Archived Posts » 59,672,804
Heart attack averted
4/2/2012 12:47:56 PM
As most of you here know my wife died 2/17 down in Winchester hospital. I got the 1st bill from the hospital while I was out of town last week, 12K+. My health ins. had paid $261.00. From past experience with the wife being sick I knew my plan was to cover everything except $100.00 for the ER visit. Thought were going through my head like Oh Shit they changed things this Jan 1st and I missed it. I'm gonna get clobbered with 100k in bills.
So I called my Ins, and they said they had paid this bill, except for the 100. As a matter of fact they had paid the bill already. The guy confirmed that all I'll have to pay is 100. So I called the hospital billing people and they confirmed that they had rec'd a payment, 3/29, 10 days after the bill went out.
Now you know why I drive from the EPH to Reston* for medical care. Kaiser Permanente is much better coverage than BC/BS that I'm offered here in WVa. Sure made for a restless/sleepless weekend.
*I go to Reston because I really like my Dr. I could have saved some mileage and changed to Leesburg a few years ago but now the Leesburg office is moving to Ashburn, so why bother?
More bills and worry to come, I'm sure. Not to mention the bills for the 4 days I spent in Winchester 3 weeks after she died.
So I called my Ins, and they said they had paid this bill, except for the 100. As a matter of fact they had paid the bill already. The guy confirmed that all I'll have to pay is 100. So I called the hospital billing people and they confirmed that they had rec'd a payment, 3/29, 10 days after the bill went out.
Now you know why I drive from the EPH to Reston* for medical care. Kaiser Permanente is much better coverage than BC/BS that I'm offered here in WVa. Sure made for a restless/sleepless weekend.
*I go to Reston because I really like my Dr. I could have saved some mileage and changed to Leesburg a few years ago but now the Leesburg office is moving to Ashburn, so why bother?
More bills and worry to come, I'm sure. Not to mention the bills for the 4 days I spent in Winchester 3 weeks after she died.
4/2/2012 1:46:43 PM
Condolences on your loss.
My thoughts and prayers are with you as you go through an emotionally difficult time.
My thoughts and prayers are with you as you go through an emotionally difficult time.
4/2/2012 7:03:46 PM
Thanks man.
4/2/2012 8:05:52 PM
Most importantly, I'd like to extend my condolences. I also appreciate the advice.
Stay strong brother.
Stay strong brother.
4/3/2012 8:16:24 PM
Prayers out to you, for starters.
As a BTDT sort of heads-up, if nobody has mentioned it, keep in mind that you may end up receiving bills for a while. Not trying to do
a thread hijack, but figured that it'd be worth mentioning.
As you did in this instance, check with your insurance company(s) to see if the bills had actually gone to them before being sent to you.
Dad received several bills that the hospital insisted had been sent to,and rejected by, the insurance company for quite hefty sums. We
called them, asked about them, and the hospital had never submitted the bills to them.
In several cases, the insurance company told him that they would check into it, and get back to him if there were any issues. He's never
heard from the hospital again on any of them.
Not sure about VA, but according to the insurance company, in PA, the billing entity only has x-amount of time to tender a bill for purported
services, and if they miss the deadline, they are SOL. I don't have a source quote, but that's what he was told, and he's never heard back
from the billing party, and his credit score is still just fine.
Never having worked in hospital billing, I have no clue how they work their billing departments, but in several cases, we've received bills for
things back before she died in NOV 2010. Really!??!
Where did you dig up those charges, after a year and a half?? 
As a BTDT sort of heads-up, if nobody has mentioned it, keep in mind that you may end up receiving bills for a while. Not trying to do
a thread hijack, but figured that it'd be worth mentioning.
As you did in this instance, check with your insurance company(s) to see if the bills had actually gone to them before being sent to you.
Dad received several bills that the hospital insisted had been sent to,and rejected by, the insurance company for quite hefty sums. We
called them, asked about them, and the hospital had never submitted the bills to them.
In several cases, the insurance company told him that they would check into it, and get back to him if there were any issues. He's never
heard from the hospital again on any of them.
Not sure about VA, but according to the insurance company, in PA, the billing entity only has x-amount of time to tender a bill for purported
services, and if they miss the deadline, they are SOL. I don't have a source quote, but that's what he was told, and he's never heard back
from the billing party, and his credit score is still just fine.
Never having worked in hospital billing, I have no clue how they work their billing departments, but in several cases, we've received bills for
things back before she died in NOV 2010. Really!??!
Where did you dig up those charges, after a year and a half?? 4/3/2012 10:30:12 PM
Thanks for the info.
4/4/2012 8:24:11 AM
I'm sorry for you loss. I'm dealing with some medical bills right now aswell. All I can say is the system is set up wrong. I got a bill for $1600 and insurance said I had to pay it all. Turns out that my co pays don't count towards my deductible, but the billing firm had not submitted the tests I paid for out of pocket to them!
4/4/2012 12:20:25 PM
Sorry for your loss.
Just put the bills in a pile and wait.
It takes time for everyone to do their piece.
Just put the bills in a pile and wait.
It takes time for everyone to do their piece.
