Comments on: Another Horrific Day At the Hospital

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:50:00 +0000

Even if there was an issue with your insurance company and your physician, there is NO NEED for receptionists to be rude with patients. Medical procedures lead to enough stress as it is, and to add to the frustration with a bad attitude is inexcusable. I hope that you informed the doctor/nursing staff about your experience with the front desk - she needs to be reprimanded, at the very least!
Jerry

By: One Frugal Girl

One Frugal Girl — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:31:00 +0000

Thanks for all your good wishes.

Today I found out that I can file a claim with my insurance company as soon as I receive an itemized bill from the hospital. I'm hoping the total will be less than $3000, but I'm guessing it will be closer to $4000.

If this procedure does not work my surgeon suggested I try again in a few months. I'm crossing my fingers that it works the first time!

By: Becky

Becky — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 01:36:00 +0000

That is outrageous! I hope everything gets figured out 🙁

By: M

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:01:00 +0000

It's kind of hard to tell if your procedure was denied or if there is just some holdup that wasn't cleared up by the time of the appointment. Of course you should first find out what the problem actually is, then see if you actually need to fight them. It might be a matter of just waiting?

Because of too many experiences like that, I make sure my procedures and surgeries are okayed officially through insurance long before the actual appointment. Often the facility where it's to be done will get a preauth. from your insurance. The key is to follow up long in advance and make sure it is all okay before showing up for the procedure. That of course assumes you don't need an emergency appointment, but even then, you can try to follow up and put pressure by calling regularly and making sure they are doing when needs to be done.

If you have to fight them start with their own basic appeal procedure, that is what has worked best for me. Working within their system is easiest b/c usually they have policies in place for such situations and I've surprisingly been successful i think every time I've had to contest a charge.

That doesn't mean all my procedures were well covered, far from it, but somethings are clearly outlined in my plan and I have to make the choice to pay out of pocket for the procedures that clearly are not covered by the plan I have.

Good luck, your day at the hosp. sounds incredibly frustrating. I can totally relate. I am mired in this stuff day in and day out!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:40:00 +0000

My dh and I once ended up with a whole pile of doc. bills that the insurance company had denied. Everything should have been covered so we called the insurance and they said they would not pay any of our bills because we had not filled out and returned a survey they sent to us. We never received the survey. So dh asks if he can just answer it over the phone. The girl said yes and so she asked him one question. “do you have any other insurance?” he said “no”. Then she tells him to have the doctors resubmit all the bills and everything would be taken care of. I could not believe it they had suspended our insurance over something that ridiculous. Double check with your insurance company they may be have denied your procedure over something stupid. I would also call someone in charge at the hospital to get your money back!! talk to someone higher up than a receptionist.

By: Some Girl

Some Girl — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:51:00 +0000

That sounds horrible. I've seen stories like this submitted to consumerist.com. They post the stories and basically get enough clamor and bad publicity going that the offending hospital (or company) often gives an apology and starts behaving. You might try submitting your story.

I'd also call to talk to someone who isn't the bitchy receptionist.

It sounds like you could be set up for a huge mess of fees, if they weren't even clear what you were paying for.

Best of luck!

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 07:22:00 +0000

Oh, man. That blows. I wish I had useful advice to offer, but I don’t.

My only similar experience was when I received a bill about half a year post-a-surgery that said insurance had not paid, and I owed them. A LOT. I called my mom – LOL. [Hey, there are times when a girl needs her mother.] Then I followed her advice. I called the insurance company to find out why they didn’t pay; they said they needed more info from the doctor. I called the doctor’s office to tell them what insurance needed; they said they’d send something to insurance. A month later, I got the bill again. When I called the hospital, they said the info was sent. When I called insurance, they said they hadn’t gotten it yet and to wait. Fortunately, it did get there – and all was well.

Here’s hoping you get your situation figured out – and soon!