The nine-week mark has passed and we are starting the 10th week. Halo time is 80% complete as I type this. Just 16 days to go. Calcium infusions via yogurt and vitamins continue! We tried out the magic bullet with some smoothies made from yogurt and fruit. They turned out fair but Jan says the formula needs something. I suspect the lack of liquid from yogurt made them thicker than usual, too!
The Valentine's Day dinner on Saturday was very nice and Jan is glad she went. Earlier in the day, I had warned Tessa to let Jan get the door if anything came up because a few weeks ago I had ordered a dozen roses to be delivered on Valentine's Day.
On a poetic justice type of note, the primary health insurance company paid Bilkmore, as I had previously lamented. The difference is we finally got the statement from the insurance company on what they paid. The beauty is they knocked the original $26,003 bill down to $4,480! That's the whole thing down to just 17% of the original bill! That isn't even what any two of the CT scans were billed at and she had seven. That isn't even the cost they billed for the halo!
The $309 x-rays Jan has gotten at each visit have been knocked down to $54. It sounds like congress needs to investigate the billing practices of the medical industry!
I'm still not happy with Jan's treatment or Bilkmore but I'm happy they didn't get anything close to what they billed. It certainly was sub-par care from the neuro visit at 2:00AM of 12/15/2008 on through the two NP visits she's had, including the lack of callbacks.
Is this what is wrong with health care? Is this why they say costs are skyrocketing because they bill exorbitant amounts that mere mortals cannot hope to pay?
If some uninsured person walks into the ER and has the same treatment Jan had, they would be billed $26,000. If you have insurance, the same treatment is only $4,400. Is that fair? We need truth in billing! We need a single price for everybody instead of $29 aspirin.
The Valentine's Day dinner on Saturday was very nice and Jan is glad she went. Earlier in the day, I had warned Tessa to let Jan get the door if anything came up because a few weeks ago I had ordered a dozen roses to be delivered on Valentine's Day.On a poetic justice type of note, the primary health insurance company paid Bilkmore, as I had previously lamented. The difference is we finally got the statement from the insurance company on what they paid. The beauty is they knocked the original $26,003 bill down to $4,480! That's the whole thing down to just 17% of the original bill! That isn't even what any two of the CT scans were billed at and she had seven. That isn't even the cost they billed for the halo!
The $309 x-rays Jan has gotten at each visit have been knocked down to $54. It sounds like congress needs to investigate the billing practices of the medical industry!
I'm still not happy with Jan's treatment or Bilkmore but I'm happy they didn't get anything close to what they billed. It certainly was sub-par care from the neuro visit at 2:00AM of 12/15/2008 on through the two NP visits she's had, including the lack of callbacks.
Is this what is wrong with health care? Is this why they say costs are skyrocketing because they bill exorbitant amounts that mere mortals cannot hope to pay?
If some uninsured person walks into the ER and has the same treatment Jan had, they would be billed $26,000. If you have insurance, the same treatment is only $4,400. Is that fair? We need truth in billing! We need a single price for everybody instead of $29 aspirin.
Maybe the hospital director intervened and had them knock the price down to what it cost them to do it. You said he sounded genuinely apologetic.
ReplyDeleteBut if that's the case its outrageous that they would charge so much in the first place.
Not the director. It was Blue Cross that paid them 60% of what they will pay and the 40% balance is what the remaining bill is. The TOTAL bill, after BC knocked it down was $4,400 and they only paid $2,600 of it.
ReplyDelete