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Hospital charge $473,000 for 27 days

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Posted 7/24/2008 2:41 AM (GMT 0)
I had a resection, it pulled apart  so I had to have a second surgery this time with an ileostomy.  My bills didn't  break down the stays in ICU but it wasn't more than a day or two each time and they did bill two separate stays although I never left the hospital.  For the first, which was 9 days:  $257K, insurance allowed and paid $205K (that's $23,000/day!) and for the second, 17 days, $216K, insurance allowed and paid $123K (that's $10,000/day!)  Even though the stay was longer it was cheaper.

My neighbor had a knee replacement--was in about 5 days and his bill at another hospital was only $30,000.

The amount I was charged seems awfully high and it really ate into my $1 mil. lifetime benefit and now I'm looking at reversal in 3 months.  Anybody have some comparable charges?

Posted 7/24/2008 2:51 AM (GMT 0)
I work in the medical field and all I can say is you must have some pretty darn good insurance. It's very rare that you see an insurance company pay that close to the billed amount. Most of them follow Medicare rates.

Posted 7/24/2008 3:26 AM (GMT 0)
that is crazy!  are you going to have to pay all that the insurance didnt' pay (i am being nosy)

knee surgery isn't nearly as complicated, adn also the patients dont' usually stay in ICU.

When i was in the hospital one of the times i was in a flare, they gave me protonix in an iv and it as 1500 for ONE bag!  my entire week stay was like 35k  we were luck though our insurance paid a very large amount of that.  and for my surgery i think it was like 20k.  Alot of that was my pharmacy bill, i take a medicine that a three month supply of is 3k!  so even though i was only there a week, they charge you for each pill, i take 5 a day, and they charge alot more than you pay at the pharamcy.

It's unbelievable how much medical care costs.  I guess that's why there are so many sick people out there who are't getting help.

My MIL got really lucky, she is a nurse, and by having the surgery at the hosptial she worked at, it was all paid for! 

Posted 7/24/2008 9:33 AM (GMT 0)
thank goodness that here in the U.K you don't pay for ops. I am on 5 diff meds a day and here that would cost £ 20 per month which I thnk is about $40 but here you can pay for a pre payment certificate which i did, cost £17 and that lasts for all my meds for four months. I dont recieve any government benefits as my hubby and I earn to much he is a lawyer, but still it is a lot cheaper to be ill in the UK than USA by the looks of it. Wow I still can't believe those costs........
Posted 7/24/2008 10:21 PM (GMT 0)

Yikes!

  I cant imagine having to pay or worry about paying each time I went to the Emergency Room or had surgery.  The health care in Canada is free but the system is so stressed that I have a 6 month + wait for an ileostomy reversal.

Part of me wishes I had the choice to pay for it and have it done faster - but we dont have any private clinics in my provice...

Posted 7/25/2008 2:10 AM (GMT 0)
My surgeon gave me a six months wait for my reversal to recover and fatten up.  She charged $504 for the initial consultation.  Insurance balked at first, then paid $400 and she, or the billing office, billed me the remaining $104 despite my complaint about it, but I haven't seen any bills for the followup visits.  Most everbody else has accepted the discounted charges.

The most egregious example was an IV pole.  After discharge, I became dehydrated and had to have a week and a half of saline at home.  They tried to charge $2,000 just for the pole and insurance allowed about a grand.  The worst part was when I called to arrange pickup of the pole, they said the trucks were busy and I could just donate it or throw it away--insurance had paid for it!  I checked on Ebay hoping I could get maybe $100 for it but brand  new ones that looked the same were being offered for $20+shipping so I've kept it. 

 

Posted 7/25/2008 2:54 AM (GMT 0)
And your insurance company paid a grand for a $20 pole! Amazing that they don't even feel guilty about charging that much.
Posted 7/25/2008 3:16 AM (GMT 0)
i always think it amazing that high up insurance people can sleep over their guilt!
2000.00 for an iv pole? i mean it's like a pipe on wheels, i could make one at home.
Posted 7/25/2008 3:20 AM (GMT 0)

This is ridiculous price.Waaaaay too much.

Yeah,how can someone OVERcharge like that for a nigth at the hospital?

Posted 7/25/2008 4:39 PM (GMT 0)
Funny, yet illegal immigrants here in the US wouldn't have paid a dime for their hospital stay.The system is out of whack! All I can say is, "vote very carefully this November"! 
Posted 7/25/2008 5:13 PM (GMT 0)

Hi All

Yes we have to vote very carully this November....I,m not sure what our system needs,but I DON"T want to go to a haelth care system like canada or europe...my daughter would have died waiting for the medical care that she needed...but honestly no matter who we vote for for president,the senate and congress have all the power...they all say what they need to say,and bottom line is not one of them has to worry about medical bills...and don,t forget drug companies and insurance companies pull the strings of the politians!!!Bottom line is that we have to put our trust in GOD,not a system ...HE has eveything in controll even when it seems like HE doesn,t....

Krista

Posted 7/26/2008 12:13 AM (GMT 0)
I don't understand the price you had to get a bed.Compare to a procedure,you usually get normal prices.Expensive but not excessive.
Posted 7/26/2008 5:32 PM (GMT 0)
Uh Hender - This is outrageous! What have you done about the unpaid portion of your medical bills? Do you have a couple hundred thousand dollars laying around to throw at the hospital? Seems to me that you have to sit down with the hospital and your insurance company and come to an agreement. Don't let them intimidate you. You do have the leverage.
Posted 7/27/2008 9:19 PM (GMT 0)
Tom:  Except for the surgeon,  so far it's looking as if most of the providers are accepting the discounted payable as PIF.  This is why one has to have insurance--so they can negotiate a better price.  It used to be that hospitals charged the uninsured sticker price while the insured got the negotiated (lower) price.  Supposedly this has changed.  Indeed, when I had a barium swallow at another hospital, because its cost was below my $1,000 deductible, they mistakenly gave me the uninsured discount.  When I have an OV with my gastoenterologist, if it's in connection and within 90 days of a hospitalization, insurance will pay $48 and I haven't been billed for the rest  However, if I go for a routine OV it I have to pay $60.

Posted 8/7/2008 6:31 PM (GMT 0)
i agree, about voting carefully this election, if we all want health care when we really need it, then let's vote for it.....how many other fully developed nations have to have nationwide health care systems before we get the clue. A well thought out system would eliminate this kind of waste! (2 K for an IV pole!)

Herndersonjames, not to pick on you, it's only your carrier, but it seems to me, that your insurance is not a really good company, but a really stupid one. They should be negotiating their pricing down further like all other carriers do, and also, remember, if you are paying with your own money, then you can also negotiate with the hospital regarding your bill.

"I am asking you to believe, not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington, I'm asking you to believe in yours!" - Take a wild guess what said it.
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