Shocked by medical billing.

[HoosierDaddy]

I just received a letter asking me to respond to a questionnaire to "help" United Heat Care determine if some other insurance should pay for some of the bills UHC has already paid for my broken hip i late January. I'm guessing they are wondering if the injury was related to someone's home, business or car.

It was none of the above so inclined to ignore for now but am curious if anyone else has experience with this.

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[kz]

I just received a letter asking me to respond to a questionnaire to "help" United Heat Care determine if some other insurance should pay for some of the bills UHC has already paid for my broken hip i late January. I'm guessing they are wondering if the injury was related to someone's home, business or car.

It was none of the above so inclined to ignore for now but am curious if anyone else has experience with this.

Yeah, normal thing insurance companies do these days.

 

[sk47]

Yeah, normal thing insurance companies do these days.

Hello; Agree. Theu seek any other place from which to get funds.

 

[key01]

Yeah, normal thing insurance companies do these days.

Yes, those “shared cost” letters are routinely sent out to see if you may have additional insurance as well that may contribute to your coverage.

 

[Aless_andro00]

I've been pretty much immune to illness. Always had insurance thru employer or now Medicare but never even saw a doctor between some time in the 90s and last year when my wife told me to pick a primary care doctor just in case. So, I did and got a bunch of tests and a #%$^ load of vaccinations. Which was nice because now I can tell how many toothpicks are laying on a floor just by a glance. But I digress.....

A while ago, I had a pain in the abdomen and chills in the middle of the night. The insurance nurse hotline said to call an EMT but since I live within a stone's throw of the Mayo Hospital, I asked if I should just go there instead and they said yes.

I went and they diagnosed a kidney stone and told me to see a urologist. But I've had no symptoms in the almost 2+ months since and never bothered. But again, I digress....

Last week I got a statement from my Medicare Advantage plan with United Healthcare.

Mayo billed UHC $7,722. They accepted $1,399 as payment in full . That's less than 20% of the amount billed. I am sure if I didn't have insurance, I would have been billed for the $7,720 (at least) instead of a $50 ER deductible.

Some of the items:

Walking in the door: Mayo billed UHC $2,880; were paid $100.
CT scan: Mayo billed $952; were paid $86.

This is outrageous. If I dented a fender on my car and paid to have it fixed myself, I sure as hell wouldn't get billed for FIVE+ times what they would bill an insurance company for the same job.

The system is F'ed!

I've heard that medical bills in the US can be insane, and that is what stops me from immigrating there.

 

[sk47]

I've heard that medical bills in the US can be insane, and that is what stops me from immigrating there.

Hello; No doubt the medical establishments are in the game to make money. I cannot cite numbers but have seen that we pay the most of anyone per capita.
Many sides to this cost issue. On top of sometimes outrageous bills we publicly fund research into drugs and other medical treatments. Then we in the USA wind up paying more for the same drugs we funded the research for, while other countries somehow can sell the same drugs to folks much cheaper.
A good system if you have the funds to buy into the best plans or are outright wealthy. Not so great for the average Joe. Often an average Joe can lose everything if he/she has a serious illness.
My guess is your place is one of the national health care types. Some parts of those plans sound OK until a peek behind the curtain so to speak.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Yes, those “shared cost” letters are routinely sent out to see if you may have additional insurance as well that may contribute to your coverage.

Yeah, that's what the letter said. But ... (a) the bills have already all been paid, and (b) I already know there is no other insurance so my response could not help them.

As such smarter to ignore for now.

Same principle as not talking to cops about anything.

Their goal is not to make sure some other insurance pays part of the bills, it is for them to pay less of the bills.

See if you can figure out how they might pay less without other insurance paying more.

 

[Aless_andro00]

Hello; No doubt the medical establishments are in the game to make money. I cannot cite numbers but have seen that we pay the most of anyone per capita.
Many sides to this cost issue. On top of sometimes outrageous bills we publicly fund research into drugs and other medical treatments. Then we in the USA wind up paying more for the same drugs we funded the research for, while other countries somehow can sell the same drugs to folks much cheaper.
A good system if you have the funds to buy into the best plans or are outright wealthy. Not so great for the average Joe. Often an average Joe can lose everything if he/she has a serious illness.
My guess is your place is one of the national health care types. Some parts of those plans sound OK until a peek behind the curtain so to speak.

I should tell this to people, when they complain about the medical system in Italy. But I've heard many stories of how people in the US pay a lot for insurance, and how it much it can cost if you don't have one.

 

[sk47]

I should tell this to people, when they complain about the medical system in Italy. But I've heard many stories of how people in the US pay a lot for insurance, and how it much it can cost if you don't have one.

Hello; Fair enough. A thing is I hear often enough about folks from nationalized medicine countries traveling to the USA for surgeries if they can afford to do so. The usual explanation being very long waits for some surgeries and no control as to which doctor you get.

I fully expect the medical system in the USA to go downhill or perhaps to some degree collapse. In the last few years as many as 10,000.000 or perhaps more indigent folks have been invited in. Most, if not all, do not have funds to pay for care and under current laws do not have to. Show up at a hospital with an emergency room and will get some treatment. That is known about for sure. Some hospitals no longer have an emergency room.
Similar for public schools I suspect.

I suspect many social programs such as nationalized medicine will turn out to not be feasible in the long run. I occasionally hear rumbles of financial black holes associated. Same for other social programs I suspect. The programs are not free. Someone has to pay. There are schemes that kick the can down the road for a time but not forever.
The USA works a scheme of excessive borrowing + printing monies. This depends on the dollar remaining the fiat currency around the world which likely will change at some point.

We also appear to be at or near a voting block level where there are enough numbers of folks on some sort of program that they can vote in things on various wish lists. The working taxpayers' numbers who actually fund things will not have enough votes to stop expansion of programs. A state or two have shown the outcome of such programs and can provide a cautionary tale or few if attention is paid.

In summary I do not think either medical strategy will remain viable long term. Both have terminal issues. Just do not get sick I guess.

 

[welefthimfordeadlol]

Thank god for the NHS here in the UK. I've never had anything seriously wrong with me so I stay blessed.

 

[Aless_andro00]

Thank god for the NHS here in the UK. I've never had anything seriously wrong with me so I stay blessed.

Yeah, I know how helpful they can be. Except for the long waiting lines...

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