Imagine someone having to go through this who is young, not an attorney, working multiple part-time jobs and trying to care for kids at the same time.
@Joe--
Жыл бұрын
The American healthcare system is built to extract money as it's first priority, not necessarily patient care ☹though it's understandable why people think it's the opposite.
@maebandy
Жыл бұрын
@@Joe-- it's actually to determine a possible way to diagnose you for a lifelong subscription illness with several accompanying prescriptions. Chronic profit extraction triage.
@mikezupancic2182
Жыл бұрын
Imagine being smart enough to understand that insurance companies have negotiated rates. It's literally only been like that for what, 50+ years?
@Joe--
Жыл бұрын
@@mikezupancic2182 Irrelevant to the point that the US healthcare system is lacking compared to other developed countries. The problem is insurance US companies themselves in conjunction with the system.
@mikezupancic2182
Жыл бұрын
@Joe until obamacare, the US health system was #1 in the workd in many categories of care, including cancer survival and even time to be seen by a doctor. Statistically you got seen quicker in the US than anywhere else in the world.
@markgrimes111
14 күн бұрын
Funny funny , my world is like yours some days! Have a better day as soon as you can! Love your off the wall stories!
@audiblek
Жыл бұрын
I went to a hospital once for a few stitches. I got 3 bills. 1. I got it and paid it 2. I got the bill, but it didn’t have my insurance attached. So it was higher than it would have been. I told them my insurance, the total was reduced by 90% and I paid my share 3. They didn’t have my address and sent it straight to debt collectors. When I asked the hospital, they blamed for not giving them any contact information. When I pointed out they got the other two bills to me just fine, they couldn’t give me an answer
@christopherkidwell9817
Жыл бұрын
They tried doing that to me about a year and a half ago when I had to go into the hospital for pancreatitis with no insurance (was covered under Maryland Medicaid because I have no income and are living on an inheritance). Sent me 3 bills... 2 were marked 'paid in full by MediCaid'... the other was marked "Not covered by insurance" but the insurance they tried to bill it to was the insurance I had another 18 months beforehand and dropped because it was too expensive to keep. When I called them back, they tried that "I'd given them no information for billing!" and I called them out on it, reminding them that I had been working with a social worker based in the hospital in question who I had given my home address, my e-mail address, my cell phone number, and even the names/numbers of 3 relatives. They changed their tune real quick and rebilled the service to MediCaid and I ended up only having to pay 30 dollars for that service.
@grampsdoeswhat1713
Жыл бұрын
This is typical for hospitals. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
@victorb145
Жыл бұрын
For me the scariest thing is. Apparently they can send you straight to collections, and if a lawyer can't find a remedy what hope do the rest of us have? I hope your credit score never notices.
@joshuahudson2170
Жыл бұрын
Remedy: sue the collections reporting systems for libel. Bill went to collections without arriving; thing does not belong on credit history.
@FeedMeSalt
Жыл бұрын
More and more of us are tired of this system and just don't care. Home ownership is out of the question for years to come, and I can buy any used vehicle cash. I don't need credit for anything other then high income jobs extremely rarely and services like internet that don't really care regardless of score. I can't think of a single time I have used my credit in my 25 years of life. I luckily have a grandfather who has loaned me 3k for a car down payment once. I guess that one I would have used credit for MAYBE. Anyway, my point is I don't care and they can send what ever they want to collections. They can't even call me lol. I don't have a phone number by choice. My job uses messenger. I'm sure many MANY people like me also wouldn't even notice for years if they had something outstanding.
@TheKatyMadison
Жыл бұрын
@@FeedMeSalt I agree. After a death of a near relative, I asked the hospital to consolidate the bills, so I wouldn't have to write five different checks for bills from each stay. I was paying the hospital 500 a month, plus paying several doctors. The hospital said sure, so I wrote one check, included all the different bills in the envelope and sent it off. The next month they sent two of the bills to collections. I told the collection agency, no dice, I'm not paying you. I would have paid off the hospital, but not after they sent the bills to collections, so they just lost out. It's been over twenty years, and my credit is great. But I remember telling the collection agency do your worst. I already had a car, credit cards, and a house. Didn't need credit.
@maebandy
Жыл бұрын
@@TheKatyMadison I'm of the same sentiment as you and the previous commenter. However, the ushering in of social credit scoring is going to start adjusting our price on things depending on our credit. That's what I fear this issue is. A see what we can get from this guy type billing
@jerryfankhauser2959
Жыл бұрын
You are in the correct vocation to have them all explain that to a judge.
@mvpfocus
Жыл бұрын
Partly true, but towards the end of the video, he points out that the medical industry is exempt from most consumer billing laws.
@jasonchandler6667
Жыл бұрын
I thought a federal law requires disclosure of prices up front. Am I wrong?
@charlesblack9748
Жыл бұрын
You should have gone in person to pay the bill whilst wearing your "I sue people for fun" shirt. Pretty sure they wouldn't over charge at that point.
@Fiveeastmans
Жыл бұрын
He's one lawyer. They have dozens.
@gcanada3005
Жыл бұрын
Who has to pay to go to the doctors. Only one G30 nation that doesn’t have universal healthcare. The wealthiest most powerful country in the history of the world. Can’t figure out how to tax the wealthy so you can have universal healthcare. One time I had to pay for parking. It was $7. That’s the most I’ve ever paid
@Fiveeastmans
Жыл бұрын
@gcanada3005 the other countries that have the insurance you are referring to pay for those services largely on middle class to foot the bill. NOT the wealthy.
@Fred-F4
Жыл бұрын
This channel is a gem! I appreciate you sharing this with us!
@kingforaday8725
Жыл бұрын
Steve!! About 8 years ago I had the same symptoms you described, maybe even worse. After 5 days in the hospital the final verdict was "maybe?" I had Vertigo! If so Vertigo has to be the most painful miserable health issue I have ever had! I couldnt even open my eyes or move without getting nauseas. I had nothing left to throw up! I was lying on the filthy floor in the ER waiting room because they didnt have a room and I could even set up in a chair. Pretty sure folks thought I was a junkie that need a fix! I was in the hospital for 5 days!
@donbangert
Жыл бұрын
They don't know because the insurance company hasn't told them how much they can charge you yet.
@hootersnoocher8467
Жыл бұрын
Whenever I hear about medical health care and insurance, I tell about my motorized wheelchair. On the open market my chair costs $15,000. Because of insurance that same chair costs $60,000. 4x as much because it was a prescribed durable medical device.
@TomasG42
Жыл бұрын
Once suffered from ( and had been diagnosed with vertigo). Was with my wife in Walmart when an episode hit. Managed to get outside door and was leaning on their trash bin while I asked my wife to bring the car. Lady comes by and asks if I need help. I explained the situation and that I was waiting for my car. She apparently went inside and told a manager that there was a drunk outside leaning on their trash bin. Two guys came out and tried to forcibly drag me inside out of sight of incoming customers. Luckily my wife arrived with my car.
@rb0090
Жыл бұрын
There is actually a simple maneuver (epley maneuver) that can treat vertigo by moving around the liquids and possibly small objects in the ear from pressing against the sensitive elements that help with proprioception (the sense of movement and position). An ER Doctor can usually easily preform the maneuver. It does depend on what type of vertigo you have though.
@kezmet5998
Жыл бұрын
One tip for dealing with a vertigo attack is to sit in a corner, so you can feel the floor and two walls (3 different planes at 90 degrees from each other). Your proprioception will then help your brain resolve the difference in signals from your eyes and ears, and can still help if even you close your eyes. Hopefully you won't need to use this trick, but I wanted to put it out there for anyone who might find it useful.
@jessewilson8676
Жыл бұрын
Drinking large amounts of hard liquor quickly gives me vertigo. That technique does not work.
@jimwylie4611
Жыл бұрын
Totally understand your frustration. The reason they don't know, as I understand it, is that there is no, uniform, standard rate for providing medical services. What they charge depends on where you are, what insurance you have, whether the services were in or out of network, and something called the charge master- which can vary from hospital to hospital. And yes, again AFAIK, this is all perfectly legal- but it has drawn the attention of federal and state legislators and some have passed laws against "surprise billing." Two people receiving the exact same treatment, for the exact same problem, performed at the exact same hospital can (and have) received wildly differing bills depending on the factors I listed previoiusly. The only reason I know this stuff at all is because my sister and I had to take care of our parents (now deceased) so I had to learn it in self defense.
@johnwright8814
Жыл бұрын
The wonders of private health care. I had similar issues with dizziness in the morning, so I decided to see a doctor the following day. At about 5AM I woke up with a buzzing in my ear, and I drove to Accident and Emergency in a panic, I felt fine apart from the buzzing. After a few attempts, the doctor removed the insect from my ear, I phoned work to explain the situation and that I might be late, and carried on with my day. There was no charge for this treatment. The higher tax I pay is much less than the cost of private insurance, especially when they use debt collection agencies.
@sonictech1000
Жыл бұрын
My wife went through something similar. Called the Dr every couple weeks for several months trying to get a bill so she could pay it and they kept telling her to wait. Then they sent her to collections. When she complained they had the nerve to tell her she should have called! She's had detailed records of each call, who she spoke with etc and let them have it.
@Esther-lm6pm
9 ай бұрын
Where I live there are NO Doctors in ANY Urgent Care clinics.. however they DO have a list of services and cost. But, there are"add on" that they don't tell you.
@jeffeck1701
Жыл бұрын
I have had similar experiences with immediate care, however, they did bill me and I was able to pay without issue. I had bought a house to move for a steal and got injured a few times in thr dismantling of it... Mainly stitches, a bad burn, foreign object in the eye, and a crush injury.. I am so grateful for the clinic I went to that they will have my business for all future immediate care. On my last visit they just said "hi Jeff, what did you do this time..." It was cheaper than my normal doc office and way cheaper than the ER...
@jplum7708
Жыл бұрын
Lol! My wife's friend's husband hurt himself so many times redoing their house the local er staff knows him by name. They joke they will rename the place after him. After he sliced open his leg with a chainsaw (he's a combo of clumsy and no common sense) he finally decided to let pros handle the more challenging aspects of the work.
@jeffeck1701
Жыл бұрын
@@jplum7708 I was on a timeline. The owner who was selling me the house gave me 30 days to prep the house for the move from his property to mine. Our contact stipulated that if not completed he could at his discretion have the house bulldozed and I would only get a portion of my payment in return. It was a $400k house I got for $30k plus moving costs of $45k.... I couldn't fail, too little time...
@jplum7708
Жыл бұрын
Sounds like you found an interesting deal. Glad you didn't have any major injuries and things worked out. I wish you well on your future endeavors.
@simondan3828
Жыл бұрын
I've worked as a programmer of hospital billing for years, so I can shed a little light on this matter. Typically hospital services are rendered into invoices by a job that runs monthly. HOWEVER in a good system, there's always a way to perform billing on the spot and finalize the bill, once the case is closed (i.e. upon patient's release). This hospital seems to have a broken system in place.
@bobbybarnes408
Жыл бұрын
Ben leaning on the mike in front of the Tucker
@EastonJackson-GMC
Жыл бұрын
Ugh. I'm a physician and work in an urgent care. There is so much wrong with our system. We have plenty of people with high deductible plans who choose to play cash. And I can tell you exactly how much it will cost if you're paying cash. Our system is burning to the ground, but not fast enough.
@earljtharp
Жыл бұрын
I have found that it is better to go to a hospital er than to go to an urgent care. Had the same thing happen to me in Indiana only I got billed for a CT scan from the urgent care and they don’t even have a CT machine.
@lauratambo5499
Жыл бұрын
Always get an itemized bill. Tell those debt collectors you are officially challenging your bill and they are not allowed to report to the credit agencies while you are disputing the bill.
@musicloverme3993
Жыл бұрын
Best comment here! Perhaps when you insist on an itemized bill the total owing may decrease?
@gailcrook5932
Жыл бұрын
Hey Steve. I have worked in medical care for 30 years and one thing I do know is that ICD-10 codes needs to be determined for accurate billing for medical services. I worked for the last several years in LTC coding for Medicare and Medicaid/other insurances billing. This involves reading the “doctor” notes and determining any diagnoses/procedures that were provided. So it takes at least as long as getting those notes to determine the correct coding. Over the years, this coding has gotten more complicated and there are persons certified for this service to the providers. I suspect the coder may be a third party(some work at home) or at least is not in the same building. Glad your feeling better! We love your sow and watch all the time Gail and Greg in Missoula Montana 😸
@kelvinrwalker
Жыл бұрын
Steve, I’ve been a nurse for 27 years. Of course I’ve been a patient more than I can count. What you said was totally correct by the way. In health care the charges are inconsistent across the board. They can and do make up their own charges. Their goal is to get as much as they possibly can. Often times urgent cares have a nurse practitioner or PA. A doctor never sees you but you pay for a doctor in your bill because they review your chart or are consulted. Most often they have a contracted doctor that oversees the care but never sees patients. They can give you estimates and take copays but that’s about it. The healthcare providers will not finish with your chart until sometime later. That’s when billing will determine the charges based on the codes. Even if your insurance would have paid you still might have had to pay out of pocket for charges your insurance will not pay because it was 1 not covered or 2 the provider is out-of-network. Facilities often did that with me and I had to pay way more than what my insurance paid. You can argue all day long but they will just turn you over to collections. One of my biggest gripes is billing in healthcare but only in America. For example, there was a car accident along a highway near the hospital I was working with (I’m an ER nurse). The vehicle sustained minor damage with no intrusion (meaning the interior of the car was intact with nothing pushed inside such as an engine) and the occupants had no sign of injury and tried to refuse medical care at the scene. But because of the nature of the accident the emergency personnel felt it would be necessary to transport them to our facility for evaluation. Out of the 3 occupants of the vehicle only 1 finally consented to be transported by ambulance the others said that they would go by private car. The ambulance notified us of one patient they were carrying and because the accident occurred at 70mph a high rate of speed trauma activation was made. Anything over 25 mph goes into a list to determine trauma activation. A list mind you, not singular. Because the activated trauma we had to call in a limited trauma team. Surgeon, lab, x-ray tech, of course the ER team. The patient arrives we evaluate her and in 5 minutes she is discharged. Both the ER doctor and surgeon agreed they could go on their way but if anything changes can come back to the ER. The patient received a bill for almost $20,000. Almost $15,000 which was for trauma activation. You can research this and find this is common practice. Absurd right. Of course the ladies insurance covered the bill but she came back to the hospital to complain. Some hospitals charge more for trauma activation than that depending on the level of activation. Thankfully this was limited trauma activation and not a full trauma activation. Just food for thought about our healthcare system in the US.
@chrish4469
7 ай бұрын
I wonder what the collection agency's fee was on top of the original bill.
@danielwardin3609
Жыл бұрын
"They bring out the paddles and zap me back to life...." 😊 Nice rant. Regards.
@Bronislaavv
Жыл бұрын
Yes There is someone in back room making up numbers The numbers they make up are "codes" Prior to our marriage , my wife used to be one of those people, "coding" medical services So , we had some inside information Twenty years ago , we had some very expensive services When we got some bills not covered by our insurance , we would call the hospital billing people , and coach them on how to "Code" our bills so insurance would pay They did not like it , but we basically told them , "code the procedure this way , or you won't get paid" Only once did I have to escalate to explain it to a supervisor
@kayscreativeboutique
Жыл бұрын
Did medical billing for 29 yrs. Before practices went to Electronic Medical Records, this was not nearly as much of an issue.The Dr marked the paper with what was done, and you paid either your copay or deductible, or just cash if no insurance. But you have to understand that every single thing they do has a procedure code, and that code is what determines the $ (both what they charge and what insurance "allows"). With Electronic Medical Records, they can't tell you those amounts bc the system generates everything. Also, if you need an MRI, CT Scan, etc... always ask for the "cash price" if you have a high deductible. In our cases, we would have had to pay almost 3x more than the "cash price" was if we had it go through insurance. It all sucks for sure!
@gocity9
Жыл бұрын
Sounds like the people who established medical coding are either stupid or were being malicious.
@KAnneMeinel
8 ай бұрын
Had pneumonia one year, went to urgent care. They kept me waiting four HOURS. My son was coughing with bronchitus next to me. I complained repeatedly that I'd been there so long but didn't want to leave because someone MIGHT help. Now, I understand more urgent cases coming in but that length of time was ridiculous. They made me PROMISE to come back (I didn't) because they felt there was more there that they thought they saw. I got my meds for both myself and my son. I NEVER got a bill.
@davidstowe5652
Жыл бұрын
Great job and good luck 👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍
@davidclough3951
Жыл бұрын
Btw, federal law now requires that medical facilities list their prices
@alentrav
Жыл бұрын
Ive been doing medical billing for almost 20 years. This video absolutely cracked me up! Sorry you had the misfortune to get sick in the USA, Steve. The whole system is horribly screwed
@jonathanjett8295
Жыл бұрын
When my second child was born I asked about payment and was told that someone would talk to me before we left the hospital. When we were leaving I asked again and was told I would be billed. Called multiple times over the first few months and was told I would get a bill. Six years later I was sued by the hospital for not paying them.
@GldenCat
Жыл бұрын
I was told it was based on the negotiated price with the different insurance companies. Even though I have a very high deductible, it depended upon my insurance company with the cost was for the service.
@atlanticx100
Жыл бұрын
The US health system always leaves me scratching my head. It reminds me of websites that want to sell you something but will not tell you until you have ordered it and clicked pay.
@crispyspa
Жыл бұрын
I was in a car accident that gave me what ended up being severe chronic whiplash. I have these muscle groups firing underneath my right scapula that cause constant tightness in my shoulder area and neck area causing constant pain. I was referred to a doctor that could measure these muscle firings and possibly prescribe a cure. Contacted the hospital to make sure that these tests would be covered under insurance. I contacted them twice with the same question. They said it was no problem it would be covered by insurance. The first time I contacted them I asked if they were sure. They said it was okay to go. I had my reservations. So I contacted them a second time to make sure. They said that it was all good to go. I went in to have my first reading done on my muscle grouping... I informed the person putting the electrodes on that they were in the wrong area. I tried to guide them to the right area but they insisted that they were correct in their placement. The test result came back with normal muscle action. I insisted on a second test with a different person and they placed the electrodes in the correct place revealing that the muscle grouping was indeed firing abnormally at a high rate. Causing my spasms and neck pain. When they filed with insurance, my insurance denied it because it was not covered. Mother fucker I asked you to check if it was covered.. and you didn't do it. I ended up paying $1,100 out of pocket for someone to tell me something I already knew. And they had no inkling of what to do about the pain. 15 years later I am still living with the pain. Constant headaches. There are times in which the muscles in my scapula are so tight that even heat from a heating pad and a "therocane" device massaging the muscles doesn't help. I just end up taking fistfuls of muscle relaxant and a washing them down with a bit of alcoholic drink just so I can sleep at night without being woken up with the pain. There was a lawsuit. There was payment. But it will never replace The lifelong pain that I will endure until my death. I just want the pain to be over. Preferably sooner than later.
@johnmcclain3887
Жыл бұрын
I'm a retired Marine, retired in 97, and have "free medical care for life" given my twenty plus years of service. I've dealt with this same idea for almost thirty years, even though I've only had to actually pay when I've gotten service that isn't covered by my "tricare for life" medical coverage that has morphed into "medicare" because government wants everyone to be under their umbrella so they have complete control of our health "services". I've watched this "arrive" over the past thirty years since retirement. I often got told, "we don't know" even when there isn't supposed to be any possible charge. I've had multiple sclerosis since my "classified experimental anthrax vaccine" going to the gulf in 89, and been in various shot and infusion therapies for thirty plus years. "Multiple sclerosis" is a description of the neurological injuries, not a description of the cause of the damage, still "unknown".
@markpashia7067
Жыл бұрын
Hate to tell you but they know exactly what caused your issue and will not tell you. Look up squalene. It is a vaccine enhancing drug only approved for animals but they used it in humans for that experiment. You likely had a very high fever for many days.
@stewartstone3926
6 ай бұрын
Uh Rah Marine -- Retired Squid here (20 yr, ret in 98) -- similar story, different day; Seen changes in VA but depends on region.
@dayinthelifeofmycat
Ай бұрын
It's not that they "can't" tell you the cost of the services, it's that they don't "want" to tell you the cost of the services until months later, when you have no recourse to dispute it, thus why you were overcharged.
@medicmike9069
Жыл бұрын
Hi Steve, welcome to healthcare unknown fee for service model. I’m a nurse here in Michigan and the issues for billing are numerous. The provider that seen you is either a physician assistant or nurse practitioner, which both are overseen by a physician. Typically a person is seen in the urgent care, they make a diagnosis and then at some point the overseeing doctor co-signs by agreeing with the diagnosis. It is dictated into the EMR. At some point it is sent to a billing department and ICD-10 codes are attached to the bill. The bill is sent to a insurance company. Each insurance company will pay a different amount of that bill. For example Medicaid might pay 20-30 cents on the dollar, Medicare might pay 40-60 cents on the dollar. Then say bsbcm might pay a different amount and so forth. This is an ongoing problem in this fee for model. Typically when a person has no insurance that bill might be higher than what an insurance company would pay might if someone had insurance. If it were me and if my insurance had a high deductible, I would ask them to bill my insurance. The reasons, you might get a discount even though the insurance is not covering it. You would also know what the cost is. The games we as consumers play with medical establishments and insurance companies. Remember our no fault insurance reform, say if someone got into an auto accident hospitals were charging say 2,000 for a CT scan but if it were not related an accident that same cost would be say half of that amount. We as the consumer are always at a disadvantage when it comes to medical insurance issues.
@stevenveltrie1868
Жыл бұрын
My wife had several vertigo issues. Finally found the right doc. It was a sodium issue. As long as she stay at about 1500mg or less(prefer less) she has no issues. 2-3 days of 2000 or more she gets vertigo.
@AndukeMTGEDH
Жыл бұрын
Healthcare in the U.S. is not ordered off a preset menu. When you are seen it then takes time for the doctor or physicians assistant to write up the visit and then your chart goes to billing. The people who work there have NO IDEA what ANYTHING there costs
@dougherendeen3241
Жыл бұрын
This beats when I went to a hospital for a simple stress test when I turned 50. I asked how much it costs. "Oh, we 'd have no way of knowing that." How many of these do you do? "Hundreds a year." Yet you can't tell me? "No idea." YET - ten minutes after, they had an (inflated) itemized bill printing out.
@AndrewLatham
Жыл бұрын
Health care billing vs Civil Asset Forfeiture.
@57WillysCJ
Жыл бұрын
I believe they wait to see what kind of limit to the charges are imposed by the insurer. Even if the deductable is not met many companies have worked out charge limits. These are leveraged by the size of the company. Between the insurers, state an federal regulations, doctors are having hard time not drowning paper work. Everyone knows the medical field needs to be regulated , but the added amount of paper work and dumb regulations make it difficult. As to no doctor they are probably only using a nurse practitioner or physicians assistant to make more money. Depends on Michigan's laws on whether an MD needs to be present.
@oldfart83
Жыл бұрын
Once went to a physical therapist. First visit he said we don't know how much Medicare will pay. they may pay all and you will get no bill. Went for a few sessions, never got a bill. After a while, and I was not going to the PT a get a bill from collections agency for TRIPPLE damage. I just sent check to PT for original cost, now that I knew what it was. Never hear form them again
@betelgeuse1968
Жыл бұрын
Around here, you never get a bill from the medical offices. They always just send it to collections if there is a balance remaining.
@mikeL5183
Жыл бұрын
I went for a regular check-up (required so I didn't have to pay a surcharge on my insurance. or better - so I got a discount) in September last year, everything except one blood test was covered. I finally got the bill from my provider last week. Yes, April 11 the following year - SIX MONTHS LATER! New York has a law on the books that requires medical facilities to provide a schedule of costs if requested.
@duanebuck193
Жыл бұрын
This actually is more common than a lot of people realize. My neighbors do Medical Billing and Coding from their home office, and they have at least two medical facilities that they do billing for that have zero bookeeping ability in their office - which just blows my mind. BTW - I had an incident with a small urgent care facility several years ago that was almost exactly the same scenario as this!
@PoorJohnn
Жыл бұрын
I concur with you, having worked at an HCA facility billing office and see this very often. one of the causes is it needs to be coded by a medical coder for the billing department to apply the charge.
@DansplainingVideo
Жыл бұрын
I've never been to an urgent care, but when receiving medical services, the cost has ALWAYS been a mystery. Sometimes I don't know for 9-10 months how much a medical service cost.
@tekkigizmo
Жыл бұрын
Yeah neither did they, they just threw numbers out there until something stuck.
@sarowie
Жыл бұрын
@@tekkigizmo they precisely know how much they charge to non covered patient. They take what treatment costs and multiply it by the insurance discount. Because that is important: The guy working at the insurance needs to negotiate large discounts and the hospital needs to operate. So to offer huge discounts, the hospital just inflates the base cost.
@PrinceAlberts
Жыл бұрын
My son had emergency surgery at an in-network hospital with in network doctors and I was still getting bills for over two years. Nobody at the hospital or my insurance company could tell me how much I owed or when the bills would stop.
@tekkigizmo
Жыл бұрын
@@sarowie What a way to run a healthcare system.
@tekkigizmo
Жыл бұрын
@@PrinceAlberts Hope you and your son are doing well now..
@ostlandr
Жыл бұрын
Quite a few years ago, we got a notification from our insurance company that they were denying coverage for lab tests from (Hospital) Laboratory. Unusual for our insurance, but the amount was small enough it wasn't worth it to argue about it. So we paid it. Awhile later, we got a notice that the insurance company had gotten a bill from (Hospital Initials) Laboratory Services- same date, same tests. And this time, the insurance is going to pay it! So we called our insurance company to alert them to the fraud. It took some talking to explain that we were asking them to NOT pay a bill. One CSR said "No one has ever asked that before." Never got info on how they dealt with the crooked hospital.
@ContagiousRepublic
Жыл бұрын
I wish an US health insurance company would go "we cover it if it's covered under healthcare in Ontario, Canada, and at Xpercent the canadian cost if not" It would cut thru all the bullshit that iinsurance companies change on the fly after contracts are signed which happens a LOT about the price of the various treatments.....
@hemi398
7 ай бұрын
Good rant. Yes, I have been there when they screw-up and decline my insurance or failed to charge my insurance (They were not sure) and sent us an $8,000+ bill. Thank goodness my UNION Healthcare Trust took care of contacting the various billing businesses once I spoke with them and reduced it to about $1,600.
@dwayneday6982
Жыл бұрын
Hey Steve love the video. I had a local Dr. office turn in about 15 different bills to collection. They never sent me a total bill of what I owed. It was for several visits. All of those collection bills hit my credit. I had signed up for Credit Karma and I disputed all of those bills. They were all removed. The best part is All of those bills never got paid!
@albertlanger2339
Жыл бұрын
In Australia, we have a different way of treating people in need. A year ago, my shoulder was severely dislocated at my home. After calling 000 (your 911) the process started - all free. My problem has been trying to get them to charge my private health provider. Failure.
@mikeweller9933
Жыл бұрын
The longer it takes to bill you the closer to $100 that aspirin charge is. I had almost the identical experience but it took them nearly 18 months.
@johnp139
Жыл бұрын
My Tylenol in the hospital was only 50 cents.
@BeagleLove13
Жыл бұрын
I worked in medical billing for 25 years and the office people won’t know what you owe unless they provide a non covered service that they are taking payment up front. To know what you owe they send the medical records to a medical coder who turns your services and diagnosis into billing codes. (Different levels of office visits are charge different amounts. The level isn’t known until it’s coded.) Once the codes are entered into their system which adds the fees per their practice fee schedule. Then they bill any insurance you have, if contracted with your insurance they take reductions per the contract and bill you the contractual amount if the insurance doesn’t pay. They bill you the full amount if they are not contracted or if you have no insurance. You shouldn’t have paid them anything until they provided you with the itemized bill and once you got that for your records you should have negotiated a reduction of the balance in exchange for immediate payment. Then I’d have reported them for sending you to collections when they never billed you directly. You just got unlucky because the clinic has a bad billing service. Since most practices have been outsourcing more and more they quality of work has gone way downhill.
@alanwhite6161
Жыл бұрын
What a wonderful health system you have in America.
@gailmckay5551
Жыл бұрын
The urgent care I went to recently made me give like a hundred dollar deposit before they would even see me. Complete opposite. This country has become so bizarre it blows my mind.
@sombojoe
Жыл бұрын
Haven’t laws been enacted or at least proposed to mandate being able to get how much medical services will be?
@hypochondriac4491
Жыл бұрын
Thats the way billing works. They have to see your insurance, and what the contracted rates are. So Insurance A contracted rate is $20, while Insurance B rate is $30. Then if you pay cash you have a special rate, over the posted rate. It's all a big game
@spyder000069
Жыл бұрын
Frontier screwed me years ago. I had their bundle deal with home phone and dish network. The home phone worked 10% of the time (we are in the country). Constantly would pick up the handset with no dial tone or anything. Useless. Called frontier and told them we no longer want the home phone and would continue to use dish network. They said no problem and they said I would receive one final bill from them and from then all future bills would come from dish network. Frontier bill came and I paid it. Dish network bills came and I paid them. Then 6 months later I get a notice from frontier that I had an outstanding bill and if not paid I would be sent to collections. I called them and they explained there was a small additional bill that came after the final billing cycle. So I paid it over the phone and they said no collection action would be taken. A month later a deliquent note was placed on my credit history from frontier. Called their management and they would do nothing about it. Contacted the credit reporting agencies and they made a case with frontier but they would not change it. Its off my credit at this point but I will never do business with frontier again.
@smith899
Жыл бұрын
11:38 There used to be a restaurant in the Upper Montclair, NJ area that sent the bill to you a few days layer, after they figured out how much the meal cost them to make.
@MsLally5
Жыл бұрын
Steve, Imagine being told by your health insurance company (high deductable plan) that its covered, and 2 months later getting a collection call telling you to pay 10k!!!! NEVER receiving a statement prior with the balance due.
@justnana2256
Жыл бұрын
My local emergency room is like that. Not only that, but when I asked for an itemized bill they said they didn't do that. When I finally got one I found they charged for many things I didn't get or they didn't do. They have a standard ER bill and only add things to it but never subtract what they don't use. The time spent with the billing department was time-consuming and very frustrating and didn't end until I told her to go get all the things they were billing me for that I didn't get.
@Garth2011
Жыл бұрын
Yes, just like when you are treated by the E.R. or admitted and they supply you will a drinking cup...it comes in a package of maybe 15 items that satisfy all sorts of stays or examinations except for the one you are there for and the patient is paying for things never needed nor used except for one item, the drink cup. Very draconian.
@justnana2256
Жыл бұрын
@@Garth2011 Yes. Also charged me for an IV which they brought in because I was "slightly dehydrated" which I refused. That was a huge amount.
@MrDejast
Жыл бұрын
Ok as a mechanic I'm now the car doctor I cannot tell you how much for the brakes and shocks, but you'll be billed later. Thank you for your business. Sincerely medical mechanic.
@bkstudio1990
6 ай бұрын
I was always advised to never pay without an itemized bill and never pay collections, pay the orignal biller.
@careborne
Жыл бұрын
I work at an urgent care. It's all correct. In FL, by law a facility must identify the exact costs.
@2fuzy
Жыл бұрын
I had a $58 medical bill haunt me for 4yrs that no one would accept payment on or knew what it was for but kept sending me to the next billing company then another etc.....our medical/insurance system is just completely stupid
@fk4515
Жыл бұрын
I used to be a maintenance supervisor for a company that had 25 locations. We were on national account for our lubricating oils. I ordered the oil from our local distributor, they delivered the oil with no idea how much we were paying. A week or so I'd get a bill from the oil company for my oil and pay it. The distributor explained they sent the oil company a statement of what they delivered to the oil company, the oil company would bill us and send the distributor money for the oil and a commission. I'd order the oil with no idea how much it was and the business who delivered it had no idea what I was paying.
@randomstuff-qu7sh
Жыл бұрын
Hate to say it, but that's fairly common. Billing in the medical industry is not standardized. The cost of services rendered is not the same for everyone. If you are with Insurance company A on plan 23, you pay a different amount for the same services than someone with insurance company C on plan 51. If you're uninsured, then you get the base rate, which is usually inflated in order to give insurance companies "discounts". However, that's not always the case. Sometimes, uninsured people pay less than insured people due to the negotiated prices specific to various insurance plans. Then, throw in variables: just because your insurance claims to cover it doesn't mean it'll be approved. They don't know in advance what the insurance company will approve and what it won't. For that matter, it could get denied due to a paperwork error, but it costs the medical facility too much to fight it, so they instead bill you the extra and let you battle it out with your insurance company.
@matthewspaccarelli5007
Жыл бұрын
It is crazy to me that this is the first time you have had to go through this. I had the same exact problem more than 20 years ago. It is insane to have no idea what you're getting into with health care. I once went into an emergency room on a Sunday because I had a tick in the middle of my back that I couldn't reach when I was traveling, I could not find an open urgent care. I asked the hospital how much it would cost because I could only afford a couple hundred bucks, and they said don't worry about it. We're here to help people. It shouldn't be more than $250. Months later I got a $1,500 bill.
@2themaster
Жыл бұрын
Our insurance also have a ridiculous deductible, so we choose pay cash and never use our insurance. Our urgent care is $149 for an appointment. They will also tell you what the labs/Ex-rays will cost before they do them.
@3goldfinger
Жыл бұрын
My son did his back in really bad, in a lot of pain and couldn't walk upright, had to wait a few days for a MRI scan. After the doctors examined the scan, they used a computer controlled robot to inject into the nerve running next to the spinal cord. When I asked him how much, he said, nothing, bulk billed. We are in Australia.
@jmcg6160
Жыл бұрын
Usually, you want to go through insurance because of the pre-negotiated discounts are cheaper than the "Book Rates" that are charged. UNLESS there is a cash discount. There are some docs, dentists, free standing labs and radiology centers in places that offer "cash" prices.
@blackhat4968
Жыл бұрын
I recall an incident where a woman(?) went to a clinic/hospital/ER/care facility, checked in (told them she was there and why) was directed to the waiting room with everyone else, waited there for like 5-6 hours, then just got up and left. (Not sure if it was cause she felt better, or had things to do.) A few weeks later she got a bill in the mail for $500(?) from the facility. Even though she never saw anyone except the receptionist at the check in desk. Their explanation why she owed money? Well she may not have been "seen" by a nurse or doctor, but they were "told" why she was there, and they had triaged her as someone who could wait until after other more critical cases, and she need to pay for their time in deciding she could wait.
@georgemartin1436
Жыл бұрын
GREAT. Just was at UrgentCare two weeks ago under similar circumstances...got crutches, a knee brace, and also had NO CLUE as to the cost. Now I wait...
@mikejarsoon167
Жыл бұрын
same thing happened to me in Atlanta with piedmont urgent care. bunch of scammers. never go again.
@rockymntnliberty
Жыл бұрын
That is crazy, my experience with my last medical treatment, was quite different. The last time I received medical treatment was about 13 years ago, and I went to an Urgent Care type facility and got 22 stitches in my scalp. Before they started, I requested, and they gave me an approximate price, and then upon completion I paid $300 for the entire process. Overall I was pretty pleased with the entire process. I figured it probably would have cost me several thousand if I'd gone to the emergency room.
@gailwatson4927
Жыл бұрын
I love Friday's videos.
@davidcookmfs6950
Жыл бұрын
The overwhelming majority of medical offices are like this. The doctors, nurse practitioners, in a clinic have absolutely no training in how to work up a bill. Almost all medical offices use outside billers and coders. It is a profession in and of itself with specialists on coding and billing for specific medical fields, e.g. cardiology, neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, infectious disease, dentistry, etc. The coders go through your medical records to determine what to bill based on diagnoses and procedures. That is almost never done in house. It is outrageously complicated and time consuming to do, using vert expensive software that a small practice could not afford, but the AMA, Medicare and insurance companies created this morass. And a lot of urgent care clinics are staffed with nurse practitioners who can doe just about everything a physician can except surgery.
@danielparrish5438
Жыл бұрын
My wife works for a hospital in billing and depending on your insurance and how you are going to pay your bill may be different. Insurance have worked out billing prices to charge for certain services and it could be different from company to company. In her hospital they charge more to people who don't have insurance but they give you a discount if you pay cash up front. In Texas they have to provide you with a "cost of services" if asked and if additional unexpected costs are added and they have to explain them. I had a friend that was told his knee surgery would be $2,800 after his insurance paided but got a bill for $18,000 instead. He filed a protest with the state board that ruled in his favor and said after reviewing his file he owed only $3,000 instead of the $18,000 he was billed.
@kapdolkim1914
Жыл бұрын
Same thing happened to me - twice. Went to major hospital for a blood draw (no insurance). Asked how much it will be? Just a simple blood draw for a lab. "No, we don't know." OK, will it be 0 to $200 or 200 to 500? "Under 200", so I go get the blood draw. After, I asked to pay. I waited 45 minutes for them to create a bill. The bill was like $12. I triple checked with them as it seems too low. Triple confirmed. I paid. I was living outside the country (hence no insurance). I left soon after and didn't rerurn for 10 months. Upon returning, I get a bunch of mail from my mom. She didn't bother opening anything. I get bunch of collection notices. So I call the hospital. I was told the cost was higher than the $12 I paid so they sent me a bill - and then collections. I threatened to shit on them so they just ate the bill. The next trip I had my newborn with me. He got sick so took him to a pediatrician. 10 minutes visit. I asked to pay. They said $175 (you pay triple if you pay cash). I paid on the spot. A few weeks later I get a bill for $175. I call. They are confused and asked me to FAX my receipt over. I went ape shit and said I charge $500 an hour for my services if they are willing to pay. She shut up.
@ccdowda
Жыл бұрын
If you had said "no, I don't have insurance" they would have sent you a bill that you could have paid. The health system is MESSED UP!! How much they charge depends more on who is paying than what they did for you.
@freethebirds3578
Жыл бұрын
I've lived in places in which our uninsured bill was not discounted, but very high because we had to make up for Medicaid underpayments. Much of the population were on Medicaid, and that ended up keeping the system on the edge of bankruptcy.
@map4242
Жыл бұрын
I've had a very similar experience. Several years ago, I went to the hospital (emergency room) for about 8 hours. My bill was immediately sent to collections which messed up my ability to pay with HSP/HSA medical insurance savings. They turned something that should have been easy into a costly nightmare. Also, every doctor's office in the area that has been bought by that hospital at least doubled their rates over what they had charged previously. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case with the urgent care Steve went to. Funny how my dentist and optometrist always know what I owe when I am leaving on the day of service so I can pay them immediately.
@williampage622
Жыл бұрын
Thank you Federal Government and third party payer.
@loismiller2830
Жыл бұрын
Healthcare billing is a scam. Talk about adding stress to a sick person and making things worse. It gives me vertigo.
@rdoody2067
Жыл бұрын
I have had similar experience. Administrative medical cost have skyrocket. It went to collections. I told them “I think you have broken the law by sending this to collections.” It got resolved.
@billsimmons7754
Жыл бұрын
When I had a high deductible health insurance policy the insurance company was always billed. One benefits of this is that should you reach your deductible all costs have been documented. The other benefit is that you pay what the insurance company would have paid. In the bills I have seen, the insurance company pays about a third of what the hospital would bill you. I have seen things like $10,000 operating room preparation charge by the hospital reduced to $0 by the insurance company. I think most medical billing companies are home based businesses. The doctor (or the doctors cousin) says I did a pelvic exam. Billing company converts this to a numeric code. This is the language that insurance companies speak.
@wizeman50
Жыл бұрын
For what it’s worth I went through that. went to the ED and they diagnosed vertigo. Found out several years later it was actually a stroke. Please Make sure you get an MRI to be safe.
@Hatbox948
Жыл бұрын
Yes, definitely. My nephew, who we thought was perfectly healthy, had two strokes close together. He's in his early 50,s. He survived, but is permanently disabled now.
@baltoflyer7503
Жыл бұрын
I went to an Urgent Care in the period of time between when I came off my parent's insurance and when I got my own. Before I saw anyone I told the person at the desk I don't have insurance and asked how much it would be. I was told $100 which I paid. A week or so later, I got a bill for something like $394. I fought it and got it reduced, but 1. This is why I asked, and 2. I was quoted a price by an employee, they have to honor it, but because it's medical they won't and they'll make my life hell for years if I don't pay it.
@CallegriaofSoulbound
Жыл бұрын
This is one of the major reason people need lawyers walking into ANY health care. What they do is they build the bill, get the information from your insurance company, once they have learned the basics of your coverage they send the insurance a bill based on codes for the work, your insurance responds two to 5 days later with we will pay X, they haggle with the insurance about paying more, then they take what is left of the bill and honest to god they have people who are hired to say "this guy is in this money bracket and he is likely to pay up to X amount" and they either send out the bill OR they add to hit that X amount. I use to be close friends with a man who did this for a living. Now a days they use pc programs to calculate the extra charge but that is really how they do it. Health care providers are bigger abusers of emergency work then any HVAC or Plumbing company ever was. If you have really good paying medical insurance they will try to give you every test under the sun.
@pjp_renaissance
Жыл бұрын
I live in Canada so I might be off base speaking about a system I have no personal experience with, but I have heard that some urgent care facilities have been moving towards a surge pricing model; that would explain why they would "not know" the cost of it until after.
@danfallows5774
Жыл бұрын
I thought some politician made medical bill transparency a law or executive order or something like that. I guess that's not a thing anymore. But I remember seeing a politician's speech where he brought up people with outrageous medical bills and did a good presentation on the issue.
@jimellison3358
Жыл бұрын
I have a problem similar to this with the group of hospitals on by a religious group. I go in for bloodwork on a regular basis. It will take up to six months to get a bill, and I also have been turned over their collection more than once for an items, I've never been billed for so welcome to the club.
@epicemmalee2000
6 ай бұрын
The insurance wants it to be extremely expensive because they are capped at only profiting from a percentage of the bill. The hospitals, clinics, and insurance companies are all working together to scam the patient out of as much money as possible. I expected to pay about $2k after insurance for a wrist procedure I had recently and the combined bills were over $3k and I got bills from 3 different parties. The hospital eventually gave me an itemized bill and I was incensed to discover that I had paid $110 for an unnecessary pregnancy test that I had not known about and therefore hadn't given informed consent to. They never asked me if there was a possibility of me being pregnant, they just did the test and billed me $110 for it. 🤦♀️
@GalileonPrime
Жыл бұрын
My take away, is that that facility will not treat anyone without insurance. So someone with your illness would have had to schedule an appointment with a doctors office, and possibly and miss work.
@oslro
Жыл бұрын
Quite a difference from what it is in Norway, where the prices at urgent care is at a fixed price.
@CEvans789
Жыл бұрын
Reminds me of "We have to pass the bill to find out what's in it."
@rationalbushcraft
Жыл бұрын
Hey Steve the Affordable Care Act does have a section 45 CFR §180.50 that requires all "hospitals" (not sure what the act defines as hospital) to have transparency in common procedures cost. My local hospital has it but they have it well hidden on their website. I have good google-fu abilities so I was able to find it but I bet most people can't. I have noticed they don't follow it unless you call them out then they will adjust your bill to their published prices. So just everyone be aware that those price list went into effect a year or two ago so if your hospital doesn't have it turn them in. My reading doesn't show much teeth to that part of the law but it might make for some interesting discussion with their billing people. It sounds like they might use Athena Net for the practice management as I think they do this kind of thing.
@joepalmer1594
Жыл бұрын
The problem with their "published price list" is that is the maximum they can charge non-insured, non-Medicare/Medicaid patients. Each insurance company has different "allowable charges" for each billing code and each provider. Medicare/Medicaid have completely different allowable charges that even vary within a state. (They can charge different amounts in NYC and Poughkeepsie from the same provider) Another issue is billing procedures. Say you break your finger and go to get it splinted. The provider will bill for "finger splitting, one each," then bill for the doctor or PA who splinted it as they may be working for a different company 9n contract. Then if they took an x-ray, they bill you separately for that. Also, they bill you for the person in Australia who read the x-ray because it was the middle of the night in Poughkeepsie and no one was on-site to read it. It can get even worse for Medicare/Medicaid as some providers have Medicare billing agents who bill for the "finger splitting, one each" and, if successfully paid, will go back and bill for each item used in the splint kit to see if they can squeeze a bit more money out of the system. I have frequently said that "if I ever turn to the dark side, it would be Medicare/Medicaid fraud!"
@nurseadrianern
Жыл бұрын
Yes the negotiated rates with insurances companies will always be lower (45-60%)-yes that low- than cash pay rates- which further places uninsured & underinsured individuals into debt. The system is designed to be complex and exasperating. Also very few states have recently begun placing caps on the finance charges (apr) and fees additionally added.
@Garth2011
Жыл бұрын
One thing for sure that is needed in the definitions sections is the meaning of "tranparency" just so that everyone understands what and who that applies to.
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