crazy hospital bill after surgery :(

Hi all,

So I had VSG on 10/14, & toay I received a bill from the hospital I got the surgery done, that I owe the hospital $108k for the services :(

Prior to the surgery I was approved by insurance & told I was covered 100% if I had the urgery at the center of excellence. The hospital I had the surgery is a center of excellence.

The total charge is 108k & the insurance has only pain 10k. :(

I am freaking out!!! :( I wasnt aware of any of this. Please help. Anybody been in this situation? How did you handle this & did you guys have to pay a huge amount after being approved by ur insurance?

Thanks,

Sleevegirl10/14

Yikes! You will need to call your insurance company, but I'm sure you have a deductible that you need to meet. Do you know what your deductible is? You might also have a yearly out-of-pocket maximum. My insurance has a maximum limit on what I pay out of pocket every year. For example, my deductible is $200, and once that is met, I still have to pay my portion. But once I hit $1,500 for the year, my insurance pays everything 100%. 

I'm hoping it's a mistake. Maybe the paperwork didn't get filed correctly or something??

Good luck!!

Amy,

That makes so much sense! I Hope its a mistake too :( I will have an update for u tomorrow after i call the hospital, my surgeon & insurance.

I only had to pay the hospital 210 per night and that is it. Most insurance companies make deals with hospitals or doctors. Like the hospital will lower the bill but its just a write off you are not responsible for the write off portion. It's just how medical places and insurance co work don't worry until you have to. Call your hospital and insurance co tomorrow. Good luck. 

This appears to ******ror, unless you had complications, extra surgery of something beyond VSG or a very long stay for your recovery, say 10 days..  

(1) Your share is limited to the amount of the deductible and you maximum out of pocket cost on your insurance policy.

(2) $108,000 is nearly double the cost  for RNY, which is more complicated than VSG. The highest I have heard charged for RNY was about $70,000.

Tomorrow morning, call your insurance company and then the hospital billing office.

Don't lose sleep over it tonight. Just get it sorted out tomorrow. 

Simone,

Thanks for your response! :( Yes I am so stressed right now. :( Nobody during the time period of three months of the approval process, told me I would not be covered one bit!

I am freaking out. I dont think i ll have a gud night's sleep tonight. :(

I will update you tomorrwo after i make some calls!

are your sure your policy doesn't have a max amount they will pay for WLS?. Many plans cover it,but have a max payable amount of $10,000. Hope this isn't the case but you will definitely needy be making some phone calls tomorrow. 

Hollykin,

Yes the amount billed is 118k, and the insurance has paid 10k only. Now I am stressing even more! :(

Yep, I ended up with a huge bill ($$$$) when I was on vacation once.  I became ill and had to go to a hospital in Florida.  My insurance treated it as a  "not in network"  event, paid a minimum amount on the total bill (per the plan) and I got stuck with the rest of the bill.  No if's, no ands, no buts about it. 

Is the bill you received itemized to come to that total? 

Though you went to a Center of Excellence, did you make sure it was in your network?  Some insurance plans are very specific about which hospitals may be used.

Also, who exactly told you it would be covered 100%???  That makes a big difference as well.  

1st...was the hospital in network

2nd...did the paper say "this is not a bill"  If it did, that means that they haven't billed your insurance yet.