Hospital bill??? 
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Hospital bill???
Connor's hospital bill was charged to us from our Aetna insurance... OMGosh! They say we owe HALF of the bill... $1,107!!
Do any of you have any way of lowering this type of bill? We used to be on my Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance when I was teaching and we only had to pay $100 to have Connor, and that was a C-section. I can't stand Aetna insurance. We can never call on weekends and, during the week, we can't call until 9am Pacific time when they open.
I'm just in shock...I can't believe it. We were going to travel for Christmas and now we can't. Scott's brother is supposed to come home from Iraq around that time and we were all going to go see him. I'm happy my son is healthy now, but I just can't believe the price tag on this hospital bill!! Just had to vent...
Vent away.....we had MegaLife Insurance when dd broke her arm. She had to go to the operating room to have it set. The total bills, including the ER doc, the initial doc, the anesthesiologist, the hospital bill plus her ortho doc came to $6000. We have to pay $4000 of it. She was in the OR for ten minutes. That part of the bill was $2000. That is $100. a minute!!!!
Ds broke his arm at school while playing dodgeball. No insurance at the time. That bill was over $1000. I tried to go through the school's insurance policy but since it was not negligence, they would not pay.
Needless to say, we are making payments each month. The good side of the medical bills is that they can not take you to court as long as you pay a minimum of $5. a month. We are paying much more to get the debt paid off. They also do not add on interest.
Health care and insurance is horrible. I recently took ds to the dr for a sinus infection.
The antibiotic was $100 for a five day dose!!! Normally our dr doesn't prescribe such high $ meds but this time I didn't ask before they mixed it up. I guess I could have refused it. He drank every DROP!
{{{Heidi}}}} Call the hospital and see if you can negotiate the bill. Tell them, that you don't have the money to pay it and see what they will do. Sometimes, they will lower the amount. Also, go over all of the charges and make sure they are correct. My Dad had heart problems and was in the hospial last year, they double billed him for some things.
Hospial bills are ridiculous. My ds had an endioscopy done back in Jan. It was an out patient procedure. I got a copy of the bill and it was $4,000! I was so thankful that we have insurance.
Yikes! That a lot of money. So you have a 50% copay for ER and hospital stays? Did you know that when you signed up for Aetna? That sounds a bit high. I'm glad that in the military we have 100% coverage on everything pretty much because we'd go broke in the real world. I was showing DH the costs of health coverage in the civilian world (monthly dues and copays) and I think his eyes nearly popped out of his head. It's outrageous! I hope you get this fixed. The one thing I do know is that insurance companies are pretty good about setting up payment plans. They'd rather take it in increments than not get it at all.
Scott looked at it more closely tonight...there is a $600 deductible, a $200 copay, and then we have to pay 20% on top of that. Grrr....
I'm so sorry! We're very fortunate that my husband's company has always provided excellent 100% coverage. I know so many people that don't have that benefit and it's really ridiculous. Your insurance coverage sounds more like the norm to me. My teacher insurance was similar to Aetna, so you really had it lucky to have such good teacher insurance when you did. The premiums around here for teachers are ridiculous and the coverage isn't that great.
I'm sure you can work out a payment plan and maybe that will allow you to still take your trip over the holidays. Medical insurance in this country is just getting out of control. So sorry! What a way to mess up your day!
We have tons of medical bills because of my health problems. On top of that, I had to quit working my full time job suddenly and we had just gotten a new used car.
I am still paying on hospital bills from 4 years ago. We never have extra money because it all goes towards hospital bills that we are paying monthly.
They don't expect you to pay it all at once. Set up a payment plan that you can meet monthly. I usually have to pay $25 a month on most of mine. But that is because I have so many. On a couple of our bigger ones, we pay $100 and $50. The one hundred dollar a month one is one from UVA in Charlottesville. We owed over 4,000 and that was after our insurance paying 80%!!! We are diligently paying that one because I expect to have to have to have another treatment there soon.
Our credit is shot. We are slowly trying to build it up, but with so many outstanding medical bills, it is nearly impossible. Some of the hospitals refused to work with us, and even though we were paying $25 a month, they wanted almost $200 and we couldn't pay it. They sent it to collections, and they happily and so kindly accepted the $25 a month payments with no argument.
Don't take away from your planned Christmas. It's not worth it. Your hospital bill can and will wait. It takes them forever to do anything about it. Set up payments for a few months, and then when you have the money after Christmas, if you want, pay off the balance. Trust me. The hospital will not have a problem with that. Even the ones that don't want to give you low payments, will accept you paying them off in a year or two.
Good luck, and I completely understand. Just don't let yourself get bent all out of shape over the bill. It just isn't worth it.
I used to work in the business office of a hospital, my suggestion is call the business office and ask for an itemized billing of his visit. Go over it with a fine tooth comb looking for duplicates, etc... THEN call and make a payment arrangement and go visit your brother in law. Few people can actually afford to pay it all up front and the hospitals know that, as long as you communicate with them AND keep up with what you agree to do there won't be a problem. Don't set payment arangements to high were you can't really do them, make them realistic for you. They'd rather it take longer and be consistent then not at all or infrequent. Good luck, glad he's doing so much better.
Emily's appendectomy cost $11,000 for the stuff they did in the hospital, plus she had labwork done at the clinic.
$20 co-pay at the clinic
$250 for the hospital stay (and she was there less than 24 hours!)
Plus 10% of the bill. ($1100)
I was glad we had insurance. We sign up for the insurance again this next week. Co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses are going up. I'm glad this happened last year!
Thanks you guys...I don't feel so alone. And, Christylee, I will *definitely* take your advice! Thanks so much for the help!! 
Every healthcare plan is different, from the co-pays to the deductible to the percentage covered after all of that. Unfortunately, the less that is covered, the cheaper the premiums are. After all, insurance is a business. And it's a business that operates NOT in your favor.
Definitely call the billing office and work out a payment plan. They will likely try to pressure you into paying it off within 4 to 6 months - that is what they are told to do. Tell them you simply cannot afford to do that. Have a figure in mind before you call, something you can reasonably afford to pay monthly. Then tell them that is ALL you can afford to pay, and that you will happily pay that monthly until the balance is paid. Don't be intimidated by threats of being turned over to a collection agency. If I understand correctly, as long as you agree to a monthly amount and you make the payments on time, they cannot turn you over to a collection agency.
Definitely talk to the hospital about a payment plan. But, don't be surprised if they turn you over to a collection agency. I don't agree with Karen - you have no "contract" with the hospital that stops them from turning you over to a collection agency, and they can do that at any time. They would be foolish to do it, but they will do whatever their internal policies are set up for. The problem with this, of course, is that if they turn you over to a collection agency, it goes on your credit record - which is the leverage they hold over your head when they try to get you to promise a larger monthly payment. As Karen says, have a figure in mind, and stick to your guns. They can't force you to agree to a larger monthly payment, but they will try very hard to pressure you into it. You know what you can afford. You don't intend to stiff them, and there is no good reason to give up your holiday plans or deprive your family of other things for this bill.
(I started to write about health insurance and health care in general, and realized that if I want to open this conversation, I'd better do it on the debate board. I won't open it now, but may at a later date.)
We have always had aetna too. They can have very high co pays, you can pay to lower them, but honestly it doesn't balance out.
so what to do about the hospital bill. First, do not pay it right up front. Give it a couple of months to make sure the insurance stuff gets all straight and you have all the bills. Aetna is notorious for changing and paying a bit more at a later date. Then call the hospital and say you can't pay it, but would love to set up a plan, pay as little a month as you can. After a year most hospitals will call and ask if you can settle up, if they reduced the amount. You also can just not pay at all, after about 6 months they will do the same thing (but you have to deal with creditors calling).
Ginny, I didn't mean to imply she had a *contract*, I am basing my opinion on how the system works in my area, and it may well work differently where she lives. The usual thing here is they tell you it must be paid in full in 6 months. For most of us, that is impossible if the total amount due is high. Typically, if you agree on a specific amount you can pay, and you pay it on time, every month, they won't turn you over to a collection agency. They just want to get their money, and if it takes a bit longer than they would like, they work with you if you work with them. However, IF you miss a payment or start making payments past the due date, they will then place you in collections.
And Ginny, I'd really like you to post on the Debate Board. I'll be looking forward to it!
I misunderstood, Karen. I know, from my internet reading of newspaper columns, that in some areas if you don't pay it off in 3-4 months you are turned over to a collection agency, no matter how faithful you are in making the payments. It makes sense from the hospital's perspective, as they don't have to do any more record keeping or collection work, and the collection agency gets a percentage of what they collect.
Actually it doesnt make sense to the hospital. Say you owe $1000, somebody is paying $50 a month on this bill. If the hospital waits all those payments they get 100% of the charge, they can and sometimes do charge interest so the hospital ends up happy. If you turn that account over to a collection agency, the hospital only gets about 50% of the total so $500, and that is if you pay it. Usually if you get turned to collections it means you didnt have the $ in the first place. So the hospital "may" get the $500 sometime or other.
The hospital that I worked for felt that option number 1 was much better than option 2. They may also send you to a 3rd party biller. This is not a collection agency but a company that handles your payment plan so that the hospital business office can move your bill over to a more long term maintanance type of account since most business offices are more of a 90 day or less operation.
Now it would not suprise me any if some hospitals take a much more aggressive approch to collections which is a shame imo and also poor business planning.
Ugh, trust me. They certainly do. My local hospital is awful.
I was just seventeen when I had my daughter. I had great insurance through my father, but I still had to pay a portion of the bill. I wasn't on Medicaid or anything.
So, I owe about 2,000 and I call to set up a payment plan. I am seventeen, just graduated highschool, going to college full time, and working on weekends to help support my baby, with my parents help. My father is disabled and had retired early from General Motors, and my mother worked only a part time job. I was not getting any help at all from the government, social services, etc. so the only money coming in was that.
I wanted to pay them $25 a month. They refused and told me I had to pay at least $100 a month. I told them I could not afford that, explained the situation, and told them I would pay $25 a month, and more if I had it. They said they could take nothing less than $89.00 a month. So I sent in $25 payments for the next three months. They took it and had no problem cashing those checks, but the next thing I knew, there was a collection agency calling me. Even though I was making payments, it wasn't what the hospital wanted, so they sent it over to her.
She asked me what monthly payments I could make. I told her $25, the payment I had been making, was as much as I could afford. She happily said okay, and I paid her monthly till I finally paid it off.
Doesn't make sense to me. The hospital didn't get the payment any sooner, and they got less of it because of the collection agency's fee.
Some hospitals are wonderful to work with. I've noticed the bigger ones have given me an easier time. This crummy hospital was a small local hospital.
We wouldn't let it get to a collection agency point. We can pay it off in 6 months. I'm going to call them today to get an itemized bill and see if there are any duplicate charges.
I just don't want to buy plane tickets and realize that they want all this money up front. If so, then we can pull it out of savings. I just didn't want to have to do that. We protect our savings *very* much.
Just do not be TOO honest with them up front. They will have no problem with you paying it off in six months. They won't know what to think, more than likely!! But just don't let them know that if you have to you can pay it all now because that is what they will make you do.
Set up a payment plan, buy your plane tickets, enjoy your visit, and then worry about paying off that bill!!! You won't have any need to worry about it going to collections with being able to pay it off within a year.
Thanks, Adena.
I just called them and asked for an itemized statement, just to be sure there aren't any duplicate charges.
Then, the lady said that they contract their billing out to a company whom we can talk to when we get the bill in the mail. She said that they do payment plans.
It's always a good idea to get an itemized bill. Very often you get charged for services or items you did not receive, or double-charged for others.
When I had Jen, we went over the hospital bill VERY carefully, and we found several hundred dollars of charges that had to be removed. It is to your benefit to check the bill. Good luck!
We used to have Aetna insurance when my DH was with his company only part time. Yuck. We hated it. It was not good for emergencies.
Payment plans are almost always accepted. As low as $20 a month (for the rest of your life,lol).
OMG Heidi,
I'm sorry to hear that you hav eto pay that much afte ryour insurance paid there amount.
My ds was jsut hospitalized on the 15 of Sept, for Pneumonia and his oxygen levels would nto stay up. We where there for a full daay adn a half, children's sent me a bill for $6447.88. I in turn contacted my insurance company ( MDIPA) whom has doen away with all copays for children under the age of 13. BUt the lady told me to send thema copy of the bill, I'vebeen waiting to receive my bill for the 100 emergenc room visit, But I haven't yet, and I dont' think I'm going to get one , this si the second tiem he has had to visit the er due to his asthma since they stope the copays for kids.
Has the bill been submitted to Aetna for payment? I'm sorry maybe you said so in your post but I dsont' recall. I would call and see if I could speka to soemoen and try to find otu why you owe so much.
The only thing with MDIPA that I dont' car efor is the high prescription cost for certain medications. My son's antibotisc was $65.00 with my co-pay.
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