Thursday, June 28, 2012

Hospital Bill Sent to my Cousin for his Colonoscopy in the States

Good-morning Pat,
Got another bill from the hospital about my 17,000 colonoscopy. Insurance is stalling paying for it, but this one was itemized and it's stunning. At least it is to me. They have: pharmacy - 601.88, IV solutions - 430.08, Anesthesia - 2,004.35 Don't those seem like the same thing to you? What would you need from the pharmacy other than those things? Some sort of supplies, maybe? No they have Supplies - 1,162.40! After the procedure they pushed the bed into the hall or another room for me to wake up, Recovery Room - 2,210.64. The Operating room was 6,054.85 which is sort of understanding, but there is another charge called Endo/GI Procedure - 4,367.05 that I thought was the doctor's bill. It isn't because the doctor's bill came separately. The last charge was for Pathology - 736.23. Hope this first paragraph didn't bore you, I'm just stunned by how outrageous and ridiculous medical care is here!
Above is what my cousin sent me this morning by e mail.  I am stunned...... This is only the bill from the hospital. I should ask him what the doctor charged to do the procedure.   I can get a colonoscopy done in a doctor's office here and the cost is four hundred dollars. TOTAL.   Something is very wrong with this picture. 

14 comments:

  1. I never heard of going to a hospital to have the procedure done. Maybe there's more to the story than just a routine procedure??

    My last procedure was done in a doctor's office too, but I don't remember how much it cost - insurance paid for it.

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    1. Hi Donna, As far as I know, it was just a routine procedure...... Thanks for writing. P

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  2. We have our colonoscopies in an "outpatient" type facility - not the doctor's office - but a streamlined operating room type setup. Not as large or as expensive as a hospital. I can't remember the price, but I think it was in the low thousands, definitely less than $2K. The insurance pays for everything. This sounds more like a surgery....is he sure something wasn't removed????

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    1. He told me that everything was normal. Sounds to me like some kind of scam was played on him and I can understand why the insurance company is baulking at paying the bill. It is outrageous. P

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  3. I can have this done for free with our national health care plan "Medicare" in Canada. I do not understand the Anesthesia part, unless they had to remove something. Yes ours are done in an outpatient facilty as well. I do not know what the charges are as all I do if have my healthcare card scanned into a machine.
    P. (Canada)

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    1. Hi P. I sure wish we had that kind of healthcare in the States. Thank you for commenting. P

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    2. If you have a "full" (read that full-length) procedure, the anesthesia is needed to knock you out, else the pain will be overwhelming. I've had both. The "short" version indeed requires no anesthesia.

      Jack B

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    3. HI Jack, I haven't had that procedure yet. I am a chicken. Thank you for the information. P

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  4. Hi Pat

    Yes it sounds like he had more done...I think a routine C here without ins is approx 2500.00 usd dollars

    Take care
    Collette

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    1. Hi Colette, Thank you for commenting. I will ask him. P

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  5. Sounds a little fishy to me - no wonder his insurance company is balking!

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    1. Hi Donna, Thanks for commenting. Yes, I was thinking the same thing. P

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  6. Check your insurance policy- some Health Insurance companies are looking for ways to skirt federal law: http://selecthealthinsurancescam.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you. I will pass this along to my cousin. P

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