My son got sick, I took him to the hospital. We received a $14,000 bill for our short visit. It went to our insurance company. They replied that they will only pay $1400, and I owed my $30 copay. They billed me and I paid my $30. I don’t understand?
Depending on the kind of coverage you have; things are different
Sometimes you can get coverage for everything above a certain amount. Other times you can buy coverage up to a certain amount.
It sounds like you had bought coverage up to 1400 with a $30 co-pay. And you would still be responsible for anything above that. Essentially a person who got this kind of coverage would be betting that they would never need health coverage for more than 1400.
So price comparison between hospitals might still be important for people even if they have some form of health insurance. Having health (or any kind of insurance for that matter) doesn't necessarily mean someone is covered for everything.
Well, he developed fever, became very ill. I was deployed to the Middle East. My wife called me and said my son was sick. I told her to call his doctor and let him know the symptoms. Then I went on three stressful combat missions, my only thoughts where getting me and my crew back alive. Then I called home, holy crap! He’s still sick? Call the doctor! They called again, doctor, finally responded. They went in, the doctor took 2 seconds and said get him to the emergency room right now! He was admitted into the ER and they did their best to keep him alive. I went on more combat missions not knowing. 7 days later they moved him to the icu. After my fun and games in the Middle East I was able to call home to find he was at home and all was well. Until I received the $220,000 bill from the hospital.
omg that's a crap situation.
I'm not an insurance person or healthcare person, I just took a class on insurance in college. I have heard that hospitals can modify bills significantly if you go talk to them. but still healthcare costs are blamed for %65 of bankruptcy filings in the US.
All I can do is wish you the best of luck from a stranger on the internet.
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