Hospital Billing

How the heck does the billing for hospital services work? I swear, I can never figure it out. A couple years ago when I busted up my foot, I was billed some hundreds of dollars. I didn’t pay. For one I was broke, and for two, I was pissed because the doctor gave me a $600 boot that wasn’t covered by insurance and he never even disclosed this. He probably didn’t know, so I don’t blame him, but a system should be in place so that prices can be given up-front in non-emergency situations. It’s a service, right? You don’t get your car fixed without an estimate up-front, why should getting your body fixed be any different? I got more bills, but each one was for a smaller amount. Eventually when the bill went down to a couple hundred, I paid. I didn’t get any more notices after that, so I assume it’s all paid and good, but I’m still confused about the whole thing.

This time I had an ambulance, emergency room, etc.. I have a stack of envelopes as a result. Some say to pay, some say not to pay. My insurance statement says that some $800 is not covered. I recently got a bill for just a hundred. I just today received notice that I owe $180 and it already went to collections.

On top of this, I’ve some phone calls from the ambulance people wanting my insurance info. I’m like, “You personally called me a couple weeks ago.” And then she checks and finds that she has the info already. Then I got the same phone call a couple more weeks later.

I’m not making any phone calls. I’m not doing anything except for maybe paying off the one that went to collections. If they want paid, they should make a more concerted effort.