American got a medical bill on $ 109 000 after a heart attack

The high cost of medical care shocks Americans with hospital bills. Annual health care costs in the United States are estimated at 3,5 trillion dollars. Hospital expenses account for almost a third of this amount.

Фото: Depositphotos

However, there are often many inconsistencies in the billing process in the hospital.

So, Drew Culver, who was hospitalized last year in Austin, Texas, due to a heart attack, received a six-digit account for medical services.

Calver has health insurance against work that covered about $ 55 000. However, a month later, Calver received a bill for treating another almost $ 109 000. He and his wife, Erin, were shocked by this amount.

“I received the bill at a time when all I should have been thinking about was how to stay healthy and avoid another heart attack,” Culver complained.

"You do everything to save a person's life and then you make their life a nightmare," his wife Erin added.

After an appeal from journalists, St. David's Medical Center, where Culver was treated, issued the following statement: "Our research indicates that Mr. Culver would qualify for a financial aid discount, which would result in his bill being less than $800."

The hospital also said it suggested Culver seek financial assistance several times, but stressed that billed charges reflect the "retail price for a procedure, treatment or visit."

So how do medical bills get so high? Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal, editor-in-chief of Kaiser Health News, explains that hospital prices are “arbitrary”.

“They pull them out of thin air,” she told “CBS This Morning.” - I must say that I looked at this bill, and the prices for each service were simply exorbitant: $200 for a blood test, $20 for one stent (a device for reconstructing the transillumination of an organ - ForumDaily editor). And those stents probably only cost $000. Hospitals are adding premiums on everything.”

It is important to remember that Calver also had insurance, Rosenthal notes. However, since the hospital where he was treated does not accept his insurance, he was billed for everything.

“This is a really common situation in American medicine where the hospital and the insurer disagree on the bill and the patient is left with debt,” Rosenthal said.

“My first piece of advice for people is to not cash the check,” Rosenthal says.

The first step is to get an itemized invoice so you know exactly what you're paying for. Then stop by the hospital and discuss the bill. Rosenthal offers some tools to help during negotiations.

"You can take a look at Bluebook blue care or see what is paying Medicare for such services. You can go and tell someone who is trying to rip you off $100 that this is ridiculous and over the top,” she said.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Medicine in the USA: expensive and even more expensive

What I learned about medicine in the United States when I got insurance

How to be treated in the US and get paid for it

Who can get Medicare and Medicaid

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