OT- insurance/bills after surgery!

[Jame0223]

Hey Ladies!  I am now 7 weeks post op! I had a dermoid cyst removed from my right ovary. Wooh and recovered nicely. I have a question though. I have insurance that is based on 500$ deductable with 90/10 for everything else. I pay 10% of everything if you didn't get what I mean and have already met my deductable. So the bills have started to roll in and for everything my insurance sends me a statement. I got a surprise this morning! I got one that says I will be responsible for 1400$ because this was not covered. WHAT?! It was posted under SU - Surgical Fees. Well I paid 200$ when I went in and also paid my surgeon as well, who is my OB, exactly what they told me it would be. Well now I get this bill for some lady, I don't know who the heck she is. But it says RNFA by her name. I looked that up and it stands for Registered Nurse First Assistant. I called my OB and asked them who she was. She apparently assisted my doctor during the surgery but I don't remember being introduced to her..and if even if I was...noone ever said that I would be getting charged for an assistant! My insurance won't cover any of it so that means I will be getting a bill for 1400$! When I got the quote for the surgery, the lady on the phone said it would be 80$(after insurance) for my dr to operate and she said that it would be around 1100$(before insurance) for the hospital stay/care and then the anestesiologist and labs. Noone ever said ANYTHING about having to pay for an assistant. Especially one that doesn't take my insurance. So I had to call the surgery scheduler and leave a voicemail about how this lady ended up on my surgery and why the heck am I getting charged for this nurse! She hasn't called me back yet either...

Does this seem right to you? My mom says that this isn't fair and that I should fight it since I was never notified. I remember being in pre-op and meeting the anestesiologist, a couple nurses, my dr and his student that was going to watch...I wonder if this RNFA works for the hospital...This doesn't make any sense! I can't pay for that anytime soon!

[BTS1022]

I would fight it aswell. You didn't ask for an assistant, didn't need an assistant, and don't even remember having one! I would let them know that.....AND if she assisted the surgeon, then the surgeon has to pay her a percentage of what he recieved for the actual operation. If it was the surgeon who needed the assistant then he should be paying the $1400 not you. And if they want to beat around the bush....tell them they can speak to your lawyer...usually that clears things up and a lawyer usually doesnt need to be called lol

Working with animals is almost the same as humans. I assist in surgeries in my medical field, and I get paid by the surgeon for my services, the owner of the animal doesn't pay me cr ap. How would you or an animal in my case need an assitant if your laying on a bed totally knocked the F@%$ out and unaware of your surroundings....

It's bull, and Id fight it. I would also search long and hard to make sure that this is even a valid bill....sometimes there are medical fraudulants. AND even if you did request an assistant or was told you would have one, it wouldn't nec. be under 1 persons name, it would be just the name of the company.

My medical bills state Quest Logistics for my doctor/OB bills and doesn't even record his name on the bill, just the services. Make sure this comapny is legit, call the board of surgeons, take it as far as you have to because your not responsible for it!

[Jame0223]

I know. How stupid is that that the assistant was almost twice as much as my surgeon who actually operated! 1400$ to help hold tools and sew me up?! You think that when they schedule the surgery they would look for assistance covered under the insurance the patient has. They never told me anything about having an assistant that isn't included in the dr/hospital fees! I am going to fight it.

[sweetangel7]

You should fight it...my mom had brain surgery and while she was out, they called in someone else to advise them...all while she was under the knife with her brain opened up AND then months later she got an outrageous bill for a specialist.  She called and asked what it was all about and they told her they had to consult with a certain doctor etc. and it turns out he wasn't 'covered'.  She won.  

I think they bank on people who aren't going to fight and think it'll be easy money.

Good luck!