Rec'd my mom's hospital bill...

[AnniePokely]

:eek:


:eek:



Room (Semi Private)- $815.00
Intensive Care- $22.750.00
Pharmacy- $6,695.25
Med-Surg supplies- $11,409.00
Lab- $24,393.00
Radiology-Diagnostic- $2,850.00
CT Scan- $2,040.00
OR Services- $42,519.00
Anesthesia- $1,052.00
Blood Storage and Processing- $5,436.00
Respiratory Services- $5,857.00
Physical Therapy- $659.00
Med/Surg Supplies- $5.00
EKG/ECG- $1,776.00
Inpatient Renal Dialysis- $10,520.00
__________________________________________________ ________
Total: $138,776.25



:eek:

:eek:


So what exactly is "OR Services" anyway? Is that the physicians services, or will i receive that bill seperate?


This is before Medicare pays. Not sure what they'll pay of it.

[bremmel]

:eek:


:eek:



Room (Semi Private)- $815.00
Intensive Care- $22.750.00
Pharmacy- $6,695.25
Med-Surg supplies- $11,409.00
Lab- $24,393.00
Radiology-Diagnostic- $2,850.00
CT Scan- $2,040.00
OR Services- $42,519.00
Anesthesia- $1,052.00
Blood Storage and Processing- $5,436.00
Respiratory Services- $5,857.00
Physical Therapy- $659.00
Med/Surg Supplies- $5.00
EKG/ECG- $1,776.00
Inpatient Renal Dialysis- $10,520.00
__________________________________________________ ________
Total: $138,776.25



:eek:

:eek:


So what exactly is "OR Services" anyway? Is that the physicians services, or will i receive that bill seperate?


This is before Medicare pays. Not sure what they'll pay of it.
I could be wrong but but I think OR stands for Operating Room.

[AnniePokely]

Yes, it stands for operating room. I'm wondering if that is just things that went on in the OR, or the doctor's charges for the surgery..?

[bremmel]

Yes, it stands for operating room. I'm wondering if that is just things that went on in the OR, or the doctor's charges for the surgery..?It may being as high as it is. I think it probable depends on whether or not the surgeon works for the hospital or as an independent practice and uses the hospital to do surgery. I don't honestly know.

When all my medical bills came in from ou and Integris(ou is were I had the surgery) I don't think I got a bill from the surgeon but I did get separate bills for pathology, radiology, anesthesia. Since ou is a teaching hosiptal it maybe different.

Sorry I'm not alot of help

[AnniePokely]

I was just reading over some of the papers we rec'd while in admissions, and it says the doctors work independantly from the hospital. So i guess that isn't his bill. 40 grand for OR services. Wow.

I wonder how much he gets paid for saving lives on a daily basis.

[Verb]

That is absolutely unbelievable. I'm surprised YOU didn't have a stroke when you opened it. What an incredible, horrendous mess our medical system has become. What sort of person could afford to pay such a ridiculous bill? I know it's just a paper game with doctors, hospitals and insurance, but what of the millions of uninsured?

[bremmel]

That is absolutely unbelievable. I'm surprised YOU didn't have a stroke when you opened it. What an incredible, horrendous mess our medical system has become. What sort of person could afford to pay such a ridiculous bill? I know it's just a paper game with doctors, hospitals and insurance, but what of the millions of uninsured?We are screwed.

[im4okst]

I hardly doubt the doctor's fees are included in that....more to come :(

I would guess OR services include the staff, the room, etc...

[BackHomePoke]

If you haven't received one already, ask for an itemized bill. A few years back my wife was admitted to the hospital and since I was there the whole time I knew how much pills, IV, etc that she had. When the bill came, we thought it was awfull high and when we went through it there was a few errors. We ended up removing almost $5000 off the bill. They had billed us for something 20 times vs 2 times.

[AnniePokely]

Yea, the doctor hasn't sent me the bill yet. I'm guessing that will be another 30 grand? More?

Uggggg.

She doesn't have health insurance, because she is uninsurable. Even if they would insure her, no way she could afford the premiums on that kind of deal. Not with all of her health issues. All she has is Medicare and Oklahoma Medicaid because she is disabled. The only reason she even gets Medicare is because once she became end stage renal, they give it to you. And...they wouldn't accept Oklahoma Medicaid there in Houston. So, i don't know what Medicare will pay, but we will be responsible for the rest. Wow.

I was smart enough to get her on Medicaid. She didn't want to do it at first, but like i told her, we have paid our taxes our entire life. We have supported people on Medicaid who shouldn't even BE on medicaid. I might as well be paying for a member of my own family to get it. She also gets a check once a month for $43.00. Whooppee. Don't even get me started on that...


I knew it was coming, but i never guessed in the range of $160,000-$200,000. That's more than i paid for my home.


That's the going rate to save a life i guess. More than worth it to me.


And yes, i'm going to request a itemized bill. I can't say what went on in ICU, because i was only in there four times a day for thirty minutes at a time.

I just have to know what that $5.00 med/surg charge is.

[mejake007]

That is unbelieveable, AP. Holy cow. :(

[osujane]

Annie http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/JaneAnn55/Small%20pics/5bb86a53.gif

Our health system is insane. Perhaps Medicare will also "reprice" some of the costs?

[mejake007]

I'm sure the following is quite common for others but over the years I've been fortunate not to have to deal with medical bills, for myself or family.

I tore my Achilles a year ago. The surgery to repair it was $30K...at least according to the original bill I saw. Insurance ended up not paying but 1/3 of that...around $9900. The last invoices I saw from the hospital showed "price revisions" and "unrecoupable losses". I could hardly pronounce those words much less make any sense of them.

osujane is right - our whole medical/insurance/hospital billing world is totally insane.

[AnniePokely]

So i figured up just the dialysis alone. She had it on Wed before surgery, then in ICU on friday-monday- and wednesday the following week.

Four times. The bill on it was $10,520.00. That's $2630.00 per time.


Unfreakingbelievable.

And how could lab be $24,393.00?? By lab i'm assuming they mean when they came in a drew blood?

And what exactly is "Blood storage and processing"..?

And a $42,519.00 OR bill doesn't even include the $11,409.00 in "surgery supplies"...?


She doesn't have this kind of money. Heck, who has a quick 150 grand laying around?


Oh well. Ya do what you have to do and move on. It is what it is.

Not meaning to go on and on about it. It just shocked me is all.

[cactusjack]

I never brought it up, but I've been waiting for you to call and tell me to guess how much the bill was, lol. I figured it would be a doozy!

Glad they got that $5 supply bill on there as well, lol.

[PokesFanatic]

One of the frightening things is (not intending to indict anyone who has had to do this) but the more debt of this sort that is written off by the hospitals the higher that bill is for the next patient. When the trend continues the costs will eventually snowball out of control--a scenario that is good for no one.

I think we have reached an impasse with the health care costs in this country. We have the most advanced care available, but it's astronomically expensive, even from a supply and demand standpoint. I mean, who in their right mind could justify blood tests equating to a couple of DOZEN THOUSANDS of dollars?

I don't know exactly how it can be fixed. I know that excessive litigation is a factor, as is pharmaceuticals pushing the latest meds on people through aggressive advertisement schemes. I also believe that the early Hillary attempts at social medicine took a lot of administration out of the hands of doctors and put it in the hands of less knowledgeable managers.

One thing is clear: the system is badly bent and it needs fixing.

[Roman Craig]

So if she has Medicare and Disability medicaid, relax. she may not owe anything. I may be wrong here but the doctor might charge the hospital.



how is she doing by the way

[AnniePokely]

The disability Medicaid is State of Oklahoma issued, and they will not accept it there in Houston. So, we just have to see what Medicare pays, and go from there. I don't expect the hospital/doctors/ to write off anything that was accurately charged. We owe it.

She's doing ok, but not as well as i hoped for. She's just still so weak. I have a call in to Dr. Coselli in Houston. I'll see what he says. I hope we don't end up having to go back there, but she seems to just want to sleep all the time, and has little strength. I've never seen her this way. That can't be normal..? I need to hear from the surgeon though. I need to make sure the doctors here aren't overlooking something. I keep telling myself it's because of all she went through, and how tough of a surgery it was, but surgery was four weeks ago wednesday.

I don't know... I know we did the right thing by going. Had we not gone, she would have lived 2 months. But, it's very hard seeing her struggle like this. It's making me wonder if she'll ever be the same again. You hear stories of older folks having a tough surgery, and they never seem to recover from it. I pray that's not the case.


I'm just having a bad day. I'm sure things will be fine if given more time.

[wickerbill]

One of the crappiest things they do in the medical field is bill an outrageous charge to the self pay patients while they are more than happy to settle for much less with the insurance companies.

[osujane]

Thoughts and prayers for you and your mom, Annie. I pray God gives her more strength each day. :)

[BobBarker]

Just remember, YOU aren't responsible for the bill, she is. Medicare will pay what they will, and then she can declare bankruptcy. Just an option to keep in mind. Her declaring bankruptcy will have much less of a negative impact on your family you going out of your pocket 100K in the next 6 months.

[Roman Craig]

I think you are probably right, it was a huge surgery. A lot of her energy is going into healing from that. Don't think about if the surgery was the right thing to do, if you hadn't done it she likely wouldn't be here now.

[osupsycho]

You can also ask for a payment plan and spread it out over a long period of time. Every time I have a medical bill over $50 I ask for a payment plan because they always will give them (if you press them) and everytime they have been without any kind of interest. I usually have the money to pay but it is better for my money to sit somewhere making money than to pay them all up front.

[AggieSpice]

i also agree with the posters who encourage you to look closely at the bill. i have heard and read several stories of people who had thousands of incorrect charges taken off their bills. it may seem cynical, but it reminds me of that john grisham book where the insurance company had the policy of just automatically rejecting claims for payment, just to see if anyone would complain. it sometimes seems like hospitals will just send an outrageous bill, just to see if you'll pay it.