r/HospitalBills • u/lilldance • 28d ago
ER Bill for 2 yr old checkup
Kid had food stomach upset and he kept vomiting, at somepoint felt like he foaming in mouth went to ER. Insurance is family BCBS , how can we refute this as all they was 2 swab checks , made us wait in a room to give 2 nausea tablets
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u/LalaLogical 28d ago
It’s looks like you have a high deductible PPO that you haven’t met the deductible on yet. What would you refute?
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u/lilldance 28d ago
the ridiculous prices ?
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u/LovYouLongTime 28d ago
You are welcome for the world class healthcare your child received. In turn for that 24/7 availability and skill, the cost is listed at the bottom of the bill.
You have a high deductible. This was your choice, so now you pay up to your deductible first.
No one forced you to go in, no one forced you to have a high deductible, no one forced you to do anything. All of these things are choices, and choices have fees associated with them.
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u/LalaLogical 28d ago
It’s the emergency room, and you haven’t met your deductible. You might want to look into a different insurance plan with a lower deductible, that way your insurance will kick in sooner in the event that your child is unexpectedly ill in the future.
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28d ago
[deleted]
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u/lilldance 28d ago
omg americans really lack common sense , what emergency was treated? just giving nausea tablets justifies 3k ? wow this is just normal because a hospital as expensive equipment?
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u/Key-Examination-2734 28d ago
….the emergency you thought you were having? Whatever justified an emergency room visit. You felt like it was serious enough to rush your child to the emergency room. Just because it wasn’t serious, does not entitle you to nonemergency pricing.
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u/getalife5648 28d ago
Why did you not go to the normal pediatrician? What did you expect? You went to the emergency room and have a high deductible with your insurance which means a high bill cost to you until you hit the deductible.
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u/Cirrhosis-2015 28d ago
YOU thought it was an emergency, hence you went to the emergency room. So you are the one who made that call.
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u/PrestigiousDrag7674 28d ago
Wow. Where have you been for the last 5 years? People complain about ER bills all over the news.
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u/voodoobunny999 27d ago
We’ve seen what the hospital billed, and you have insurance, but you haven’t what insurance has paid. The hospital billed $1.63 for the nausea pills. $2000 was for going to the emergency room. That’ll likely be discounted down to about $1500 and then the final charge is for testing for a respiratory infection. Do you have any more info on what they were testing for? This might wind up highly discounted or if it’s specialized testing that requires a sample to be sent to Mayo Clinic, that might be very expensive, too.
This is why you should only go to the emergency room if it’s an emergency. The moment you check in, you’re going to be running up a substantial bill.
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u/Ok-Seaworthiness-542 24d ago
You choose to go to the ER. What emergent condition did you choose to go to the ER for? You chose poorly. Chalk it up to a lesson learned.
I would encourage you to explore what other options your healthcare plan offers like a nurse line, telefoc, and which urgent care centers are covered by your plan.
And if there's a co-pay plan available i found that when my kids were young it was often a cheaper route in the end.
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u/LasVegasASB 28d ago
Was this ER in network? For future look for urgent care in network. What do your benefits say your deductible is? Co pays, etc for ER visits?
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u/Cirrhosis-2015 28d ago
Emergency rooms exist to try to save lives in an emergency. If your child was truly in a life threatening situation would you still dispute the charges? The availability of care, skill level of physicians available around the clock, equipment and facility costs just for the ER to exist and function costs a LOT of money. Maybe consider what it takes to have a staff and equipment ready to go in a moments notice when a life is on the line and ask yourself if you would be complaining if their life had been in danger.
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u/altuser9700 28d ago
first you need to look at your in network facilities to see if this was billed as in or out of network.
second you need to look into switching from a PPO to an HMO or a plan with a lower deductible. PPO with lower deductible would mean you pay less out of pocket to meet your out of pocket minimum but usually more expensive monthly with less restrictions (such as pre authorizations for speciality care and different pharmacy costs) but an HMO is a little more expensive monthly usually with no out of pocket minimum and you just pay copays when you are seen by a doctor or do labs but you do have to get pre authorizations for some medications and speciality visits depending on what medical records you have to back up the necessity of the visit.
third you can go to the ER’s billing department and ask if they will negotiate a lower price or a payment plan.
unfortunately it looks like your plan is what is working against you and you usually can’t change your coverage until open enrollment period in may-june or if you have a qualifying life event (marriage, birth or death of member on the plan, etc)
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u/winerdars 28d ago
Welcome to the American health care system. These are pretty decent prices for a hospital
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u/Wild_Somewhere_9760 28d ago
op - as frustrating as it is, your best bet is to try and meet your deductible.. I had horrible insurance for many moons, I'd go to a chiropractor every week and have to pay full price until I had that sweet 3k deductible.... once I got there though, 5 bucks to see the good bone setter
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u/blu3m00n1991 28d ago
Universal healthcare needs to be a thing. But aside from that, this is just how high deductible PPOs work. You pay as a cash patient up until you meet your deductible. Coverage won’t kick in until the deductible is met. The only good thing about high deductible PPOs is that the monthly premium is much cheaper than say HMO.
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u/3boyz2men 28d ago
Insurance does this to encourage people to use urgent care or telehralth. ER is the most costly things you can do and they don't like that. You can't bargain the price down, it's already been bargained between the hospital and insurance company. Expensive lesson
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u/ThePickleistRick 28d ago
The mistake that you’re making OP is believing that this bill is outrageous for an emergency room. You’re not supposed to go to the ER just for some nausea, or vomiting, or a checkup. That’s what virtual care, urgent care, and primary care doctors are for.
Emergency room doctors are for emergencies, and every second they spent treating you was time they couldn’t spend treating people having actual emergencies.
Pay them what they’re due, and remember next time, if it’s not an emergency, to no go to the ER