Feel like I'm being soaked on a medical bill
- Thread starter robr
- Start date
mailed the doctor a letter, the billing person wouldn't let me past her
As a physician I feel your pain. I would give you a cash discount and set up a payment plan, HOWEVER my billing manager makes some get counter points when I give away services for free or discounted rate. Just a couple of examples of what I dealt with in the past month:
1. I saw an elderly Hispanic lady who had back pain. I performed an injection on her 9 months ago. She felt much better and went back to house cleaning. When we billed Medicare we came to find out that she doesn't have insurance. Her daughter who is a nurse contacted us. I told her that I would discount the fees significantly. The patient comes in weekly and pays $40-50 cash. She paid it off after a few months.
2. An overweight Social Worker who works at a Nursing Home has been seeing me for 2 years. I have performed a few spinal procedures on her. Her pain is better but she still has some pain. She is dependent on narcotics to function. She owes me more than $1K after her Insurance paid their % of the bill. She states that she can't afford to pay for her % of the cost(though she can afford to smoke etc etc). Instead she would like for me to refill her prescription medications and consider waving my fees since she is in the "health care profession".
I love helping people but my office manager will site these 2 examples on a frequent basis. It isn't fair for the elderly Hispanic lady that she had to pay her procedures in full(thought it was discounted) while other lady(who is drug seeking) refuses to come in for procedures but wants me to refill her narcotics.
Sadly our health care system is a complete and utter disaster.... There is no simple and easy fix. Another eg: I get paid more for some spinal procedures then my buddy who is a CT surgeon. He does dangerous minimally invasive heart valve repairs and gets paid a global fee of $2250(for 90 days of care post surgery) for ALL care rendered. This includes the surgery, post op F/U, etc etc. I do some seriously risky procedures. I get compensated quite well for it.. BUT I don't feel I deserve to get paid more than a Heart Surgeon for who does a 4 inch cut and does valve repair through it!!!
Sorry for the thread derail......getting off Soapbox!!
1. I saw an elderly Hispanic lady who had back pain. I performed an injection on her 9 months ago. She felt much better and went back to house cleaning. When we billed Medicare we came to find out that she doesn't have insurance. Her daughter who is a nurse contacted us. I told her that I would discount the fees significantly. The patient comes in weekly and pays $40-50 cash. She paid it off after a few months.
2. An overweight Social Worker who works at a Nursing Home has been seeing me for 2 years. I have performed a few spinal procedures on her. Her pain is better but she still has some pain. She is dependent on narcotics to function. She owes me more than $1K after her Insurance paid their % of the bill. She states that she can't afford to pay for her % of the cost(though she can afford to smoke etc etc). Instead she would like for me to refill her prescription medications and consider waving my fees since she is in the "health care profession".
I love helping people but my office manager will site these 2 examples on a frequent basis. It isn't fair for the elderly Hispanic lady that she had to pay her procedures in full(thought it was discounted) while other lady(who is drug seeking) refuses to come in for procedures but wants me to refill her narcotics.
Sadly our health care system is a complete and utter disaster.... There is no simple and easy fix. Another eg: I get paid more for some spinal procedures then my buddy who is a CT surgeon. He does dangerous minimally invasive heart valve repairs and gets paid a global fee of $2250(for 90 days of care post surgery) for ALL care rendered. This includes the surgery, post op F/U, etc etc. I do some seriously risky procedures. I get compensated quite well for it.. BUT I don't feel I deserve to get paid more than a Heart Surgeon for who does a 4 inch cut and does valve repair through it!!!
Sorry for the thread derail......getting off Soapbox!!
Rob,
I did not read the whole thread due to time constrain. However, being a physician, most of us are sympathetic and are willing to give discounts when our patients have hardships. The best approache will likely be asking the pediatrician to call the allergist to explain the situation and hopefully get a discount. ALL subspecialists try to keep good relationships with the primary care providers as they can directly influence their incomes.
Hope this helps.
Steve
I did not read the whole thread due to time constrain. However, being a physician, most of us are sympathetic and are willing to give discounts when our patients have hardships. The best approache will likely be asking the pediatrician to call the allergist to explain the situation and hopefully get a discount. ALL subspecialists try to keep good relationships with the primary care providers as they can directly influence their incomes.
Hope this helps.
Steve
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