Insured 20 year old man stuck with $11,000 hospital bill

Which wars, in your opinion, were necessary? And why do you believe they were necessary?

 

Well

It was the generic "you".

Quote where it requires free unlimited vital and emergency care to any and everyone.

If we have unlimited universal government health care how else are we going to pay for it?

I have no idea what you are trying to say.

It was in response to someone else, you broke into the thread not me.

Where in Article 1, Section 8 does it say government shall provide unlimited health care to the People?

 

I asked about national defense, not the Iraq war. Some some of our national defense is necessary? Where does it limit it? In fact doesn't Constitution specifically charge the United States government to maintain our defense and to pay for it through taxes and tariffs?

 

You keep saying it but never back that up. Do you even know what "collectivism" is?

Interesting. So you rely on others to produce advances.

Can you show me where I said 2 to 1 or is this only in your mind?

I feel sorry for you and your life experience.

 

As a person who works in healthcare billing, the cost of care is determined by the insured's insurance company who is contracted with the hospital. Hospitals can charge what ever they want to but the insurance company is only going to pay a specific amount per contract. Since all providers of healthcare must contract with as many insurance companies as they can in their area to stay in business, they are at the mercy of insurance companies who determine the actual cost of medical services.

The reason it is priced so high is to fool the average Joe that healthcare is expensive so they justify needing health insurance. If everyone was allowed to get a copy of the fee schedule of their contracted insurance they would soon realize what a scam health insurance is. Since we are not and it is this reason why we can't get a copy of the fees, things will never change.

 

Thank you. That makes sense and comports with what I know of the system.

 

That is nonsense. The insurance company only PAYS what their contract says. The patients often pay the rest. Look at the billing for the uninsured. They are responsible for the entire amount from the hospital. Sometimes it is higher than what the hospital bills an insurer. The hospitals do not have to be concerned about what the insurer will pay. They will get the rest from the patient. Most insurance plans do not cover all the costs.

Why you want to let hospitals off the hook makes no sense to me?

 

Bomac: The poster may well be allowing hospitals off the hook, but I believe that you misunderstood the post to some extent. The hospitals frequently are not able to collect from private pay patients and simply have to write it off. The insurers have impoverished the average "Joe" who carries and pays for his own insurance to such an extent that, after what the insurer pays, all the hospitals are able to collect are pittances. I have seen a number of patients who simply pay $5/mo. on the balances and they have actually told me that they believe that, as long as they pay something, the hospital cannot do anything about it. I believe that what is going on is that it costs so much to initiate collection efforts and the fruits of collection are so sparse, the hospitals will take what they can get. They do, however, maximize the out of pocket costs to collect more from those who are able to pay, which is an abuse in itself.

 

I know all this but not paying your hospital bills can affect your credit. I fractured my wrist 2 years ago and it cost me $1,000 out of pocket. The hospital did not just accept the insurer's payment. They asked more from me.

I understand that much of these "extra" costs are written off but hospitals do expect those that can pay will pay. I believe that the total cost for the wrist was close to $15,000. I do not believe that the service that I receive was worth $15,000. That is the additional problem. Our premiums go up because of these deals between insurers and hospitals, especially specialists. There is still a lot of reliance by both entities that the people will cover anything that the private sector businesses agree on.

Also, those without insurance are still charged that $15,000 or even more. That hurts any credit rating if they cannot pay it back in full. Their credit rating can affect other transactions that they make. These are not poor people because Medicaid covers them fully.

In both situation, these are patients who do work and make more than the poverty level. That is hurting the lower middle class.

 

I am not defending the hospitals since they are helping the insurance company justify their need for them. Do you still have the EOB from when you had your wrist done? If so, how much did the insurance company actually pay on that 15,000 and how much was written off?

 

They believe that is because the hospitals accept those small monthly payments. They really do not have much of a choice since sending them to collections may mean they get nothing.

 

The insurers insurance company also dictates what your portion is of the bill, not the hospital or any other healthcare provider that is contracted with them.

 

Yes they do care about what the insurance company will pay them because they know whatever the patient owes is going to be difficult to collect all at once.

 

Hospitals use to turn the debt over to collection agencies. Those agencies use to use several harassing techniques to make life hell for those debtors. Fortunately, laws were passed to fine these agencies for some of their techniques. So, yes, the hospitals still try to sell their debts but the agencies charge them more. But it still happens. The hospitals still try to wring every dollar they can out of patients.

 

I probably still have the total somewhere. But the hospital charge $15,000 and what the insurance didn't paid, I paid.

Please do not try to defend the $15,000. The hospital got it from the insurer or me.

 

Baloney. The insurer pays what they believe it should cost and I pay the rest. You are acting like a tool for the hospitals.

 

I fully agree with everything that you have said and, if I get on a rant, can add much to it. I cannot understand why the American public is not more incensed by this, but believe that it is because a very large segment of it is employed by large corporations that furnish health insurance policies, at great expense, with low deductibles, so that only those of us who are self-employed can see what such coverage costs. Those employed by large companies do not perceive the impact that the cost of their insurance has upon their salaries, so they just don't get it.

 

And the collection industry is flourishing. And the finance industry has essentially set up its own courts, so that it does not have to seek a judgment against you from a presumably independent judge, it can punish you itself without a trial by ruining your credit. You can appeal or answer the credit blemish, but you know who judges that, don't you? And they punish you with higher interest rates, higher insurance rates (although there may have been a recent court case that prohibits that?) and a number of other penalties, which the Congress refuses to regulate under fear of losing their vacation junkets and campaign contributions.

 

I have no credit at all [Thin File], virtually no income and by law ER care debt cannot be a criminal charge even if I know I can't pay. So I just refuse to pay and if they want to go after my VAST paupers assets they can. No one has tried yet.