Alright..........so we FINALLY got the stupid referral faxed over to the GI. (for Justin)
GI's office calls and says "well we have your referral, but we can't book you an appt until you speak with our accounting dept. for the hospital. Your account has been flagged because you have an outstanding bill, so you can't be seen by *anyone* in this hospital network until it's resolved."
We're talking THOUSANDS of dollars here. These bills are from before we were taking him to the non-profit hospital (we didn't know it exsisted at the time) and there has been NO effort from them to help us out. In fact, they even hounded me out into the parking lot one night when I was trying to take him home (IN A WHEELCHAIR) They wanted me to give them the last we had to our name at the time. This was all before insurance and full time working etc etc etc.
What the hell do we do? There ARE no other GI's. Every GI in this area is affiliated with that hospital. I'm so lost. I know we need to call them and try to sort something out, but as far as payment goes, we're talking -20 a month as an affordable thing. I don't know if they'll accept that?
What are our rights????
Gosh Katie, I am sorry to hear that. As a business they do not have to accept you. That is their right. I would contact their accounting office and maybe a financial couselor from the hospital and see what they can do for you. They may take .00 a month, Good luck!Okay, I wasn't really sure. Thanks Mary! We will do what we have to!
Worst case scenario, we'll have to visit the next county over for a GI. I suppose! Oh well!!!
Yes that is legal unfortunately. I've had that happen to me recently. You can also talk to your insurance company and try to see if you can get them to pay any more than they already have. It's a long shot but it can't hurt. I cleared mine up by scheduling a meeting face to face with the accounting person at my doc's office and we came to a payment agreement. I highly recommend trying that, it's a lot more difficult for people to be mean and deny you care in person. Well said Red!Katie, I really think they will accept - per month. You just need to speak to someone in their business office. Ask if they have a counselor or social worker you can speak to.
Most hospitals will work with you, and will set up a payment plan, no matter how small a payment you are able to make. You just need to let them know that this is all he can afford to pay, but he will make the -20 every month.
Make sure when you do this, that they will take the flag off your account, so he can make an appt. to see the GI doc. And let the know that he now has insurance, which will be helping with the new bills.
Try not to worry, Sweetie. I'm sure they will work with you. 10-20 a month is better than nothing.
Hugs, Nini
Thanks. This was REALLY frustrating for us to hear. It's taken so long just to get our ducks in a row and get the referral to where it needs to go!! And on top of him going in and out in and out of the stinkin' hospital!
ya know. One more road bump. (there are no blocks...only bumps!)
Katie - sometimes the road bumps just seem to get bigger, and in your case lately, there have been major road works. Look at you!! - you say "no blocks" - I think you are amazing, but things are really tough for you both! Take care sweetie - Big Hugs for you both
Like the whole "screw it, we'll just go the next county over and see someone" he didn't think of, and didn't like it. Why? I dunno, cause it's "giving in" to them wanting money? But it's not really, it's just.........adapting. Oh well. It's a military kid thing, I swear.
Shake that can o' bee's Lori.....
Well, it wouldn't in Canada, since we're not billed for hospital services. But if you were behind on your MSP (medical services plan) payments you would either have to pay or fill out a finacial form. MSP is on a sliding scale so people under a certain income pay nothing. Katie. I think it is terrible but I honestly don't think it is the doctor, it is the
Oh what have I done?
Okay, not trying to stir this pot anymore...BUT.....
even if he was still waiting.........at least he'd get to see someone? There's a posability(sp) that he could se NO ONE at this point....
Check this out a You tube. It's called "A short course in Brain Surgery"
Yea Katie, that just sounds jacked up...Call them and see if they'd accept at least a month for a while at least...At least its something right? And doesnt he have ins? SO how is that an issueDoes your hospital have a medical credit card? Mine does and it doesn'tIt's really okay. I was crushed at first, but the more I think about it the more I know it'll work out. There's ways to do everything!!!!
WE ARE SPARTA!!!
Linncn. What Justin had going on was emergent. Those situations don't
wait. Canadian doctors would not have waited. They would have triaged
him in and he would have received care as quickly as in the US.
Katie
You keep saying "we" which I know is how you look at it. but since you and Justin aren't married it is him alone resposible for the bills That is important because it is likely that his income alone and the at the time no insurance status would qualify him for financial aid. I know that different hospitals offer aid at different amounts And he can't avoid the situation. Not talking to them is the worst thing he can do. He has to talk to the hospital financial people. Creditors never work with people who dont talk to them
Right, which is why we swtiched to Scared Heart. They have programs, and he's on them. But before we knew they were in exsistance, we were going to FWB Medical Center/White Wilson.
We have asked them NUMEROUS times for help, they say "medicaide" or whatever (I get that and medicare confused, sorry!) and he NEVER qualifies.
I really hate this hospital. Katie. Request a charity care form from the hospital and fill it out.
Hospitals have to write off a certain percentage of care each year if they
participate in certain federally funded programs.I'll ask again, but would you beleive they said "we don't do that" ??????????? We may have just gotten a bitchy worker though...I dunno. We shall see!I know when I owed some money to the hospital, they never contacted me or even sent me a bill. I had to hear that I owed them from a collection agency. I called to make payment arrangements, and they said I could send in as little as /month, but I think I only owed like or was it ? Not sure.
Katie, I would call them up and tell them I will send such and such amt and faithfully send it every month. I owe our clinic about 00 and they called me up to arrange a payment plan and I pay a month. They try to up it, but just tell them you can't afford it. I have been doing this for years and my credit is good. That's can't turn you in to collection if you are paying something.
Best of luck to you & Justin
Linncn, I'm just saying it how it is---I don't know why that is soNot to buy into the controversy, but this wouldn't happen in Aus either. Like I said in another post. Medicare is paid for by out taxes and NO-ONE goes without hospital care. Everyone is entitled to free hospital. You can always get a specialist appt (might have to wait a couple of months but that's not unusual) and depending on the seriousness of the problem you may have a short wait for surgery. I have NEVER had a problem with medical or hospital care. There is no way on earth you can rack up enough medical bills to bankrupt you. As far as I am concerned the situation that Katie (and many other's) is in is just plain immoral. Denying people medical care is just barbaric.
It just makes me want to cry when I read posts like this. It should just NOT happen.
Thank you for saying that pammyI so agree, Pammy. It is just appalling and immoral that anyone is denied health care at all. Did anyone watch that video? I think waiting for 8 months when you have a brain tumor isn't a very good deal. But that's just me. I think it's odd that Americans defend a healthcare system that allows that, and slams our own with such vehemence. Our healthcare system needs to be fixed, but not by changing to another flawed system.Linncn, you're right you shouldn't have to wait 8 months for a brainAaaah, wasn't it the Spartans who left their lame and infirm infants on a hill to be eaten by wolves?
Pip
Edited for misuse of a word.
Gimpy,
I think what you hear about on this board are are mostly exceptions as well. We are all ill. Most people do not have to deal with the kinds of ongoing problems we do. So, statistically speaking our experiences will of course, be skewed. I still believe we need to come up with a plan that will work best for Americans, not just a copy of the existing plans in Canada/Europe/Australia. If you think you pay a lot in taxes now, just wait. Just so you know, you guys in other parts of the world, Americans HATE taxes. We would all rather do just about anything than pay the federal government, no matter what our political leanings. Right now you might hear a lot of us say we have to have some kind of social welfare plan for health, but as soon as we see the bill, we are liable to revolt. I may be wrong, but so might those of you who believe our system is abhorrent. There is just something about the American experience that makes us really, really dislike any intrusion into our personal lives and our personal pockets by the government. Many people, even those that would like socialized medicine, don't like the idea that "big brother" might be watching. Once we hand over our medical care to the government, there is really no way to stop the watching eye. I'm not paranoid, I am mainly an observer of our culture and the ways in which it has changed/not changed over the past 30 years. One way in which it has not changed is the American attitude that we enjoy privacy and want no intrusions into our private lives by the govt. Ok, I'm starting to repeat myself. I hope I have made myself clear. Sometimes I get a little muddled while trying to explain my thoughts.
All. of us can only write about our experience and the experiences of family and friends. My experience when I was a young divorced mother of 2, was ok. I had doctors that helped me and my children w/payment plans and reduced prices. When my son had a snow boarding accident in college, he had no insurance but the doctors and hospitals let him pay small monthly amounts and treated him well.
I am sure that there are bad stories, just like Justin and Katie's, but these same stories happen in Canada and Australia. Nothing is perfect, but I believe we need to come up with a plan that fits better with the American Experience than those already existing.
Just wish I was smart enough to be able to come up with the idea. I have given it a lot of thought though and if my own half baked plan ever gels a bit I will share it.
Whew, glad this is finally finished.
Look up the Patients Bill of Rights for the hospitals in your state. i think it woud be different if he was being seen in the ER, from my understanding they cannot turn you away if you have an outstanding bill or no insSo do those of you who do have socialized medicine feel the government is
too involved in your health? I am with you crispy and think the government
is already too involved. There must be a way around this and still find a
system that works for all of us, provides care to all of us, and doesn't break
the bank. I know my husband and I pay a lot of taxes. Not sure I can really
handle more. But the other thing is, how much of our income is going
towards health care? I bet you would be surprised at how much you really
pay out for all health care. Unless you are really lucky and have one of those
supremo plans that has no deduct and 100 percent coverage. I have a great
policy but I still pay quite a bit out of pocket a year.
I certainly don't feel that the gov't is too involved in my health care. They control the prescription of drugs....your doctor has to apply for permission to prescribe schedule 8 drugs such as large dose codiene and morph etc. This is a good thing. Patients can't drug shop that easily. When they notice that a patient has more than one doctor is prescribing they will notify doctors that the patient is doctor shopping. They also do this with barbituates. They also subsidize the price of prescription medications they are all about . They put the actual price on the med as well as the subsidized price so you can see what you could be paying. Once you reach a safety net amount of about 00 for the family you get them all at about .70. Low income earners, pensioners and the unemployed always get their meds at .70. This goes for EVERYBODY!
Many doctors "bulkbill" which means they are free of charge. All pensioners are Bulkbilled. Some doctors charge privately....about for a dr visit. Then you take your receipt to medicare and get .80 back. Specialists charge like wounded bulls but again you get 75% back when you take the receipt to medicare. The same goes for blood tests and radiology. Again with those all pensioners, low income earners etc are bulk billed. Once you spend 00 per family on medical bills in the year, the rest of them are re-imbursed about 90%. If you have a chronic disease many of your medical bills are bulk billed automatically.
For this we pay 1.25% of our taxes. It's a levy that everyone who makes an income pays automatically.
Public Hospitals and related costs are free to all.
Private medical insurance costs are about 0 a month for a family. This entitles you to private hospital coverage, and you can go to a private hospital. You lose the wait time that the public hospitals have for some things and it takes some of the stress off the public system. Yes, the public system has problems, but hey what system is perfect. You might have to wait for a hip replacement, cancer surgery usually happens within a few weeks at most. There are classifications on elective surgeries, the more urgent they are the sooner they get in.
Look I'm not saying it's perfect...but you will never go bankrupt or be refused care. To me that is worth 1.25% of my taxes.
Hey it beats what we are paying for private insurance. I think we need to get something like that going here I know the program in Aussie and Canada are not perfect but it is better then having no insurance, as quite a few of our people don't have, and I am not justing talking about the homeless . I am talking about people who hold down a job or two, work their butt off but still can't afford insurance. meme