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Patient Faces Bankruptcy After Ambulance Takes Her To Out-Of-Network Hospital
Consumerist ^ | November 12, 2014

Posted on 11/12/2014 4:46:38 PM PST by SMGFan

Most of us know that it could cost us everything we own if we go to a hospital that isn’t covered by our insurance plan. But what if you’re unconscious and have no say in the matter? That’s the case for a Wisconsin woman who owes $50,000 to a hospital that claims she should just pay up and be happy she’s still alive.

The woman tells WISC-TV [via Reddit] that in Sept. 2013 she went into cardiac arrest and was taken by ambulance to a hospital that was out of her insurance network instead of the one — only a few blocks farther away — that accepts her Anthem Blue Cross coverage

(Excerpt) Read more at consumerist.com ...


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: 0carenightmare; obamacare; obamacareanecdote; obamacarehospitals; outofnetwork
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To: nascarnation

Yeah, but you don’t end up financially ruined by the effects of that typically like individuals do all the time by the medical establishment.


21 posted on 11/12/2014 5:25:59 PM PST by Monty22002
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To: Monty22002

Thanks to Ted Kennedy and HIPPA we can no longer work out a “Jethro Price” with the Doctor.

Gotta pay them health care administrators doncha know.


22 posted on 11/12/2014 5:27:40 PM PST by mylife
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To: SMGFan

This would be the first time I’ve heard of insurance that doesn’t make an exception for emergencies. However you have to notify them as soon as you can.


23 posted on 11/12/2014 5:28:01 PM PST by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: colorado tanker

“So, one price for insurance companies but another for people?”

Exactly. Go to a doctor or dentist and get the price for a procedure stating that you have no insurance. Then, go to the same doctor or dentist and get the price for in network and out of network.


24 posted on 11/12/2014 5:31:32 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (Put lipstick on a Communist and call it a Progressive, but it's still a Communist with lipstick.)
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To: bigdaddy45
Wrong, it has everything to do with Obama care. Hospitals and Dr.s are opting out of many of the obamacare insurance plans because they do not want to accept the low set rates of obamacare. Prior to obamacare the only out of network issues you had to worry about was out of state hospitals.
25 posted on 11/12/2014 5:36:01 PM PST by martinidon
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To: PAR35

Between the concept of unjust enrichment and not having a contract with them, getting out of it for ~cost plus 10 or 15% shouldn’t be that difficult...


26 posted on 11/12/2014 5:36:06 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
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To: proxy_user

Even IF they did sue her most likely she doesn’t have any non-exempt property so the hospital could wipe its south side with the civil judgment.

The only leverage the hospital would have is a judgment can be a drag on her credit. I had millions for years so I know.

The longer the judgment lives, the less it is worth! I once settled a 4.6 million judgment for $80,000. I never filed bankruptcy and eventually settled with all creditors.

A good gray headed lawyer will tell her all this. He likely will also tell her the hospital wins on quantum meruit alone.


27 posted on 11/12/2014 5:36:20 PM PST by Cen-Tejas (it's the debt bomb stupid)
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To: goldstategop

And if the insurance companies policy is “ no coverage for out of network”?


28 posted on 11/12/2014 5:46:18 PM PST by Kozak ("It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal" Henry Kissinger)
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To: SMGFan

The woman is an accounting student at the university.


29 posted on 11/12/2014 5:51:55 PM PST by tired&retired
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To: RetiredTexasVet

Well there’s also the matter of the doctor having to recover money from the Insurance company which can involve a considerable effort paperwork/telephone wise. That effort shouldn’t come for free.


30 posted on 11/12/2014 5:53:26 PM PST by DB
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To: goldstategop

So why should she have to lose her credit cards and credit for 10 years in a bankruptcy to appease an insurance company hiding behind a hospital?

If she was incapacitated, extenuating circumstances prevail. Her insurance company needs to shut their mouth and pay at normal negotiated rates they would have paid had she been taken to the ‘network’ hospital and the hospital should shut it, too, and take the payment. Lady pays the deductible as if she was ‘network’ treated. Done deal. (And if someone is traveling to another state and needs emergency medical the above also needs to apply).

This lady’s story is a perfect example of the kind of medical services/insurance chaos and preditation that drove people to Zerocare’s arms in the first place. Nothing has changed. It needs to. It’s about time we put our foot down on all this nonsense and now is the right time to do it.


31 posted on 11/12/2014 5:54:33 PM PST by blueplum
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To: martinidon

Just curious. What happens if someone gets ill while they’re on vacation and can’t get to a hospital in the network?


32 posted on 11/12/2014 6:02:02 PM PST by grania
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To: SMGFan

I guess she found out what was in Obamacare AFTER it was passed...


33 posted on 11/12/2014 6:04:26 PM PST by BobL (Don't forget - Today's Russians learn math WITHOUT calculators.)
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To: Monty22002

$40k of that cost went to pay Malpractice Insurance.


34 posted on 11/12/2014 6:06:14 PM PST by AppyPappy (If you are not part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: bigdaddy45

It means exactly what it was intended to mean.


35 posted on 11/12/2014 6:11:04 PM PST by 98ZJ USMC
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To: grania
Just curious. What happens if someone gets ill while they’re on vacation and can’t get to a hospital in the network?

Get vacation insurance. We are planning a big trip to Europe next year and purchased insurance for the trip.

36 posted on 11/12/2014 6:22:57 PM PST by dfwgator (The "Fire Muschamp" tagline is back!)
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To: grania
Today with Obamacare don't get sick out of state! I have been looking for insurance for my family and the restrictions on out of network is crazy. Our family Physician, who was only 56, retired from medicine this year because of the rate cuts from Obamacare. He actually told me he loves gardening and would rather work in gardening and landscaping than medicine....
37 posted on 11/12/2014 6:24:26 PM PST by martinidon
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To: martinidon

Could you post a link to the story that you read? Because you seem to have facts that aren’t in the story linked to here.

Or do you just fill in the blanks off the top of your head?


38 posted on 11/12/2014 6:25:55 PM PST by PAR35
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To: BookmanTheJanitor

Medicaid = free


39 posted on 11/12/2014 6:39:09 PM PST by AppyPappy (If you are not part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: Monty22002

It seems like the average deductible these days if you purchase your own insurance is around $5,000. For many Americans who purchase their own insurance - that IS enough to bankrupt them BEFORE they even get the bill from the hospital.

Just Having insurance is no protection from financial ruin.


40 posted on 11/12/2014 6:42:51 PM PST by Noamie
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