I’m torn on this. Services were rendered and the recipient is on the hook for them. I’ve been in the medical field and revenue goes to pay largely for employees and their benefits, including insurance.
What I don’t like is doctors not explaining this in advance.
What is hard about being on the hook for services consumed? Fill up the cart at the grocery, pay for them. Turn on the lights, pay the electric bill. Fill the car with gas, pay the station.
My wife was a Clinic Administrator with 48 direct reporting staff and 13 physicians and I will tell you that the physicians have no idea what a patient is being charged in most cases.
We had a family member with a cardiac event (not a heart attack) in the hospital overnight for a total of 23 hours and the bill a decade ago was $34,000. The Cardiologist had mentioned later the advice of "just go to the hospital" and when I said the cost, even covered by insurance, was a concern and told him the figure, he was taken aback.
“I’m torn on this. Services were rendered and the recipient is on the hook for them. I’ve been in the medical field and revenue goes to pay largely for employees and their benefits, including insurance.”
This is simple not true. Hospitals get most of their money by over charging insurance companies. I had chemo port installed. A 3-hour max out patient procedure. They charge Medicare and my insurance $53,000 dollars. Really?
This hospital likely collected 100s of thousands of dollars for her care from insurance and are worried about hounding him for $3000.
While in the hospital for my cancer surgery they ran dozens of tests that I likely didn’t need. Tests that had nothing to do with cancer and all came back negative.
So, I cant get any information on my wife’s medical illnesses or bills due to HIPAA laws, nor could I visit her during Covid, but yet somehow a spouse is now liable... BS.
By the way, my wife died of Cancer last year and each time I inquired about her bills they would not let me have any information.