# Why is the hospital not billing me?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-hospital-not-billing-me/803330>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 2, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-hospital-not-billing-me/803330 "2017-12-02T12:54:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-hospital-not-billing-me/803330/1 "2017-12-02T12:54:39Z")

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I was in for about 6 hours, in E.R., never admitted, so they could diagnose a sneaky pneumonia. A CAT scan was needed to find it. My insurance co. (THIS IS NOT A BILL) keeps sending me advisories, but I’ve never gotten a bill and this was in June. Apparently I should owe someone about $550, but w/o a bill, what should I do? A friend said they’d write off something that small (!) or simply take what the ins. pays.

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**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-hospital-not-billing-me/803330/2 "2017-12-02T13:01:31Z")

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Sometimes they take a while to bill. I had procedures in early October, and the bill didn’t show up until April.

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**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-hospital-not-billing-me/803330/3 "2017-12-02T13:08:10Z")

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> [@campp](#):
>
> Sometimes they take a while to bill. I had procedures in early October, and the bill didn’t show up until April.

This.

I had surgery this past summer. I didn’t get my first bill until last month.

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**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-hospital-not-billing-me/803330/4 "2017-12-02T14:22:27Z")

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Read the advisories/Explanation of Benefits that you receive from the insurance company or have them translated for you.

If you end up owing money, you’ll eventually get a bill from someone(s).

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**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-hospital-not-billing-me/803330/5 "2017-12-02T14:31:42Z")

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And don’t be afraid to call the insurance co. and ask them about it too.