r/HospitalBills • u/Malicious_Fishes • Jul 01 '25
Urgent Care Tweezing a blueberry from my son’s nose is “surgery”?
I know this is much smaller than a lot of the bills on here but my son put a blueberry in his nose and we couldn’t get it out. We stopped by urgent care and a doctor used tweezers and got it out in like 10 seconds. Now they are billing it as “surgery”. In what world is that surgery?! Now we are being charged $530. Has anyone else had this happen?
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u/voodoobunny999 Jul 01 '25
How much would you be willing to pay to have a blueberry removed from your son’s nose that you couldn’t remove?
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u/MLB-LeakyLeak Jul 01 '25
The removal was free.
You’re paying for the 11 years of education, malpractice insurance, student loans.
If I called an electrician to come to my house and change a ground-level lightbulb I’d expect to be charged a few hundred for it.
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u/Sloppysteaksslick Jul 01 '25
30300 should have been used and it shouldn't be that expensive alone but if they added an office visit in addition I could see the price being around what you state you are charged.
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u/bevespi Jul 01 '25
Why wouldn’t an E/M be billed? It was an unknown to the provider patient, history was obtained, exam occurred, management was given and a procedure was performed.
If I see a patient, evaluate their knee pain, make recommendations and perform a CSI, it’s an E/M and procedure code.
If I evaluate the knee pain and give management only, and tell the patient call if you want an injection which they subsequently get, I’d bill the injection only.
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u/Sloppysteaksslick Jul 01 '25
I didn't say an E/M should not be billed. My point was that the CPT for the procedure should be 30300 and if there is also an E/M that would explain the price .
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u/ElleGee5152 Jul 01 '25
"Surgery" is how the code for removing a foreign body from the nose is classified. "Surgery" in medical billing doesn't necessarily mean the patient was cut open, it's a broad category for a wide variety of procedures.
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u/Malicious_Fishes Jul 01 '25
It seems crazy that 10 seconds and tweezers would cost the same as something more involved.
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u/ChewieBearStare Jul 01 '25
It wouldn't. You'd pay a lot more for being cut open on an operating table.
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u/FlamingoConsistent79 Jul 01 '25
Then why didnt you just do it?
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u/caraiggy Jul 01 '25
Exactly. If it were just “10 seconds and tweezers” they wouldn’t have gone to urgent care.
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u/Captain_Potsmoker Jul 01 '25
That doctor had to go through no less than 8 years of schooling to be able to legally practice medicine and remove berries from toddlers noses.
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u/greykitty1234 Jul 01 '25
Maybe just me, but it's training, ability, and resources, not just 'time', that should be considered when looking at a bill. And $530 seems pretty reasonable.
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u/Pretty_Fisherman_314 Jul 01 '25
hey so urgent care visits are expensive still! Just because you believe it wasn’t worth that money does not mean you didn’t see people who care for others.
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u/tattcat53 Jul 01 '25
I expect it was billed as "Removal of foreign body from (orifice)" A computer then generates the charge and bill, no time or complexity component involved. If you are insured the payment will be like 25%.
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u/Malicious_Fishes Jul 01 '25
See I am insured and they are coving $130 out of the $770, which I also don’t get but I haven’t met my deductible yet so they say that’s why?
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u/tattcat53 Jul 01 '25
Can't speak to your specific situation, but in general the patient is not responsible for more than the insurance allowable regardless of deductible status. UNLESS you went to a "nonparticipating" facility, in which case you are stuck. Check with your insurer.
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u/BoilerBob37 Jul 01 '25
I had the same thing at my son’s primary care office (part of a university medical group) to remove ear wax so they could see the ear infection. 30 seconds and $500 later using a wax removal tool, yup an ear infection.
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u/1935dodgers88 Jul 01 '25
I get an eyela eye injection and it’s billed as outpatient surgery. Was told if it penetrates the skin that’s the code. I asked why not the same for a flu shot?
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u/bmoor908 Jul 01 '25
Parent Tip: If your kid puts something up their nose and you can’t get it out, try this. Have them lay down, hold the nostril without the object closed, then give a quick breath in their mouth like doing CPR. 9 times out of 10, the foreign object will come flying out of their other nostril.
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u/Woodman629 Jul 01 '25
$530 for an urgent care visit is actually pretty reasonable. The procedure has to fit within the CDT coding. Sometimes the description the patient sees is a bit wonky. But that quick procedure has an enormous number of costs behind it: Admin staff, clinic staff, technology, billing staff, benefits, patient record management, sterilization, rent, inventory, other overhead, taxes. Those costs add up.