Quick rant - Medical bills

[hollohas]

My family has had some fairly large medical bills over the last couple months. It's early in the year so we're still working our way through our deductible. Fortunately I fully utilize my FSA and have HRA money as well. I know tons of people use FSA, so why the hell don't the hospitals and doctor's offices send invoices that indicate the services/procedures they are billing for!?!?! They know people need that info, but they still don't provide it. Without that info the FSA place refuses to give me my OWN damn money back to pay the fricking bill!

My wife has a bunch of bills from UC Health. And they have a great app that shows everything. She can see all the details on there. But do they have any option to print or download? Hell no. They even block screenshots. Then they mail a generic $2000 invoice with no detail. You have to fill out 45 bullshit forms every doctor's visit, but they can't spare a single piece of paper to tell you what the hell they are actually charging you for.

For fucks sake. Why does everything have to be such a damn PITA.

[Sawin]

The whole system is designed to separate patients from their money, even before you become a patient. It’s a racket.

[Grant H.]

It's all a racket.

A number of years ago I had an extended stay in a local hospital. Just the hospital bill, no docs/surgeons/specialists/etc, was 7 figures...

After it was all negotiated, fought, etc they were happy with low 6 figures for nearly a month and a half care/medical/etc.

Get the insurance companies, lawyers and frivolous lawsuits, etc out of the way and healthcare doesn't have to be so unbelievably expensive.

[Clint45]

My favorite part of medical billing is when you have a simple procedure scheduled over a month in advance, then you get a surprise call from the hospital 2 days before, demanding a $2,000 "facility fee" to be paid in full before they'll do the procedure... no payments allowed and insurance doesn't cover it. So my wife's rhizotomy was cancelled. Still pissed off about that.

A coworker was making regular payments on a medical bill and they sent him to collections anyway.

Another coworker was told by his doctor that he could not have his hernia repaired until he lost 50#... and he's over 60 and not even close to morbidly obese.

Most people I know buy their prescription meds from overseas because they're a fraction of the price.

And God help you if you need pain meds. My wife was told to combine Tylenol with Motrin for a broken back.

[Great-Kazoo]

My favorite part of medical billing is when you have a simple procedure scheduled over a month in advance, then you get a surprise call from the hospital 2 days before, demanding a $2,000 "facility fee" to be paid in full before they'll do the procedure... no payments allowed and insurance doesn't cover it. So my wife's rhizotomy was cancelled. Still pissed off about that.

A coworker was making regular payments on a medical bill and they sent him to collections anyway.

Another coworker was told by his doctor that he could not have his hernia repaired until he lost 50#... and he's over 60 and not even close to morbidly obese.

Most people I know buy their prescription meds from overseas because they're a fraction of the price.

And God help you if you need pain meds. My wife was told to combine Tylenol with Motrin for a broken back.

OR they tell you. Your surgery is scheduled for next monday. We have not received an authorization as of yet. Did you send the paperwork in? Well no we were waiting till it was closer to your surgery date. So your inability to get authorization earlier, is now going to impact my surgery. Umm it might... Not my problem, that's on your hands.

[hollohas]

My wife had some treatments at the hospital that were once a week for 10 weeks. Same procedure, same facility, same provider. $500 a week.

Some weeks insurance covered it. Other weeks insurance denied the treatment. Same EXACT treatment each week. WTF?

That took a bunch of letters fighting them to cover it and eventually they paid.

Prior to that she was in the ER with sepsis at UC Health Highlands Ranch and they had to transfer her to ICU at Anschutz. Insurance was convinced I should have driven her and all her IVs to Anschutz instead of sending her in an ambulance.

But it's ok, I don't work 12 hours a day or have a family to care for, I have all the time in the world to fight this BS....

[BushMasterBoy]

After years of suffering, I finally did the surgery myself. Medicine today, is what the personal computer was 50 years ago. Admittedly the VA is pretty good at paying the medical bills. I can't wait for AI diagnosis to become mainstream in the medical community. As a veteran, I am horrified by the treatment I have received. Someone with a lesser knowledge of science is surely doomed.

Per Ardua ad Astra

[Little Dutch]

My family has had some fairly large medical bills over the last couple months. It's early in the year so we're still working our way through our deductible. Fortunately I fully utilize my FSA and have HRA money as well. I know tons of people use FSA, so why the hell don't the hospitals and doctor's offices send invoices that indicate the services/procedures they are billing for!?!?! They know people need that info, but they still don't provide it. Without that info the FSA place refuses to give me my OWN damn money back to pay the fricking bill!

My wife has a bunch of bills from UC Health. And they have a great app that shows everything. She can see all the details on there. But do they have any option to print or download? Hell no. They even block screenshots. Then they mail a generic $2000 invoice with no detail. You have to fill out 45 bullshit forms every doctor's visit, but they can't spare a single piece of paper to tell you what the hell they are actually charging you for.

For fucks sake. Why does everything have to be such a damn PITA.

I know you know that FSA’s are trash. I got so frustrated with one that I stopped putting money into them at all. I once spent 8 hours of total time trying to get a $35 Dr’s co-pay reimbursed. 8 hours. The bill said I went in for a sinus infection, the FSA argued they couldn’t be sure it wasn’t for plastic surgery. I billed the time to my employer after HR refused to intercede for me.

Health Savings Accounts are an infinitely better option, but only available on high deductible plans so far as I’m aware.

Sorry to hear about your medical bills. That sucks.

[eddiememphis]

My health plan is awesome!

It's called "Let A Dog Lick It". Works great, except dental is a bit sketchy.

[BPTactical]

After years of suffering, I finally did the surgery myself. Medicine today, is what the personal computer was 50 years ago. Admittedly the VA is pretty good at paying the medical bills. I can't wait for AI diagnosis to become mainstream in the medical community. As a veteran, I am horrified by the treatment I have received. Someone with a lesser knowledge of science is surely doomed.

Per Ardua ad Astra


You did your own hystericalectomy?
Ballsiest move I’ve ever seen Maverick.

[hollohas]

FSAs are a pain but the tax advantage does benefit me. I've always been diligent about using all my FSA money, but where does it go when people don't use it?

The fact that they are 'use it or lose it' confirms that they are trash. FSAs are a slush fund for someone.

I use the FSA and I have an employer funded health reimbursement account that's designed to help cover deductibles. But the HRA functions the same. They give you a card tied to the HRA account to use for medical bills but after using it once, struggling to get the proper documentation, then me having to reimburse the HRA, I just pay out of pocket and hope for the best.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

[theGinsue]

Ya'll think it's bad now. Just think how bad it'd be if President Oblunder and his Demonratically controlled Congress hadn't gotten in and fix things to make it affordable for us.


</sarcasm>

[Clint45]

I despise all forms of Communism, and supposedly Socialism is "Communism Lite."

That being said, every other civilized nation on Earth has basic, preventative, and emergency health care provided to all their citizens with no extra out of pocket costs.

Every hobo, addict, illegal immigrant, and prison inmate gets free healthcare... but someone working two jobs to cover rent and bills is either turned away or has their wages garnished if unable to pay.

That is why I fully support a similar health care system in America. If you want better quality of care, or elective cosmetic procedures, or require long term care, you pay extra for that.

I had a friend who was shot through the shoulder during an armed robbery of their store... then they were sued for about $100K in emergency medical expenses as a victim of a crime. Another friend broke their elbow in a fall and was sued for $50K. It's insane. People are literally going bankrupt, losing jobs, and being sued into poverty over medical bills in this country. It is a national disgrace.

If I ever get cancer or something similarly tragic, I'm just gonna eat my gun like my dad did, because no way can I ever afford medical bills that exceed my gross annual salary (a third of which goes toward rent). Fortunately, my health has been pretty good, and unlike my dad I didn't smoke 3 packs a day for 50 years.

[.455_Hunter]

The FSA process is cumbersome. I zeroed out my 2023 account for part of my son's wisdom teeth removal last fall. Several months later they want a receipt to prove the charge is valid. Yes, because "Boulder Oral Surgery" is probably a front for a dispensary or tattoo parlor. [facepalm]

[Aloha_Shooter]

I've had the same problems with my FSA. Their mantra is that it's all about the Explanation of Benefits. They really don't even want to see a detailed invoice from the provider, they just want the EOB. Last year they turned off my card because they didn't like invoices they got but I never got a notice of the problem so then my automatically-billed Tricare supplement bounced and THAT got terminated midway through the year.

This is all because of what a PITA the IRS is. The only reason we have an incentive to HAVE an FSA is because of how the federal income tax is structured and the powers of the IRS. I'm back to considering burning up the FSA and dropping it after this year -- I think it saves me a few hundred dollars in income tax but costs me hours of frustration in dealing with Aetna.

[brutal]

My family has had some fairly large medical bills over the last couple months. It's early in the year so we're still working our way through our deductible. Fortunately I fully utilize my FSA and have HRA money as well. I know tons of people use FSA, so why the hell don't the hospitals and doctor's offices send invoices that indicate the services/procedures they are billing for!?!?! They know people need that info, but they still don't provide it. Without that info the FSA place refuses to give me my OWN damn money back to pay the fricking bill!

My wife has a bunch of bills from UC Health. And they have a great app that shows everything. She can see all the details on there. But do they have any option to print or download? Hell no. They even block screenshots. Then they mail a generic $2000 invoice with no detail. You have to fill out 45 bullshit forms every doctor's visit, but they can't spare a single piece of paper to tell you what the hell they are actually charging you for.

For fucks sake. Why does everything have to be such a damn PITA.

Unless you're running in a VDI, you can't block a local screen capture application on a computer.

I use greenshot.

FWIW, my FSA administrator paid me from this year's FSA funds instead of leftover last year FSA funds for items purchased in 2023. Still fighting that one. Not only did I lose the 2023 money, I got paid from my 2024 account and burned it all up already.