I'm not even sure where to start but this is.. bad. For me.

[Moirae]

Much thanks to Eric for some help he gave me in pm. We will be following up.

Really, my husband is doing alot of this leg work for me. I'm having a hard time dealing with all of it emotionally.

[Moirae]

So the ER bill is $5000. Think it's done right? Nope, in our mailbox today is a bill from the ER doctor for $1550 for the 20 minutes he spent talking to us/looking at the cat scan/looking at the paperwork.

What in hell?

[csquared]

They all bill separately. What a pain.

When I had my gallbladder removed, there were five separate bills.

Call them up and ask for a discount. Some will even give you terms

[Aislin]

Tip from our last visit from hospital. Ask to be assigned a case manager. That way you have one person to call over and over again. Put the bills in order with a note pad and take notes on everything that is said. Date it. Get times. Always get names. My husband has saved literally thousands this way. We learned it from a lady working out of the hospital. She negotiated her way out of 2 Million dollars of hospital debit. She had cancer with no insurance. Be organized. Document. Keep calling and demanding help.

[EricKei]

WTF >_<

What they said. Don't be afraid to negotiate them into the ground. Don't let them intimidate you.

[Moirae]

Thank you all very much.

[RootedPhoenix]

Best I've got are *hugs*.

[Kagato]

A bit late into the conversation, but don't be afraid to start up a GoFundMe page or another type of crowdfunding campaign if things are looking dire - people WILL spread the word around for good causes and every little bit helps. I know that I'd chip in myself if I didn't have to fork out around $1500 in car repair bills myself just 48 hours ago >_<

[April]

I'm not sure where you are at, but here, the hospital had something called "CICP" (Colorado indigent care program) when I was hospitalized for my gall bladder, and even for the surgery, I was able to apply for this. Took my 12,000 dollar bill down to 1000. And then they accepted payments on top of that. This was through the more expensive hospital as well.

I thought I would make too much, but I was making over 14 dollars an hour at the time, and had my husbands income as well and I still qualified.

Contact the hospital's billing department and ask them if they have any programs for people who cannot pay or do not have insurance.

I hope that helps a little bit

[Moirae]

Kagato, my husband did set one up. We've received $200 and haven't seen anything in at least a week. I hate doing this. I feel like I'm begging. It's embarrassing. But in this country... what else do you do when the shit hits the fan? I didn't announce it here because it didn't feel appropriate. Although any help is appreciated.

[EricKei]

That's cool ^__^ And thank you for holding off on it, actually. We don't allow unauthorized charity-related posts/sigs. Sorry if it's a bit of a hassle, but we've had ...issues... in the past.

Please go ahead and drop Ree a private message (she may not be able to respond right away). We do have a procedure set up with regards to that sort of stuff. Instructions can be found here:

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=53388

If Ree OK's it, she'll give you further info.

[Moirae]

Thanks Eric.

[Aria]

Any word on this? I don't have a lot of money right now but I'd try to help out.

[Moirae]

I posted on the CS Facebook page as was suggested to me by a mod but I don't have permission to post here yet. I'll message you privately Aria.

[protege]

They all bill separately. What a pain.

Yep, unfortunately they all do it. A few years ago, I got shafted by my then-health insurer over my breathing problems. They billed every test, every visit, every X-ray as a separate item. Never mind that they were done on the same day, by the same doctor, at the same facility. Those bastards got creative, forcing me to cough up an extra $2000...which I didn't have at the time. I'm still reeling from that