To complete our truly miserable first experience with University of Maryland Medical System we have finally received our first summary statement of charges we incurred during our 21 day stay. We've been waiting on pins and needles because we could not find a single person during our stay there who could tell us how to get an advanced copy of our expenses so we could know what to expect to pay. Any guesses how much they charged for their lovely services?
$91,978.52
That's $1800 per day per baby FOR JUST THEIR BEDS!!!!! With these bills we have already hit our catastrophic limit for the year, now two years in a row. Having combed through everything on the summary statement we discovered that we are being charged four times as much for Medical and Surgical supplies for Cameron than we are for Evan. And there are many other over charges for Cameron that aren't being charged for Evan. And I'm outraged that they charge for an OT and PT evaluation by the exact same people who just did the same evaluations 22 days prior in our 9 month old NICU follow up session. And why is the OT evaluation charge for Cameron $178 more than it is for Evan? They were both evaluated on the same day by the same people. Anesthesia is twice the cost for Evan as it was for Cameron but both boys had the same exact proceedures done. During our entire stay both boys had the exact same proceedures done with the only exceptions being one extra IV and one extra xray both done for Evan. I know because I was fucking there every second of every miserable day and observed everything they did, right and wrong, to my babies but be in the surgery room for the placement of the GJ tubes.
I can't wait to see what our insurance company will screw up when the actually send us the bill, because we all know it will happen. We have our letter of complaint to University of MD Hospital almost ready to go, and a copy will be sent to our insurance carrier as well as the government office benefits coordinator that works for my husbands company.
Yes, it's disgusting how the government has allowed price gouging to happen to sick and needy people. We need a change in this country right now! Damn the medical system. Damn it all to hell!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Let the battle begin!
Posted by Laura at 5:42 PM
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7 comments:
Thus the abundance of malpractice lawyers...not all the claims are frivolous. You may want to find the number to a good one and see what they think of the discrepancies in the bill.
I am speechless.
(Valerie, I don't see any malpractice here, just serious billing issues.)
one threat to bring the maryland insurance commission in on what was happening was all it took for us when we had major billing issues with the monitor company post nicu. then suddenly everything was as it should have been originally. i think its sort of like sicking the IRS on somebody.
wow...what a freaking headache huh??!!
Do you have the Katie Beckett program in your state? I wonder if it's only for WISONSIN? It's a way for children to get Medicaid by using THEIR assessts and not YOURS. They have to be deemed disabled by the state. Feeding tubes will almost always qualify!
Jaxon has qualified, so all medical bills/prescriptions are paid whatever primary insurance doesn't cover....saving our lives here. They backdate it too!!
To clarify...I didn't mean that this is a case of malpractice, but that it's clear why there are so many lawyers out there that handle malpractice...mistakes from medications, to billing, to patient identity are all too common in the healthcare system. Unfortunatly hopsitals are run like a business rather than a place for healing.
Didn't mean to confuse anyone. =)
I work for a hospital in Michigan. You can call the hospital and have your bill audited if you think there are errors. However, you really cannot compare the babies' bills because there could have been different anesthesia times, or quantities of medications, even for the same procedure. I know hospital charges are outrageous, but hospitals are under government watch too, so they don't have free reign to just charge whatever they feel like. Call to have the accounts audited. I think it will help. Also, just because a bill is $98,000 doesn't mean that the "allowed" amount is anywhere near that amount. Lots of times it is 20- 30% of that amount.Depends on the contract between the hospital and your insurance. So, maybe with that in mind, you won't have met your catastrophic limit. (we can hope!!) Good luck and I am glad the boys are gaining!! Laura in Michigan
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