Friend of mine got hit with 49,000 bill - insurance pd 20,000

[leftyladyfrommo]

What really got me was that her treatment was preapproved - Coventry Insurance Co.

She went in at six in the morning and was back home by three. Total bill was $49,000. The bill for the MRI was $6,000. One doctor received $107. One doctor got $1,000. I guess the rest was just from the hospital.

I think the hospital will just write off most of their bill. But none of this makes any sense at all.

$6,000 for an MRI?

Course it costs me $100 just to go into the clinic and get my blood pressure checked and get a prescription. I don't have insurance. Probably the bill to an insurance company would be half what I pay.

They always say you should have all of these prevntative tests. But the tests are so expensive no one can afford them. I think a mammogram is $175. I can feed myself for over a month for that.

[soleft]

1. I got a 22 thousand bill for arthroscopic procedure

Insurance paid 1400. I owe two hundred and something. It makes no sense.

My MRI was round 3k - I paid 314.

[williesgirl]

2. This is simply so the hospitals, labs etc can charge huge $s to non-insured. Makes zero sense to me

No wonder there are so many bankruptcies due to medical expense. If they were forced to charge only a 10% fee over their "best" rate for the non-insured, sure would help most Americans.

[RB TexLa]

3. They don't write it off, they collect it.

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. Who do they collect it from?

My friend was told that her portion of the bill is $1600.

I don't know what happens to the $6000 MRI bill - hospital says it was part of the treatment and was preapproved. Insurance company is saying they didn't approve it.

[RB TexLa]

5. Eventually from the patient if the insurance doesn't pay. The provider and the insurer could fight

over it for a while but when you receive treatment you sign a contract that you will pay what your insurer doesn't pay.