Thursday, September 1, 2011

Sadie Frown for Naples Community Hospital

I burst into tears when I opened today's mail.  Our medical bills for my two trips to the ER now stand at over $2000.


We only went to the rather horrible county hospital (at least that's my opinion after my experience there) because they told us that they accepted our insurance. Apparently "accepted our insurance" covered the actual building, but not the doctor's, PAs, pathology lab (that I asked them not to take my baby to and who returned my baby to me in an old taped up cardboard box), or the radiologists who told us over and over again what we already knew.

If I'd received care that was even close to adequate I might be a little less bitter right now.  But after being left alone and ignored while calling for help, while I could hear the nurses outside my room talking about how they were going to help me, but who didn't actually come into my room, I'm having a hard time seeing what the $800 per Physician's Assistant for the 15 minutes they spent with me cover.  My own super-amazing OB didn't make $3000+ an hour.

I did try to get in to see an OB.  Actually, I tried to get in to see OB after OB.  But apparently telling an OB's office that you think you're miscarrying and need care is the equivalent of saying that you have the bubonic plague and would like to hang out in their waiting room.  No one seems to want that sort of liability.

I will definitely be giving the hospital a far more graphic description (in the form of a letter) of just how awful their care was...  My post here about the experience was a little toned down.  My complaints won't be.

With the limited hours Paul's allowed to work while in law school, we've been discussing spending a lot lately.  The consensus was that we had exactly what we needed.  Rent is covered by loans.  We have around $400 a month for everything else.  So maybe I'll be paying the doctors $50 a month for the next 32+ months.

I wish I was feeling the confidence I felt yesterday... that everything would just work out the way it's supposed to (the first bill that arrived was followed by the FedExman delivering a check with Paul's vacation pay for almost the same amount... unfortunately the first bill was the smallest...)...

11 comments:

  1. If 100 of your followers donate $20, you will be covered easy as pie! I'll start :^)

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  2. I commented on your fb post too, but I wanted to stress calling your insurance company and seeing if you can get covered under out of network benefits. I used to work at a counseling center doing the insurance processing. (I know, not the same thing, but still in the med field). From time to time, the insurance company would make an exception for various reasons.

    Also, you might want to get your medical records for the two trips to the ER and go through the bills vs what is in the report, you might find that you are charged for things that were not listed in the records. Or if you know for certain you were not seen by Dr. Jones or Nurse Amy call the hospital and tell them you'd like the charge taken off your bill.

    Finally, I miscarried my first baby and it is the worst thing I had ever gone though. When I received the medical bills for my three hour trip to the ER (where I was treated like a drug seeker or a crazy woman or (by the radiologist a nuisance.)) I felt like I has been kicked in the gut. I am praying for you all.

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  3. Oh, Cam, that's awful. Who told you that the hospital would cover your insurance in the first place? You need to document that in your letter as well.

    I would fight this with your insurance company as well... sometimes things get miscoded or are billed incorrectly or whatnot.

    Praying for you!

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  4. Well, just thinking off the top of my head here before I go vacuum the fuzzballs before they swallow my children, but is there any sort of aid you could apply to the hospital for? Could you ask each of your readers to donate like $20? I realize it would take 100 readers to cover the whole amount, but any little bit would help right? Maybe a local Knights of Columbus or parish could help?

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  5. Can you appeal this with the insurance? I'm sure there's something that can be done. I'd make a few phone calls and see what you can find out.

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  6. Prayers for you and your family.

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  7. You poor thing! :( Personally, I would try to fight the charges. Write them that letter you mentioned, and tell them you didn't receive the quality care you expected from a hospital. Go into detail! Especially on things like being ignored, how you and your baby were treated (emotionally and physically), etc.

    My mom had to do that once - write a letter to fight charges. She was in the ER for something and was treated similarly (ignored, etc) - she told them she wouldn't pay what they asked for because of the way they treated her, and I believe the hospital did cancel most if not all the bill...

    Talk to your hubby about it, of course (I'm not a lawyer!) but if you guys feel comfortable with that, that's what I'd do.

    Praying for you!

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  8. Hi. I've never commented but I've been reading you for a long time. :)

    I've had similar issues with hospitals and insurance. It's so frustrating! Have you called the hospital? Call them and tell them that there is no way you can afford to pay them $2000. Ask them what they can do for you. The thing is that if your insurance company would have covered you they would have paid nowhere near that much. If you have a little bit of money set aside that you can find a way to part with offer them a settlement (I actually saw a news story suggesting this too). If not, settle on a monthly payment with them and then try a settlement with them again at the end of the year. The news story talked about how hospitals, like any other business, want to close their books at the end of the year. They might be willing to take a loss at that time. Especially since to them a $2000 bill isn't all that much.

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  9. yuck. I hear you on medical bills, seeing as we're now getting the ones from Annamarie's birth. I don't see how an epidural costs $1500, when the guy was there for less than 5 minutes. That's one more reason not to get an epidural I think (unfortunately I didn't have a choice, but perhaps for next time..)

    Hoping you can cover your bills without stress, and I would definitely write them a letter!

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  10. Bastards! Please do send them a very strongly worded letter. You deserve better than that, especially for the amount of money they charged. Praying for you all.

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  11. I'm with the people that say to dispute it. Look through the itemized list because it's possible you are being charged for services that you didn't receive. That happened to my mother-in-law when she took my brother-in-law to the hospital once. They were ignored all night and then got a huge bill. Luckily, she was persistent and they canceled most of the charges.

    Keep us updated. I'm praying for you guys.

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