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Pay Up Front for Procedure?!?!
I have a total thyroidectomy scheduled for March 31st. I just got a call from the surgeon's office & they said I need to pay them $1,000.00 up front because I have a $5,000.00 deductible on my insurance. I am very shocked & upset about this....has anyone ever heard of a doctor wanting money up front before?
This is the reason millions of aussies and americans are heading overseas to have operations. We are all being ripped off and the wait time, stand and costs do not add up. They had a bit scare campaign on the tv here a while ago saying look what the surgeons overseas can do to you. But I was in a shopping centre yesterday and the lady on the check out was showing me her horrendous scars from a lapband operation that when horribly wrong and cut into other parts of her body and now she has numerous problems. The lady behind then piped up and said one for her friends had it done and now they have to be reoperated on and will need a bag in the future, the lady on the other check out piped up and low and behold her friend spent 6 months in hospital with an chronic infection because they cut into the intestine and created a mess. So I think that if we have three people out of 5 present knew someone with the same botched up operation could you imagine what the real statistics are here.
This is the reason that I think insurance is a bad thing. Doctors and hospitals dictate what you will pay for your operation not the market (what people are willing to pay or they think is a far and reasonable price). When you have insurance you do not shop around for the best and cheapest surgeons or hospital you go with what you have and they can charge what they want. I have never heard of an insurance company saying this is not a fair and reasonable price they just hit you for the difference.
How many of the people on this board has negotiated a fee for doing the operation or even check to see how much is realistic and even how much it was going to cost prior to being operated on. Most people think it is ok for their insurance to pay whatever it is going to cost so this has led to some very unrealistic cost being charged for operations and hospital stays but yell and scream when they come to them for extra money. If the medical profession is ripping the insurances off they are most certainly not going to be worried taking your money.
You are mostly frightened, uninformed and totally trust your doctor and hospitals to do the right thing but obviously from above someone doctors think they are in the entertainment industry and worth the same per hour as Michael Jackson.
No matter what you are having done shop around ask all the important questions and get the history of the hospital and doctor that is doing the operation. Do not be railroaded into surgery until you are 100% happy with the hosptial and your doctors safety record and then the costs itemised prior to being operated on.
15 years ago I took on a large hospital here in Australia. They were charging mental patients $250 a day for a bed and treatment. But some of the patients where locked into small rooms where they weren't attended unless in emergencies and their beds where not made properly and their food was subhuman. I was total this was for their own safety and that they didn't know what they were eating so they got no choice and no proper nuitritian. I catered for 3,000 people in one of my old business's so I new how much it cost to feed and accommodate people. I took this to the government and gave them 2 weeks to change it otherwise I was going to the media. The government had just had a big campaign saying that mental patients where no different from any other patients but here clearly they thought they were subhuman. They changed most of the things I requested so I was happy.
Do not settle for this ask for a detailed statement then take it to your local authority that governs the medical profession and ask them to justify this account.
How many of the people on this board has negotiated a fee for doing the operation or even check to see how much is realistic and even how much it was going to cost prior to being operated on. Most people think it is ok for their insurance to pay whatever it is going to cost so this has led to some very unrealistic cost being charged for operations and hospital stays but yell and scream when they come to them for extra money. If the medical profession is ripping the insurances off they are most certainly not going to be worried taking your money.
You are mostly frightened, uninformed and totally trust your doctor and hospitals to do the right thing but obviously from above someone doctors think they are in the entertainment industry and worth the same per hour as Michael Jackson.
No matter what you are having done shop around ask all the important questions and get the history of the hospital and doctor that is doing the operation. Do not be railroaded into surgery until you are 100% happy with the hosptial and your doctors safety record and then the costs itemised prior to being operated on.
15 years ago I took on a large hospital here in Australia. They were charging mental patients $250 a day for a bed and treatment. But some of the patients where locked into small rooms where they weren't attended unless in emergencies and their beds where not made properly and their food was subhuman. I was total this was for their own safety and that they didn't know what they were eating so they got no choice and no proper nuitritian. I catered for 3,000 people in one of my old business's so I new how much it cost to feed and accommodate people. I took this to the government and gave them 2 weeks to change it otherwise I was going to the media. The government had just had a big campaign saying that mental patients where no different from any other patients but here clearly they thought they were subhuman. They changed most of the things I requested so I was happy.
Do not settle for this ask for a detailed statement then take it to your local authority that governs the medical profession and ask them to justify this account.
Unfortunately in this time of high deductible insurance policies, collecting money up front is getting more and more common. Most offices are willing to work with you on some sort of payment plan or help you apply for some kind of credit line if you don't immediately have the funds. Be sure and ask what they can do to help you.
I received a call from surgeons office requesting the same thing. $1,000 up front before surgery because my deductible was $4,000. The surgery center also called requesting money up front but when I explained to them that I had to pay my surgeon $1,000 up front they said I didn't have to pay them anything. My total thyroidectomy was six weeks ago. Bills are still rolling in!
My daughter's 8 day hosp stay last month would have been $113,000 if I didn't have insurance .. and that was for a gallbladder that was undiagnosed for 5 days + surgery .. YIKES .. his fee was about $5,000 for the GB and even more for my 1/2 thyroid .. there were two surgeons present.
Talk to them and see what you can do .. Cheryl
Talk to them and see what you can do .. Cheryl
Well he is quite a guy. Talk to his office if you're unable to come up with the money. wow. You would think the insurance would be enough but I know they have an allowed rate per procedure and the doc probably wouldn't get much if any. I just got my surgeon bill through my insurance and he only charged 1560.00 for the procedure itself. So that's probably why they want the money now.
Hope this helps. Had my TT on 2/29. Bills are rolling in every day.
Hugs,
Diane
Hope this helps. Had my TT on 2/29. Bills are rolling in every day.
Hugs,
Diane
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