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A comment on Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sling costs $200. Parent comment

Re:Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sli... by djsumdog on Friday September 13, 2019 @07:24PM (#20967700)
Insurance companies negotiate a lot of this stuff away. The poster needs to call them first, see if they can arrange a $5 payment without addition interest while the itemized bill comes in (honestly, there is legal ground here for not even being willing to honor any of the bill with itemization).

Get on the phone, try to keep cool, but realize you're probably going to yell at some poor customer service rep at some point. Apologize, keep going and get the full bill before you agree to pay anything. Then you gotta do the same thing with the full bill on ever bullshit charge, over and over again.

Honestly, how the fuck can they admit you and treat you and then bill you without telling you what the prices are up front? That's fucking madness right there. Imagine having to agree to having car or bicycle service without an estimate? Imagine the total cost being $2000 over the estimate? Would people pay? Of course not; it's worth it at that point to call a lawyer.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Medical equipment pricing is completely broken when a sli... by journalctl on Friday September 13, 2019 @10:40PM (#20968601)
The trouble is that in an emergency or urgent situation, you can’t really shop around for service. “I’m having a heart attack, but can we try the hospital in the next town over? Their cardiologist is cheaper.” Bike service is a leisurely afternoon; emergency medical care is not.

It shouldn’t cost that much in the first place. You shouldn’t need to shop around for health care, and you shouldn’t be bankrupted by an emergency. Why people aren’t marching through the streets right now is beyond me.

[ Parent | on HN ]