Checking Your Hospital Bill
By Kowgirl
@Kowgirl (3490)
United States
November 28, 2007 8:48am CST
When you go to a hospital the first thing they want is information about your insurance. This way they know they will get paid for their service. But did you check to see if they put more on your bill than what you received? I had a friend who went to work at our local hospital in the billing department. She came by one day and said she had found lots of charges on peoples bills that shouldn't be there. So When my daughter went in for a half day stay for a hernia operation I asked for an itemized bill. They gave me one and I went over it. There were at least 4 things on it that did not belong on it. They were charging for a 3 day stay, a cast for a broken leg, and adult heart monitor for 6 days, Some drugs that were for your heart (adult). I had to stop my insurance from paying this bill. Then I went to see the surgeon who did the operation. He took one look at it then he circled every item that should not have been on this bill with a red pen. There were 9 fraudulent charges. It took over a year to get these cleared up so that my insurance company could pay for the services I did receive. This is happening all over the USA at hospitals....Most just let their insurance pay without ever checking their bill. Do you check your bills to see that they are right? Did you find charges that were not supposed to be on there?
2 people like this
5 responses
@CatVegas (709)
• United States
29 Nov 07
A few years back with a Insurance Company that we had would give us a Reward for checking our Bills and telling them if we had the Services or not...When I had surgery the hospital did pad the bill and we told the insurance company about and we got a check for $150.00 for catching what they were putting extra on the bill...I wish all Insurance Companies would do this as more would watch the Bills more closely...The Insurance Company we have now doesn't do it...But I know even Doctors visit you need to watch your Bills...
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
29 Nov 07
Nothing like this ever happened to me, but did with a friend. Some years ago, my friend's mother was in the hospital..it wasn't good to say the least, she was in a coma and never recovered and passed away. Weeks and weeks later my friend gets the hospital charges for her mother, one which included phone charges..uh, like duh? Her mother was in a coma for crying out loud, so like how could she make phone calls. Needless to say my friend disputed the bill and didn't pay it
1 person likes this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
28 Nov 07
I don't think so, but then again, I have been getting a 434.00 bill for a test back in April and I thought it was a test that was done. Now I think maybe I should double check that, thanks for the heads up, this is another reason health insurance is so high..
@only1shi (404)
• United States
29 Nov 07
it is very interesting that this is a discussion that was started. i was in the hospital for 2 days in august when i gave birth to my daughter. and i was amazed to see some of the stuff that they bill for. the one thing that i did like about the hospital is that you weren't automatically billed for food. you had to call the cafeteria and place an order and they brought you exactly what you wanted.
one thing that i found was interesting is that there were room charges for my daughter. we were in a private room and she stayed with me the entire time. the only time that she went into the nursery was when the doctor was examining her. i thought that they had some nerve to charge me twice for a room that i was already paying for! when i asked someone in the hospital billing department about this,they said that since she is a separate person that she had to pay for a room. i still don't agree with this, but i am in no mood to argue with a hospital. i have much better things to focus my energy on as a new mother.
1 person likes this
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
29 Nov 07
I find it hard to believe they get away with this. Insurance companies are pretty tough, so they usually scrutinize everything. I have never known it to happen with my bills, but I did get a couple of bills that I thought my insurance should have paid. I called the insurance company and had them go over the bills with me, line for line, and tell me why they were not paying each item. It wasn't a lot of money, but I pay a good amount to have the coverage, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't being taken for a ride.
1 person likes this
