Insured Man Shocked Over $10K Bill

[The Straight Story]

Insured Man Shocked Over $10K Bill
Doctors -- Not Hospital -- Covered On Longwood Man's Plan


LONGWOOD, Fla. -- A Longwood man with health insurance was issued a nearly $10,000 bill after being taken to an emergency room for what he thought was a heart attack.

Brian Weigle was recently visiting friends in Titusville when he started to feel sick.

"All of a sudden, my heart starts racing -- pounding, pounding, pounding," Weigle said. "I knew something wasn't right."

Weigle said his best friend's wife works in health care and determined that he needed immediate assistance.

"She took my pulse and said, 'Brian, we've got to get you to an emergency room right away. You might be having a heart attack,'" Weigle said.
...

But Weigle said he was surprised when his insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield, covered all the medical care he received at the hospital but did not cover the facility itself. The doctors at Parrish Medical Center are in-network on Weigle's insurance, but Parrish is considered an out-of-network facility, which means Weigle is responsible for a $5,000 deductible, plus the difference between what Blue Cross Blue Shied allows for facility charges and what the facility actually bills him.

http://www.clickorlando.com/health/20531074/detail.html

[aikoaiko]

1. I wonder how many people have had heart attacks after looking at their med bills.

:shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. When dad fell I told mom, this is going to run umpty squat of money

when all is said and done.

I was dead on with the ambulances, and fortunately, since there were no complications, under the total cost, but still.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. This in network out of network crap has to stop

Time for my story regarding this crap

Young man was in an accident down in TJ. We pick him up with a Closed Head injury, take him to hospital, gets full trauma care, MRIs, ICU, the whole nine yards

Ten days later he wakes up, and we find out who our John Doe is.

To make a long story short, silly us, he had insurance. We filed for ten days, Trauma Bay, ICU with blue cross blue shield. What we wanted reimbursed was about two days worth of ICU in the US, not even adding the cost of the two ALS units, or the ICU and OR...

We were denied.

Reason

Not in network facility.

What a load of crap.

We never gave the family a bill. They still gave us a donation... that was my true real life intro to this crock that is medicine for profit.

[sharp_stick]

6. What kind of socialist facility are you running?

My god, what do you mean you never billed his family. Any good red-blooded American hospital would have bankrupted that family so they could get a new polish added to the lobby floor.

:sarcasm: of course.

Good on you guys for not billing them, did you ever get anything from the insurance parasites?

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Mexican Red Cross hospital

in ten years of volunteering never in my life did the words, how are you going to pay for this crossed my lips.

We worked on the kindness of others and donations.

We had a social work department, an ER department, Ambulance rescue, but billing? Nope.

We literally had a donation box at the exit of the ER...

Some folks put in 20 cents, a few put in a few thousand...

We had a saying, "you are never too poor not to be able to help us, or too rich not to need us."

Hell I got minor medical there as well, the time I split my lip in the line of duty...

I was about to put some money in the box, and I was told by the head nurse. you shit me right? You put HOURS and skills, use the money to buy the antibiotics. third generation, broad spectrum. Would have been overkill, except that I split it on an O2 tank... don't ask long story. So you never know what grows in hospitals. So they decided to cover me for all possible crap.

Oh that night crossing the border, INS was ahem curious. I told them I was assaulted by an O2 tank. They got a chuckle out of it.

[old guy]

4. Well sir, welcome to the wonderful world of health insurance.

[auntAgonist]

5. I'm insured, my co-pays and out of pocket expenses are

killing me though.

single payer is the only way to go.

I'm paying almost 400.00 a month for insurance coverage w/BCBS through my employer. I have one of the 'better' plans.

I still can't afford good health care.

aA
kesha

[anneboleyn]

17. Yes, this is all too common. If only stories like these were on the news instead of idiots at town

hall meetings screaming about socialism. It really does make me sick. Literally.

[Regret My New Name]

7. If this happened to a republican or a republican's friend/family member...

they would bitch and moan about how fucked up the insurance companies are, and how they are screwing people over... But then they will go on to attack healthcare reform and ultimate defend the system that screwed them over. I just don't get this fucking disconnect they have.

For example, my parents used to always bitch about insurance companies and how much they hate them. Now they are defending the shit they've been bitching about for years.

[damntexdem]

8. If the Dems cannot stop crap like this by passing reform, they deserve to lose.

And of course, then the country will really lose.

[xultar]

9. i hope he is a fucking republican.

[rucky]

10. I am so glad government bureaucrats weren't involved in that one!

:eyes:

[walldude]

11. Well I guess being uninsured isn't that bad... MY wife had to go

to the emergency room for the same reason. Cost us 10 thousand as well but we have no coverage at all.

[SidDithers]

13. What a fucked-up system that is...

in network, out of network, deductibles etc.

I truly feel for you, my American brothers and sisters, but this Canadian can't help but shake my head in amazement with every similar story that I read.

Sid

[auntAgonist]

15. It's times like this I truly miss OHIP

[anneboleyn]

18. Some of us can't stand it either. My husband and I seriously discuss emigrating to Europe for this

very reason (most likely England, as we have spent the most time there and love the country. Actually we would move to Wales). The NHS may be having problems but our system is a disgusting, materialist, inhumane joke on the citizens of this country.

[Lorien]

22. I want to move now

Britain, the EU, New Zealand...if I ever get back on my feet financially I'm outta here!

[zbdent]

14. somebody's gotta pay for all those commercials bashing

affordable health care ...

[MadMaddie]

16. So you are possibly having a heart attack and you can't

go to the nearest facility because it's not in network. Who is rationing care? Now this man has a 10,000.00 bill wow....just wow..

[McCamy Taylor]

19. If he appeals long enough they will pay. That is the insurance game. Raise a fuss

and they will do what it takes to get you off their backs.

In ten years of medical practice, I never met a denial of care ruling from an insurance for emergency services that I could not get overturned.

[Lorien]

20. Same thing happened to me eight years ago

only I was stuck for a bill of $8,500.00 Guess prices around Orlando have gone up since then.

[Gormy Cuss]

21. Serves him right for not checking the network listing before going to the emergency room.

Yeah, I'm kidding.

This is a good example of how the game is rigged in favor of the private health care insurer -- always has been, always will be.

Single payer, anyone?

[lostnfound]

23. Heck, I got a $1600 bill for a mammogram, and I'm "insured".

Just a "mistake".