of my sons helmet was in the 4,500 range.

 

[mammothcar1]

Pay it.

If you don't pay it, and it goes to collections, it could screw up your credit.

And if you're thinking of buying a home, this decision could impact your credit score.

Chalk it up to a lesson learned. Read and question everything you are asked to sign.

 

[sleek98]

Ask them what the lump pay off amount is. They'll usually cut it down.

Don't forget to get this in writing. In case Susie gets fired and they start calling again next week wanting the rest.

 

[oldmodman]

Since you are complaining about a typical medical charge being slightly excessive I just have to throw out mine to top yours:-D

A couple of years ago I had to be taken to the hospital by the LAFD Paramedics. The trip from my house to the hospital took 45 minutes from the time they rang my doorbell to the time I was admitted.

The total distance driven was 2.4 miles.

I was charged $3418.00 of which my insurance (Blue Cross of Southern California) only paid $118.00 leaving me to pay $3300.00

Still want to gripe about being charged $125.00 for a $19.95 wrist brace?

I won't even bother to go into what UCLA charged me for three day of discomfort and crappy food.

 

[Crimson2v]

Is that a wrist joke?

icwatudidthere

I did not write it as a joke but after you said something about it I LOL'd!

 

[nxhappy]

Thanks Obamacare.

this .

 

[nxhappy]

I was charged $3418.00 of which my insurance (Blue Cross of Southern California) only paid $118.00 leaving me to pay $3300.00.

wow. just wow.

 

[!!!PainTrain!!!]

I just had knee surgery. The Doctor told me she could do the procedure either at the local hospital or another private surgery center. I told her I didn't care, just make sure it's in network. I go to another woman's office to actually schedule my knee surgery. I again state, make sure it's in network. "It's in network."

Fast forward two days before my surgery, I get a phone call stating my out of pocket expense for items not covered by my insurance was going to be roughly $1300. The next day, I go to my doctors office to finalize paperwork, get my blood pressure taken and receive a pair of crutches and knee brace. I paid the 1300 bucks and off I went. At the surgery center the receptionist tells me that my insurance will probably mail the check for payment to my home. I'm supposed to endorse the check and drop it off at the surgery center.

A week after my surgery, I get a phone call from insurance stating the procedure was conducted at an out of network facility and that they are rejecting payment; I was told I now owe an additional 10,000 dollars out of pocket. I also had to produce an explanation of benefits for the 1300 charge I put on the card within 24 hours or I would owe that as well.

Now I never authorized the procedure out of network and was specifically told multiple times that it was in fact in network. So I do a little research. The doctor I had seen is part owner of the surgery center where I had my procedure. Upon multiple phone calls to said surgery center, I was told "don't worry about insurance saying you owe the bill. We accept the percentage that they payout and write off the balance. We make more money out of network with write offs than a covered procedure conducted in network. You'll get a check in the mail, just sign it and drop it off to us."

Neither office could explain or answer as to why I was lied to or how the surgery was scheduled at an out of network facility. Mind you, the in network facility it 1.6 miles down the road. Yesterday I got a letter in the mail stating insurance was not going to be sending any payment and I owe the $10,000 plus the $1,300.

I just don't see how any of this bull shit is legal. Sorry about your situation OP. At least you used your brace, my crutches never left my truck and I was billed a hefty amount for them.

 

[Montanasvt]

Thanks for all the feedback. I am just going to pay it. I was not too concerned about the $125, more or less the principle and if this has happened to anyone before.

 

[kirks5oh]

Lol

Same people in this thread have zero issues spending $500 for a short throw shifter for their car, yet bitch about a $100 wrist brace----which I would bet $1000 you didn't actually use for the recommended period of time (2-4 weeks minimum). Lucky you didn't come to my office. I would have ordered an MRI, and then you would really be whining. Why don't you google "wrist pain" and then you can fix the problem yourself for free!!! Good luck bro

 

[hb712]

Pay it and learn your lesson. You're quite comfortable complaining about them not telling you the price, but you failed to ask. You had the opportunity to read the contract you signed and to ask questions about it. You were aware you were getting a brace and, quite likely, that it wouldn't be free. Even if your assumption is that insurance will cover it, you still have the ability and the responsibility to inquire about the cost. Their failure to freely offer a price does not absolve you of your responsibilities.

I have zero sympathy for those who freely sign agreements without fully reading and understanding them.

 

[jcthorne]

Sorry, I don't agree. Even if the OP spent the hour or more it would have taken to read the actual agreement he was singing, unless he was a contracts attorney, there is no way he would have fully understood what was written. Might have well have been in Latin. The BS FRAUD in the health care system has to stop. Credit ratings be dammed, I have fought with several medical companies after stupid bills from hospital stays.

Tell the provider you will not accept any charges outside of what the insurance pays unless specifically agreed in writing. Sign nothing while in pain or on pain meds, they have to agree and cannot withhold treatment. If they try to bill you anything outside of insurance allowed charges, decline them as not authorized. Tell any bill collector the same. They eventually give up and move on to some other poor schmuck who will pay because they think they have to. Yes, Obamacare has made this MUCH worse and next year will be worse again as most all HMO/EPO employer health plans have been killed as they are outside of what Obamacare allows. This is going to get very bad. Don't back down and let shysters in the health care field do this and get away with it.

To the OP, call the provider and state in no uncertain terms that the charge was not disclosed to you, you did not authorize it and the charge was not stated on the forms you signed. Blank check forms are not enforceable in any court and they know it. Ask that they reduce the charge to fair market value and you will entertain the idea of making payment on the reduced charge. Otherwise you only feel you can afford $5 a month on a payment plan. So long and you are making an ATTEMPT to pay the medical bill, they cannot report you for past due bills.

 

[Crimson2v]

When my wife and son got out of the hospital last year, my wife was in for 3 weeks and my son was in the NICU for a month. We would get other bills from the dr.s office that would come in and monitor them those bills were separate from what went through the insurance company. We have paid thousands of dollars so far this year and still owe two different hospitals at least 6K. Although I am glad we are not paying the whole bill, my wives stay at the hospitals combined were over 40K and my sons stay in the NICU was over 60K. A couple of months ago my son went in for hernia surgery (premature), they wanted $700 right off the bat before surgery of which we could only pay half. We received a bill for the rest post surgery, we are getting other bills from the anesthesiologist for close to $500. I just hope that we can write some of these bills off. It is a pain when you deal with the people at the offices that do not care one bit your personal situation and don't care if you can't pay the whole bill and get an attitude when you ask to be put on a payment plan. I can now see why saving for retirement is so important because it only takes one major medical issue and you can be in financial hardship.