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The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

nytimes.com

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Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#61

Post by abalone »

maxxxxx wrote: post #13
rwmj wrote: post #4

Over here (in Europe) we get the impression that US has such a crazy healthcare system. Why aren't people marching in the streets? Is it not as crazy as it sounds for most users? If you're taken to ER how are you supposed to know if the doctors are all part of "your network" (whatever that even means)?

There is a lot of propaganda how bad systems in other countries are. Plus, this is the only system most people ever have seen so they think this is just the way things are and have to be.

Additionally, the U.S. working class (who are most affected) is disorganized and politically weak. Other democracies often have "labor" parties; that doesn't exist in the U.S. Labor unions have been under attack for decades. There is a saying that the U.S. has one political party, the Business Party, with two factions. Elements of the working class are so desperate and underserved by establishment Democrats that some are turning to Trump-ian false promises and easy answers. Remember Trump (falsely) promised to fix their health care and offer cheap, quality plans.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#62

Post by e40 »

madengr wrote: post #14
pascalxus wrote: post #3

So, basically, if you visit any emergency room then your handing them a blank Check and they can write whatever number on there they want. That's egregious beyond belief. I'm never one to call for legislation and price controls, but in the face of such adversity, I think it may be our last hope. I think they should either provide a quote before they offer the services or there should be a law limiting the amount that…

Yep. Took my wife to the ER last week for suspect appendicitis or diverticulitis. Last time this happened a CT scan alone was $3k ($11k prior to insurance reduction). My HDP is $4,500 OOP max per family member; $8,500 for family. What really pisses me off is that the HSA max contribution has not kept up with family OOP max. I contribute the max every year and can't end up with $8,500 saved. I had a decent insurance p…

Work for a Fortune 100 Company too.

Your HR department is shit. I manage a 30 person company and our benefits are better than what you've mentioned.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#63

Post by toss1 »

cortesoft wrote: post #21
maxxxxx wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Single payer is the only viable solution. " That's not true. Plenty of European systems are not single payer and work fine.

I am not familiar with these alternate systems; how do they work?

E.g., Switzerland is private insurance, but having a policy is mandatory for everyone within 3 months of moving there or being born.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland

This ensures that the system works better than the US system, as the hospitals do not need to deal with having to treat uninsured patients who cannot pay. This is a major problem for the US healthcare system, and a critical threat to the solvency and continued operation of many hospitals, especially rural hospitals and clinics.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#64

Post by chimeracoder »

maxxxxx wrote: post #57
chimeracoder wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> With copays and out of network stuff a lot of people will go bankrupt in case of a serious illness. By law, those are capped for people with insurance. The maximum that you will have to pay out-of-pocket can be no more than about $7,000, and many private plans set the cap at a lot less. $7,000 is a non-trivial amount, but it's not a large number of people that both are insured and can't afford their out-of-pocket m…

You can easily add tens of thousands of out of network costs with some medical issues.

> You can easily add tens of thousands of out of network costs with some medical issues

It doesn't matter, because that's still capped.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#65

Post by jackmott »

coreyp_1 wrote: post #22

I am having problems with my insurer at this very moment. I went to an in-network hospital for an ER visit, which turned into an 8-day stay (yes, it was serious). Evidently, none of the doctors at the hospital are in-network, however, (claims from various technicians are still "in processing", so I don't know how they will turn out) despite the fact that the hospital itself is definitely in-network. I had no choice a…

vote for candidates who will support single payer.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#66

Post by astockwell »

e40 wrote: post #62
madengr wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Took my wife to the ER last week for suspect appendicitis or diverticulitis. Last time this happened a CT scan alone was $3k ($11k prior to insurance reduction). My HDP is $4,500 OOP max per family member; $8,500 for family. What really pisses me off is that the HSA max contribution has not kept up with family OOP max. I contribute the max every year and can't end up with $8,500 saved. I had a decent insurance p…

Work for a Fortune 100 Company too. Your HR department is shit. I manage a 30 person company and our benefits are better than what you've mentioned.

Unfortunately, the grand-parent poster's experience is par for the course at most Fortune 100 companies.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#67

Post by madengr »

e40 wrote: post #62
madengr wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Took my wife to the ER last week for suspect appendicitis or diverticulitis. Last time this happened a CT scan alone was $3k ($11k prior to insurance reduction). My HDP is $4,500 OOP max per family member; $8,500 for family. What really pisses me off is that the HSA max contribution has not kept up with family OOP max. I contribute the max every year and can't end up with $8,500 saved. I had a decent insurance p…

Work for a Fortune 100 Company too. Your HR department is shit. I manage a 30 person company and our benefits are better than what you've mentioned.

Yes, no argument there. I work for Fortune #75 (hint; it's probably hanging on your wall). Lost dental insurance last year, vision the previous year, and switched to an HDP the year before (with massive premium increases every year). But hey, the stock price was at an all-time high on Friday.

Funny thing about HR directors is that they don't last more than 1 year before rotating out. Don't want them to become too attached to the people they are there to screw.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#68

Post by wccrawford »

ProAm wrote: post #23
istorical wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because those in the middle and upper class have employer-paid health insurance which protects from the worst of bills. You only go bankrupt if you're uninsured and usually only those in the lower-middle or lower class are uninsured. And those in the lower echelon of society economically are those least able to have the time or money to march or lobby for change.

> You only go bankrupt if you're uninsured This is absolutely not true [1] [1] http://www.cnbc.com/id/100840148

>NerdWallet estimates nearly 10 million adults with year-round health-insurance coverage will still accumulate medical bills that they can't pay off this year.

That's only saying that you'll have bills you can't pay, not that you'll go bankrupt from it. Most (if not all) insurance plans have a maximum out-of-pocket expense amount that's like $10k. Yes, that's more than some middle-class Americans can afford to pay in a year, but it's not enough to go bankrupt over. They just defer paying it until they can afford to.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#69

Post by michaelmrose »

ajross wrote: post #9
pascalxus wrote: post #3

So, basically, if you visit any emergency room then your handing them a blank Check and they can write whatever number on there they want. That's egregious beyond belief. I'm never one to call for legislation and price controls, but in the face of such adversity, I think it may be our last hope. I think they should either provide a quote before they offer the services or there should be a law limiting the amount that…

What if there was a group or coop or company somewhere, where people could get together and collectively fund their health care. Then this entity could make deals with providers like EmCare to ensure that the care provided was as efficient as possible. Sarcasm aside: this problem is solved, and it's called insurance. Private entities sell it. The government does it too. It works. We just need to make sure everyone ac…

If you had read the article you would know if was about people getting surprise bills for out of network care.

Re: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills

#70

Post by ydt »

coreyp_1 wrote: post #22

I am having problems with my insurer at this very moment. I went to an in-network hospital for an ER visit, which turned into an 8-day stay (yes, it was serious). Evidently, none of the doctors at the hospital are in-network, however, (claims from various technicians are still "in processing", so I don't know how they will turn out) despite the fact that the hospital itself is definitely in-network. I had no choice a…

I had this same thing happen. My daughter was admitted via ER and it turned into a 6 day stay. At the end we received a bill for 40k for being out of network. Luckily I have friends in the industry and it turns out if they fail to inform you within 48 hours that you're not in network you don't have to pay the out of network cost. We ended up paying just our deductible after a letter was drafted. Do not take what the hospital/insurance Co say at face value. Call an attorney.
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