Urghhh....

[psychomom71]

OK I have been approved by my insurance company and have a surgery date .Today I go to sign papers at my surgeons office and they give me an estimate of what I will owe and I am shocked to see that it will be over 1800.00 .Due in two weeks!!!! At the seminar I was told about a 350.00 fee for the surgical program which I have paid.I knew I would owe my deductable for out patient surgery at the time of surgery which is 350.00 .I also have called my ins and they cover 80% until I hit 1500.00 then they pay 100% .So I am thinking that the remainder (the 20% up to 1500.00) will be billed to me after all is said and done since everytime you go to the hospital bills come from everywhere.Also the lady at the surgeon talked to me about ins and never said you will need to pay the amount of your max out of pocket expense up front.So the hospital told me I could bring half up front and pay off the rest. If I had known this ahead of time I could have saved the money no big deal but to neglect to tell me when we have discussed ins and payment and now stick me with this right here at the end is cruel. I think that is how they do it and they know you will do whatever to get the money since the are dangling the golden carrot in front of you.OMG !!!! I am so frustrated!!!! Even coming up with the half is gonna be hard.We are looking into getting a 401K loan to cover it .
So has this been an issue with anyone else ? Last minute unexpected lump sum payments ????
BTW I am very thankful the hospital is trying to work with me since they consider this elective and usually expect the whole amt up front. I was just not told and did not expect to owe this amt up front after talking to her and the ins co about what I would owe.:(

[crwillis]

oh pshycomom, that is TERRIBLE...i have no idea what to tell you, b/c i haven't reached that phase in my journey yet, but i do wish you the best of luck...hopefully the other members on here will be able to give both of us some insight. just hang on girlie, change is coming!!

[LAPBANDJERSEYGIRL]

Oh wow that's terrible. Luckily my insurance was in network with the hospital and my surgeon only took what my insurance would pay. Your right it's like they didn't want to tell you right away because they knew when you were so close you wouldn't back out. I wish you luck with everything.

[Neal R.]

Sorry you had to deal with this. I knew what my co-pays were upfront and I think I paid a total of $250 out of pocket. I would have had to scramble big time if they hit me up like that.

[blu]

Oh no that is not good to have to struggle with at this point in the journey. Is this a hospital rule that they need the payment up front? I could be wrong, but I thought the process was that the insurance was billed after whatever procedure took place and then you were sent a bill for the remainder not covered by insurance.

I guess they assume since you'll have to pay the max regardless, it's ok to charge it up front. That stinks to have to use your 401k like that. Do you have a flexible spending account or anything like that you could use instead?

I wish you the best of luck with gathering the funds and hopefully this will be the only struggle you'll have to encounter.

[MoOrLess]

This is ridiculous and totally unfair to you. Had I found myself in the same situation I wouldn't have been able to go ahead with the surgery. If you don't feel you can discuss this with your surgeon's office beforehand - do NOT ignore having a conversation with them after your surgery. This is nonsense. Either call up and demand a conversation with someone high up at the hospital or your surgeon's office manager. It sounds to me like someone completely dropped the ball on this one. I'm sorry you're going thru this.

[Rini]

I agree with Mo on this one 100%. Take it to the TOP.

[pollyo]

... on the other hand I calm my own money anxieties (I will have a deductible to fulfill as well) by reminding myself how much money I will be saving on food in just the coming year alone (tons for us since we get take out and delivery 5 out of 7 nights).