Not yet, but I want to. The American health care system really sucks ass. I recently changed insurance companies (I was kinda forced to after switching jobs), and this new company hardly paid anything from my last appointment. What a rip-off.
1. Could you have taken out MORE insurance? I think you are feeling the repercussions of UCR rates that exceed what the insurance company will honor. More insurance isn't available to address that unless you go with a lower deductible and then you face higher premiums. 2. I have heard that this is one way for insurance companies to control their profit. If they don't collect the excess charges, they have the option to write them off as bad debts for tax purposes. There may be no repercussion to you. 3. Medicare Supplement policies have provisions built into some of the more popular plans to actually pay the excess charges. I know of nothing like that for the under-65 crowd.
Did you ask them? There's not one doctor/hospital that won't tell you EXACTLY what they charge before any case/procedure/visit. Just like you wouldn't buy a car, house, or even a MEAL without knowing exactly what and how much you're paying for... there's nothing preventing you from using the same criteria when choosing health care. As I said before, you would have been either given the option to "shop around", or I know several doctors/hospitals who negotiate with patients who are unable to pay all of what they charge.
I remember having surgery a few years ago on my throat. I had a UPPP or Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. I did not have this surgery for sleep apnea but because my tonsils and uvula had become so swollen that I had difficulty breathing and swallowing. Well, several weeks after the surgery, my insurance company tells me I will have to pay for a large part of it because the only way they will cover the majority is if I went through all the tests for sleep apnea before having the surgery. I ended up paying for the bulk of it but it ticked me off something bad. Hello, I can't breathe or swallow but let me go get these tests done to see if that tells you something you really need to know. Insurance companies suck.
Yeah dude, I saw it. The American healthcare system blows. I was born and raised in London, and my parents lived there for 25 years. No problems at all. Spoiler you remember the part of the movie where the 9/11 peeps went to Cuba for an albuterol inhaler and the lady said it cost about 5 cents for her to buy it there? Well, I though that was a little exaggerated, but I talked to my friend who owns a few pharmacies in Houston, and guess what.........his cost price for an albuterol inhaler is 3.7 cents!!!!!!!
Bull. Tort reform is a scam played on the rank and file in this country by corporations, the rich and their willing and/or ignorant water-carriers. Businesses do most of the suing (including frivolous lawsuits) in this country (by a 3 or 4 to 1 margin), not everyday people. link link1 link2 The problem in our healthcare system is the for-profit insurance industry. They reap massive profits, commit murder-by-spreadsheet and still leave 47 million Americans out in the cold, healthcare-wise. And, as the original poster found out, they will try everything they can to get out of paying everything they can.
The bills go to a collection agency... at that point, you could owe money for a new TV, a new house, or whatever... its marked as delinquent.
Debt is debt... just because it happens to be from a medical bill doesn't excuse the fact that its not delinquent.
Not true. My son and his wife had some medical bills they were unaware of that got lost in the mail when they moved. They eventually found out there was a collection agency that had control of their bills. They got them paid off and it was a pain to get it removed from their credit report.
