What Happens When a Healthcare Startup Leaves You With the Bill • Hacker News Board

Re: What Happens When a Healthcare Startup Leaves You With the Bill

#91

Post by lilsunnybee » Thu, Jul 03, 2014, 10:56 PM UTC

HarryHirsch wrote: post #10

With bogus physician bills my SOP is to call the office and tell them that I will let the bill run to collection and dispute it in court. This strategy never failed, physicians are mortally afraid of having to admit that their billing practice is questionable. With refunds from the insurance company I have found that a nice letter "please pay up 10 days from now or I will get a title in court" works wonders. I never…

More likely, doctors are very averse to lawsuits, and would sooner provide care to one patient at a loss than defend against a lawsuit, especially when it doesn't seem like a bluff because you seem like someone who could afford it (not typical btw).

Re: What Happens When a Healthcare Startup Leaves You With the Bill

#92

Post by lilsunnybee » Thu, Jul 03, 2014, 10:59 PM UTC

greenyoda wrote: post #61

In the U.S., insurance is regulated by the states and each state has a regulatory agency where one can go with complaints about insurance companies. I find it surprising that the abused customer in this story didn't file a complaint with the government. That would have probably made the insurance company stand up and take notice much more than complaining about them on Twitter.

I never knew this, and sincerely doubt most people do. But besides this rare start-up, if you're an established player like Blue Cross, does one or dozens or even hundreds of complaints even matter?

Re: What Happens When a Healthcare Startup Leaves You With the Bill

#93

Post by wdr1 » Fri, Jul 04, 2014, 2:22 AM UTC

lsc wrote: post #55

jackgavigan wrote: post #32

There is, sometimes, a tendency on the part of young, ambitious entrepreneurs, to be overly optimistic and assume that they can gatecrash an industry they know nothing about, set up a slick website and disrupt the big, bloated, uncool incumbents. Sometimes that works out but I believe that a new entrants chances of success are a lot higher if they have somebody on board who is actually familiar with the industry sect…

I have Kaiser. It's vastly simplified because the people paying for my care are the same people who are providing my care. They also seem to have a real "get you up and running so you can get back to work" kind of attitude, which meshes well with my own values. I mean, consider for a moment how much of a pain in the ass it is to get an insurance claim on your house or your car or whatever filled. Multiply that by the…

> I have Kaiser. It's vastly simplified because the people paying for my care are the same people who are providing my care. They also seem to have a real "get you up and running so you can get back to work" kind of attitude, which meshes well with my own values.

I'm glad that was your experience with Kaiser, because it certainly wasn't mine.

I had herniated disc that ultimately required surgery. It was bad enough that I couldn't sit at all & couldn't stand for more than a few a few minutes.

Laying flat would take away some pain but not all. It would roughly 8 weeks before I would know again what it was like to be pain-free.

During that time obviously I couldn't go into work. Even the basics -- showering & going to the bathroom -- were a challenge. I quickly found vicodin didn't do anything for my pain, but I continued to take it simply because it kept me constipated. (One bad bathroom trip was better than several.)

I saw 4 different doctors in my first weeks. Initially I was giving a variety of pain killers & muscle relaxers. We asked about an MRI each time & was told it was unnecessary.

Eventually we worked our way through the Kaiser system & started to get to specialists who knew more about what they were talking about. Each one regarded my situation as one of the most severe they'd seen & refer to the specialist that was the next level up.

We finally got one to request an MRI. That request was "lost." We called several times, each time being told they'll take care of it & to call back in 24 hours. Finally the next doctor sent in another request, and told us to personally contact her in 24 hours (giving us her cell!) if it wasn't scheduled.

One of the biggest challenges was that each specialist was in a different department. Meaning it would be 1-2 weeks of waiting for the next appointment in that department. Absolutely no consideration is given to the length to how long I'd had my current condition.

Eventually we did to a surgeon -- a really good one. He took pity on both the severity of my situation & the length to move things around & fit me in earlier. The crazy thing being, it could have been even longer if he hadn't.

Without question, the worst 8 weeks of my life.

When an entity like Kaiser can't control costs by deciding what claims they'll approve, it seems they'll instead control costs by deciding what access to care you'll receive.

Honestly, I'm not sure that's much better.

Re: What Happens When a Healthcare Startup Leaves You With the Bill

#94

Post by arethuza » Fri, Jul 04, 2014, 8:30 AM UTC

lilsunnybee wrote: post #86

arethuza wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get private healthcare in the UK through my job - the only time we have used it was when my teenage son got his tonsils out. What was amusing was that at one point the anaesthetist came up and said there had been a mistake in the billing and I'd have to pay part of the bill directly. Having heard all the horror stories from the US I was thinking it was going to be a huge amount of money - he very apologetically gav…

You smug bastard. Joking, but i'm in the US and have had so many issues in my life with huge medical bills and debt collectors, denial of care, insurance refusing to pay because a doctor messed up the paperwork, insurance not covering certain medications, or saying the dosage needed to be changed, that i'm almost not. :-p

Well, as anyone will tell you who lives in the UK, the NHS isn't perfect, but I personally happen to think that the model we have of a pretty good health care system for everyone and private health care for the tiny minority who want it seems to work fairly well.

Mind you the NHS is socialism... but perhaps telling that the founder of the NHS, Aneurin Bevan, called his book on the subject In Place of Fear - which sums it up really.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aneurin_Bevan

NB I find illnesses and injuries in a family stressful enough to deal with as it is - adding bureaucracy and financial stresses would be a nightmare.

Re: What Happens When a Healthcare Startup Leaves You With the Bill

#95

Post by omnibrain » Fri, Jul 04, 2014, 1:17 PM UTC

ABS wrote: post #83

omnibrain wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about Dodge v. Ford Motor Company?

I highly recommend to just get the book [1], it's written very well and in layman terms but here's an extract taken from a review [2] of the same: "Stout traces the birth of this “fable” to the “oversized effects of a single outdated and widely misunderstood judicial opinion.” Dodge v. Ford Motor Company was a 1919 decision of the Michigan Supreme Court. The opinion’s status as a meaningful legal precedent on the iss…

Thanks for the insight.

Re: What Happens When a Healthcare Startup Leaves You With the Bill

#96

Post by shepardrtc » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 2:30 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #21

shepardrtc wrote: post #11

This seems similar to third-party warranty companies. They offer full coverage for low amounts, but when the time comes for them to pay up, they're impossible to deal with. Can't reach them on the phone, they need things to be faxed(!) over, and then because of so-and-so reason, it won't be covered. Healthcare shouldn't be handled by startups. Its too expensive and there's too much riding on it for something that cou…

Can you buy a good after-market warranty? I mean the dealers must be getting their first-party warranties from somewhere.

Perhaps, but I've never seen one. Though I suppose getting an extended warranty from the manufacturer is in the same vein. And dealers work more naturally with the manufacturer so there's usually less headache.