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| 2006/5/26-31 [Transportation/Car] UID:43200 Activity:nil |
5/26 A friend of mine's dad had a stroke yesterday and is still in
intensive care. The problem is, he just came to the US and is
in the process of becoming a green card holder. (kind of like
fiance visa, came here first, then apply for permanent
residence..) the problem of course is he does not have medical
insurance. The medical bill might be astronomical. What
options do they have? Will applying for insurance out of
pocket now help in any way? If he really doesn't have the
money to cover the expense, what then? I don't want to talk
about money with my friend now, but in case he asks me in the
future, I would like to have some useful information for him.
Thanks.
\_ Negotiate with the hospital, they can usualyl half it or more.
But in all honesty, ignore the bill, what are they goign to do
send collections on him? Sorry to sound so cold.
\_ Yes they will. And they will keep hounding him. When he dies
a lien will be put on life insurance and any assets that would
be transfered. His wife may be responsible for his debts as
well. This is why medical insurance is so fucked up in this
country.
\_ I wish this would work, but it doesn't work that way in the US.
Read the forms and small prints you guys signed. Someone's gonna
pay for the bills and anyone involved will have to pay for it,
in terms of time (trying to clarify issues) or money, or both.
Hospitals are better at collecting money than IRS. Trust me,
I've been there and I'm pretty pissed too. I'm really sorry
about what happened. I'm not so crazy about the state of
health insurance in the United States either. This is one of
the reasons why many Asians (esp. HK people) went to Canada
instead of the US after the communists took over-- smaller,
kinder, more efficient and more humane social services.
\_ http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=consumer&id=3718626
"by offering to pay cash in advance ... Sandi got her obstetrician
to drop his price from $3,000 to $1,900 ...
'Unfortunately, someone who is uninsured or under-insured gets
charged 5, 6, or 7 times what an insurance company would pay for
exactly the same service' ... Many doctors and hospitals are willing
to make a deal, but unless you ask you'll never get one"
\_ Not sure if it will help, but what country is he from?
\_ Hospitals are open to negotiations, so try that. Also, what
kind of hospital is it, a private or county hospital?
\_ Thanks everyone. This is Santa Clara valley medical
center on S Bascom Ave in San Jose. This person just
came from China. His wife is a permanent residence, and
\_ "yo mama's so big..."
his son probably is the one signed all the stuff at the
hospital. Does that mean they'll go after the son if
they cannot pay? I'll tell him about the negotiation part..
\_ When I have had family visit for longer trips, we took
out visitor insurance for them. Did your friend not
even think about/know about this, or did he consider
it and then decide not to bother?
\_ He didn't know about it. I guess I didn't know
about it either until now.
\_ I didn't know. Who do you go to for "visitor insurance"?
\_ one of my coworkers told me a story that sounds similar... her
mom was visiting from India and ended up in the hospital with
complicated medical problems. The bill was huge and would have
required a second mortgage on their house etc and caused her
incredible amounts of stress for almost a year. What ended up
happening was the bill was paid through some kind of emergency
financial assistance arranged through the hospital, but it was
not easy to get, they had to go through tons of bureaucracy -
not easy to get, they had to go through tons of beaurocracy -
long and complicated forms, different financial and background
checks and they went through an appeal process at least once.
checks and they had to go through an appeal process at least once.
In the end they got the money though. I wish I could be more
specific but I don't really have the details. |
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| abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=consumer&id=3718626 A Site Search Go site web Negotiating Medical Bills KABC By Ric Romero December 12, 2005 - The soaring costs of medical care are enough to make healthy patients feel sick, but there may be something you can do about it. Consumer specialist Ric Romero says you might be able to negotiate with your doctor or hospital for a better deal. Before you pay your medical bills, go over them line by line. Sometimes they're billed for services they never received and those with little or no insurance often pay the highest prices for medical care. But, there are several things you can do that could save you money. If you've been to the hospital or doctor for surgery or other medical procedures, you might be hit with a bill far higher then you ever expected. Even if you have insurance, you may still be liable for a big chunk of that bill. That's why savvy consumers like Crista Far and Sandi Hughes decided to take pre-emptive action. The two mothers didn't have maternity coverage thru their insurance, so they negotiated a discount with their doctor's office by offering to pay cash in advance. Sandi got her obstetrician to drop his price from $3,000 to $1,900. Hughes said, "I learned to look at bills like I was car shopping again. This is the sticker price, it's not necessary what you have to pay. While negotiating can save you money, another way to save is to go over your bill for mistakes or over-charges. Eytan Alpern is an orthopedic surgeon who runs a company that reviews medical bills for insurance companies and patients. Alpern says, "We find mistakes on a lot of them and unfortunately because medical bills are so high, the mistakes can amount to tens of thousands of dollars." Doctor Alpern got a hospital to slash its bill after charging a patient $96,000 when it should have charged $13,000. He says when patients check medical bills they should review for mistakes: * Sometimes the bills don't even add up right.. so get a calculator out to make sure you're not being overcharged. If your insurance pays 80-percent of your bill, you should pay no more 20-percent. "Sometimes the doctor may have considered a particular type of diagnostic test and decided against it. It might make it onto a bill, but they forgot to take it out," said Alpern. If you dispute the charges on a bill, you can always file an appeal. On the back of your medical bill, there is often an explanation on how the appeal process works. And, if you don't have insurance, you might be paying a whole lot more. Anthony Wright works for Health Access, a consumer advocacy group in Sacramento. "Unfortunately, someone who is uninsured or under-insured gets charged 5, 6, or 7 times what an insurance company would pay for exactly the same service," said Wright. Wright says patients should treat hospital bills like the "sticker" price on a new car. Uninsured patients might be eligible for public insurance programs or a discount from the hospital based on their income, but many of these programs are rarely advertised. Many doctors and hospitals are willing to make a deal, but unless you ask you'll never get one. Each year, billions of dollars in medical bills go unpaid. So medical providers are sometimes willing to work out a deal with patients, because they'd rather get paid something than nothing. |