Subscribe Feed (RSS)Having medical insurance is no guarantee you won’t be over billed. Many are finding inaccuracies in the bills they receive from hospitals and caregivers. The problem is less uncommon than one would think. It could be sloppiness or it could mean the right hand isn’t talking to the left hand. Hospital billing procedures often do leave a lot to be desired, since there are so many involved in the patient’s care. But errors do occur, and it is a good idea to do a line by line review of your hospital bill.
Recently, as a young nurse was combed through the bills for her husband’s recent hospital stay, she found that there were charges for a drug that should have been $80, but was charged incorrectly at $875. There was also an administrative error which caused her husband to be hospitalized an extra day, and she knew from her hospital experience that they didn’t have to pay for additional unneeded care because of a medical mistake. She also discovered a charge for administering one medication 7 times a day, when the doctor’s prescription was only 4 times per day. In all, she uncovered $7000 worth of over charges on her bills.
If you have recently had a hospital stay, it is a good idea to make sure it is itemized and then sit down and review it. If you have questions, sit down with your doctor and not the billing department of the hospital. They work is clerical and they don’t always have the correct history of your care. And no matter what, make sure you ask questions.
If you are unable to find satisfactory answers to your questions, you do have other resources. There are patient advocate groups available to help. And don’t hesitate to contact the insurance commissioner in your state if you are having issues with your insurance company.
By having health insurance, we want to be taken care of in case we need it. There is no need to be intimidated by a bunch of codes and numbers on the bill. The hospital can tell you in words what all of them mean. Medical bills can be filled with errors, and you certainly don’t want to pay excess charges. Do your homework, and you’ll get the corrections made that you need.
It may seem tough to find affordable individual health insurance, now a days, however there is a solutions. log onto www.individualhealthquotes.com and you can obtain health insurance quotes from numerous companies at one time.
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