On a related note, why does it take so long to get a bill from a hospital? In October my son injured a finger which required a trip to the emergency room and minor surgery along with a follow up a week later. So far we have been billed $89 for a package of bandages they sent us home with. We checked this week and it looks like the insurance company just got billed so it will take some time to process and get to us. So 3 months to send a bill.
That’s because the hospital and insurance are going bac-and-forth out of view as to the billed amount and how much the insurance is going to cover. It takes some time to review all charges line by line against the contract the two entities have signed. But not to worry, if the insurance wont cover all the cost, the hospital will send you a bill to cover the difference. [sarcasm] Because, you knew what this was gonna cost up front at the hospital, and you knew what your insurance would cover, right? [/sarcasm]
When my wife was dying, she was hospitalized for several short periods. During this time, she also turned 65 and went on Medicare, and then a little later started hospice care. So in the space of a few weeks there were four insurances involved (old insurance, Medicare, Medicare supplement, and hospice). There was some confusion about who was supposed to be covering what, and at one point I got a bill for $186,000 for uncovered expenses. This was for a total of less than two weeks of hospital stays. Ultimately the insurance companies worked it out and covered all of it. I don’t remember what they actually paid, but it was far less than $186,000.