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$22K for 10 Stitches, a Year and a Half Later
Medpage Today ^ | October 28, 2021 | Sophie Putka

Posted on 10/28/2021 4:30:55 PM PDT by nickcarraway

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To: nickcarraway

do the procedure with scarring, $1200

it’s the do the procedure WITHOUT scarring, well, that’s a specialist... $12,000


41 posted on 10/28/2021 5:42:14 PM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
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To: nickcarraway
Medical billing never was simple but now with the new codes (why does it matter HOW you got hurt?) it has become a major problem for doctors and patients.

Not for the insurance companies though.

42 posted on 10/28/2021 5:45:09 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (add a dab of lavender in milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing with it)
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To: nickcarraway

I opened up an arm just after Obama said I could keep my insurance. Only I couldn’t. The deductible went up to about 4K. I had to wait in the er for about 4 hrs. since the staff took several gunshot wounds first. (friday night gang bangers)


43 posted on 10/28/2021 5:45:28 PM PDT by sasquatch
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To: nickcarraway

17,000 for five minutes, no wonder health insurance is so expensive


44 posted on 10/28/2021 5:47:40 PM PDT by vigilante2
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To: Blood of Tyrants

That is part of the scam. They also write off that “indigent/illegal care” at an inflated value as bad debt and deduct it from their taxes. Then they whine about how much money they should be collecting.


45 posted on 10/28/2021 5:51:55 PM PDT by algore ( )
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To: nickcarraway

Wife tells me there was a case about 20 years ago involving a young man who was in a serious car wreck and life-flighted to the big med center here, basically DOA, but not quite.

One look and they knew he was not going to make it, no matter what they did. But they worked on him anyway for 45 minutes, then pronounced him dead.

Cost to the insurance company (in other words, the taxpayer): $75,000. For services rendered to a dead guy. Koppel did a show on this case.


46 posted on 10/28/2021 5:58:12 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: Keyhopper
Kinda got in trouble when we returned a 8 year old boy home from the ranch with his forearm & hand splinted with cardboard and duct tape.

*Just a simple fracture of the Radius.

47 posted on 10/28/2021 6:08:58 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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To: gitmo
 
 
I've seen other FReepers post in other threads in the past - and I quote "UnitedHealthcare is the devil incarnate". Seems they may be correct, and that you are in for quite a ride.
 
 

48 posted on 10/28/2021 6:11:49 PM PDT by lapsus calami (What's that stink? Code Pink ! ! And their buddy Murtha, too!)
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To: lapsus calami

United purchased the practice of my GP doc.
He resigned and told me it’s the worst example of Obamacare possible.


49 posted on 10/28/2021 6:14:23 PM PDT by nascarnation (Let's Go Brandon!)
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To: nickcarraway
"This $21,500 is actually not your responsibility," a UnitedHealthcare representative told Moyer.

...

The insurer said Alessi's office needed to re-submit the bill with different codes. As the codes stood, they would duplicate claims that were already paid out. The hospital had asked for $683 and UnitedHealthcare had paid $267.

Medical billing is insane. I had some tests listed at $1500, but my insurance said the usual and customary cost was $75 and my copay was $5. Imagine if car purchases were similar. The new sedan lists for $150,000, but since I'm using my car insurance company the dealer only gets $7500 and my out of pocket cost is $500.

50 posted on 10/28/2021 6:18:55 PM PDT by KarlInOhio ("Anti-fascist" is from the official name of the Berlin Wall: Anti-fascist Protection Barrier.)
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To: metmom

What are you talking about? She wanted a plastic surgeon so the kid would have a minimal scar. A reasonable request, and the ER complied. What makes her “entitled”?


51 posted on 10/28/2021 6:21:23 PM PDT by bigdaddy45
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To: nickcarraway

Daughter out of town visiting relative. Fell and broke two primary teeth. Went to er and they called in a dentist who glued things together. Had insurance. Dentist billed using office visit code instead of emergency code So insurance rejected. I called the dentist and the billing woman told me she would not change and resubmit and the 230 buck bill had to be paid or they would sue me. I let them sue and of course they won because it was another state.

A year later I applied for a credit card and got a copy of a letter that was sent to the credit card from this dentists lawyer demanding my financial info. I’m guessing that letter cost the dentist 50 bucks so I filled out about 20 card applications and sent them in (this was before the internet). That attorney wrote letters to each one!

End of story is the dentist called and closed out the bill before I could send more applications.


52 posted on 10/28/2021 6:32:38 PM PDT by msrngtp2002 (Just my opinion.)
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To: nickcarraway

” Moyer requested an on-call plastic surgeon, because someone had advised her to do so in a situation that called for stitches.”

Likely more of a demand. Most ER docs are experts at stitching wounds. An likely take more effort than the 5 minutes the plastic surgeon gave them.


53 posted on 10/28/2021 6:59:27 PM PDT by consult
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To: Deaf Smith

Redneck medical corporation, ya gotta love it.
Kid will be proudly telling his grandkids that story.


54 posted on 10/28/2021 7:05:51 PM PDT by Keyhopper (Indians had bad immigration laws)
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To: nickcarraway

Boy, they don’t make ER doctors like they used to. I had a gash on my forehead when I was 7 and went to the hospital to get stitched up (15 in a vertical direction, IIRC). Can’t see a hint of a scar there now. And the bill certainly wasn’t $21K.

Then again, that was 60 years ago, so time and other wrinkles may have changed the landscape.


55 posted on 10/28/2021 7:06:27 PM PDT by Ratman0823 (Always remember: "Figures don't lie, but liars figure")
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To: gitmo
Our company switched to United Health Care this year. It has been a nightmare. So many bills that should be covered don’t get paid. We spend a lot of time reconciling medical bills vs insurance.

My employer self insures and has BC/BS administer it. What a freaking nightmare. My meds routinely get declined and it's easier for me to pay for them myself using GoodRX (and CHEAPER than the insurance, if they actually paid for them) and a shoulder surgery I need I'm not going to have because no one can tell me how much it's going to cost.

I can't even get a straight answer if the anesthesiologist and recovery room staff are on hospital staff or paid contractors (which my insurance won't cover.)

Mind you, I work for a very large multi-national bank, the cheap bastards and my insurance just suuuuuuuuuuuuucks.

I may become part of the 'great resignation' yet.

56 posted on 10/28/2021 7:19:26 PM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: KarlInOhio
Medical billing is insane. I had some tests listed at $1500, but my insurance said the usual and customary cost was $75 and my copay was $5.

And the place you had the tests done at didn't come after you for the difference? What state are you in and what insurance do you have?

I had some routine tests done a few months ago and the testing facility is coming back after me for the difference that the insurance didn't pay.

57 posted on 10/28/2021 7:21:10 PM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: Deaf Smith

“Duct tape ... the handyman’s secret weapon.” - Red Green


58 posted on 10/28/2021 7:48:01 PM PDT by mouske
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To: thefactor

“This $21,500 is actually not your responsibility,” a UnitedHealthcare representative told Moyer.
This important piece of information is, of course, buried deep in the article. But as long as there’s a sensationalistic headline to grab clicks, the goal has been met.

——————————————

I don’t see how this piece of information is all that important. Just because the insurance company told her it’s not her responsibility doesn’t take away from the fact that the ER doctor has told her it is her responsibility.


59 posted on 10/28/2021 7:57:45 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (I love my country. It's my government that I hate.)
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To: usconservative

This may be expected.

Say you have a procedure done and the “list price” (effectively what they would charge someone off the street with no insurance) is $1000.

But further suppose you are insured and your I company has negotiated a price of $500 with the doctor.

Finally suppose due to deductibles and co-pay of that $500 the insurance company calculates that of that $500 that you owe $250 and that they will pay the doctor $250.

If the doctor comes after you for $250 then that is expected and by the book.

If they come after you for $750 then that is wrong and should be pursued.


60 posted on 10/28/2021 7:57:59 PM PDT by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
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