Not sure if anyone noticed the comment on my previous post from Henry Ford Hospital. If not, take a moment and read it.
Andy received a phone call from the hospital this morning. They looked into our situation. What had happened - the surgery was supposed to cost over $14,000. When the account rep said our "discounted rate" was $6600 - that was the amount that should have been taken off of our bill, not the final amount due...
After speaking with the hospital this morning, our remaining balance has been reduced to $0.
They told us that they were very sorry about the situation, and the stress it caused us.
I am amazed at the quick attention our situation received at the Hospital. And I am very grateful for the outcome. I am still in shock about it, actually.
My stand that we need Health Care Reform remains strong. We will still be sending letters to our representatives in Congress in support of Health Care Reform.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Blog #1 - Doctors & Hospitals are Crooks
This one could also be called "Why does bad news always arrive in the mail on Friday after work hours...."
Today we got a bill in the mail from Henry Ford Hospital for Andy's surgery last month. Without going into details, this surgery was not covered by our insurance. We were told that the surgery would cost us $6600, which we saved for and paid out of pocket before his surgery date.
Today's bill states that we owe $8000 more in addition to that initial payment. We were quoted on multiple occasions that the surgery would be around $7000. When I paid the $6600 - I asked what was covered and asked if this was "Everything from when he walks into the hospital that day to when he walks out" and the nice (but apparently misinformed) woman from the doctor's office said "yes" and split that $6600 into a two categories of "Professional" and "Hospital Fees". We would not have agreed to the surgery if we knew we'd be in for over $14,000. (that's INSANE)
We didn't get the mail until 6PM today. Their office hours end at 5PM, of course. So now we get to spend two full days over the weekend stressing out about what to do with this medical bill that we did not think we had.
I do my best to keep a positive outlook, to smile a lot, to give people the benefit of the doubt. I have manners, I open doors for people, I let people in front of me during rush hour. Life is too short to be grumpy and miserable. And I really do not have anything to be grumpy and miserable about.
But on rare occasions, like today, it all catches up with me and I lose my optimism.
This is my example of why we need health care reform. Even though this procedure was not covered, the high cost of medical and hospital care is out of control.
My husband and I are both engineers at Chrysler. Chrysler does not contribute to our health insurance at all. We get $0 from them toward our health insurance cost - we pay it all ourselves. I am sure there is some small group rate discount that we have. But the medical insurance is all paid by us. They contribute a little to our dental and vision.
In addition to the shock of receiving this bill - the way the team at Henry Ford handled our pre-surgery tasks was amateur and unprofessional. They called us the DAY BEFORE the surgery and told us about other appointments we should have scheduled prior to the surgery... I already have a four page letter drafted to Dr. Riad Farah about our experience with his staff prior to the surgery. After today's mail, looks like we will be adding a few more pages.
So Andy and I have discussed next steps. We will call the hospital on Monday at 8AM to discuss our bill with them. We will also probably seek legal counsel. We don't have the $8,000 to pay them (who has that laying around?!?!) and we really don't have money for a lawyer.
We will be sending letters to the doctor and his office staff, patient relations at the hospital and the head of the department at the hospital. We will no longer use Henry Ford Health System. I will write about our experience on this blog and share it with family and friends. The internet is a great way to quickly share news. And bad news and bad experience seem to travel faster and better than good news. We will be writing letters to our Representatives in Congress in support of Health Care Reform.
I will post excerpts from those letters once completed to share our story.
Andy runs a motorcycle repair service on the weekends. When a customer visits with a problem, Andy is required BY LAW to provide a quote for that work. The customer signs this quote as an approval for Andy to start the work on their motorcycle. If the cost deviates from this quote, he is required BY LAW to contact the customer and ask what they want to do... He cannot charge more than that quote without reviewing it with the customer.
Why isn't health care the same way? We were told in two different doctor's offices and by the misinformed office staff that we owed $6600. Period. I understand that the hospital part of the surgery could have been separate - but we asked on each occasion if this price was everything. On each occasion we were told it was. This was 3 times, by three different people.
I am not hopeful that the hospital will say "Oh gee, you are right, you DON'T owe us $8,000." I assume that we will have to find the money to pay this somehow. Right now I am at a loss about how to do it and I am FURIOUS that I have to figure it out.
Please get the facts about Health Care Reform. Write to your reps in Congress. Demand that this system gets the overhaul that it needs.
P.S. See Blog #2 for update from the Hospital (posted 3/16/2010).
Today we got a bill in the mail from Henry Ford Hospital for Andy's surgery last month. Without going into details, this surgery was not covered by our insurance. We were told that the surgery would cost us $6600, which we saved for and paid out of pocket before his surgery date.
Today's bill states that we owe $8000 more in addition to that initial payment. We were quoted on multiple occasions that the surgery would be around $7000. When I paid the $6600 - I asked what was covered and asked if this was "Everything from when he walks into the hospital that day to when he walks out" and the nice (but apparently misinformed) woman from the doctor's office said "yes" and split that $6600 into a two categories of "Professional" and "Hospital Fees". We would not have agreed to the surgery if we knew we'd be in for over $14,000. (that's INSANE)
We didn't get the mail until 6PM today. Their office hours end at 5PM, of course. So now we get to spend two full days over the weekend stressing out about what to do with this medical bill that we did not think we had.
I do my best to keep a positive outlook, to smile a lot, to give people the benefit of the doubt. I have manners, I open doors for people, I let people in front of me during rush hour. Life is too short to be grumpy and miserable. And I really do not have anything to be grumpy and miserable about.
But on rare occasions, like today, it all catches up with me and I lose my optimism.
This is my example of why we need health care reform. Even though this procedure was not covered, the high cost of medical and hospital care is out of control.
My husband and I are both engineers at Chrysler. Chrysler does not contribute to our health insurance at all. We get $0 from them toward our health insurance cost - we pay it all ourselves. I am sure there is some small group rate discount that we have. But the medical insurance is all paid by us. They contribute a little to our dental and vision.
In addition to the shock of receiving this bill - the way the team at Henry Ford handled our pre-surgery tasks was amateur and unprofessional. They called us the DAY BEFORE the surgery and told us about other appointments we should have scheduled prior to the surgery... I already have a four page letter drafted to Dr. Riad Farah about our experience with his staff prior to the surgery. After today's mail, looks like we will be adding a few more pages.
So Andy and I have discussed next steps. We will call the hospital on Monday at 8AM to discuss our bill with them. We will also probably seek legal counsel. We don't have the $8,000 to pay them (who has that laying around?!?!) and we really don't have money for a lawyer.
We will be sending letters to the doctor and his office staff, patient relations at the hospital and the head of the department at the hospital. We will no longer use Henry Ford Health System. I will write about our experience on this blog and share it with family and friends. The internet is a great way to quickly share news. And bad news and bad experience seem to travel faster and better than good news. We will be writing letters to our Representatives in Congress in support of Health Care Reform.
I will post excerpts from those letters once completed to share our story.
Andy runs a motorcycle repair service on the weekends. When a customer visits with a problem, Andy is required BY LAW to provide a quote for that work. The customer signs this quote as an approval for Andy to start the work on their motorcycle. If the cost deviates from this quote, he is required BY LAW to contact the customer and ask what they want to do... He cannot charge more than that quote without reviewing it with the customer.
Why isn't health care the same way? We were told in two different doctor's offices and by the misinformed office staff that we owed $6600. Period. I understand that the hospital part of the surgery could have been separate - but we asked on each occasion if this price was everything. On each occasion we were told it was. This was 3 times, by three different people.
I am not hopeful that the hospital will say "Oh gee, you are right, you DON'T owe us $8,000." I assume that we will have to find the money to pay this somehow. Right now I am at a loss about how to do it and I am FURIOUS that I have to figure it out.
Please get the facts about Health Care Reform. Write to your reps in Congress. Demand that this system gets the overhaul that it needs.
P.S. See Blog #2 for update from the Hospital (posted 3/16/2010).
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