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- Joined
- Jun 25, 2005
- Messages
- 10,252
I was in the ER the other day, but not so bad that I met my high deductible for 2018. But now my specialist has recommended that I have a medically necessary procedure or two done although there is no rush to get them done.
Has anybody been able to get a very good idea of what they would have to pay for an outpatient procedure and did it actually match after the procedure and/or what were the surprises and discrepancies?
I decided that I would delve into the mysteries of paying for them because my wife had different outpatient procedures and the bills are endless because there was no disclosure of all the charges and no choice of things like whether the anesthesiologist was in network and a whole bunch of stupid nickel and dime charges plus mistakes made about deposits and credits.
It seems that the physician's office has no idea what the recommended procedure costs the patient. They can estimate what I will have to pay the physician after insurance which they get by calling my insurance company and pre-certifying me, but they don't give a rat's ass about anything else.
So I call the insurance company and they are helpful, but they cannot tell me all the charges either. They have an estimate, but I know from my wife's situation that the estimate was about 50% of what she owed in the end.
Has anybody had better luck on getting a great estimate? How about reducing costs somehow or negotiating a lower payment? Any luck?
Or do you have any horror stories that you can tell us?
Thanks!
Has anybody been able to get a very good idea of what they would have to pay for an outpatient procedure and did it actually match after the procedure and/or what were the surprises and discrepancies?
I decided that I would delve into the mysteries of paying for them because my wife had different outpatient procedures and the bills are endless because there was no disclosure of all the charges and no choice of things like whether the anesthesiologist was in network and a whole bunch of stupid nickel and dime charges plus mistakes made about deposits and credits.
It seems that the physician's office has no idea what the recommended procedure costs the patient. They can estimate what I will have to pay the physician after insurance which they get by calling my insurance company and pre-certifying me, but they don't give a rat's ass about anything else.
So I call the insurance company and they are helpful, but they cannot tell me all the charges either. They have an estimate, but I know from my wife's situation that the estimate was about 50% of what she owed in the end.
Has anybody had better luck on getting a great estimate? How about reducing costs somehow or negotiating a lower payment? Any luck?
Or do you have any horror stories that you can tell us?
Thanks!
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