S broke her wrist a while back. She fell off the stool at her mother's house and spent the night at the emergency room. That was Saturday night, so we couldn't get in to see the hand doctor until Monday. When we did, he said she needed surgery in order to put a plate in, which happened late Monday evening. She was supposed to go home afterward, but due to some complications they admitted her to the hospital Monday night. They released her mid afternoon on Tuesday. All that's preliminary to the real topic.
We got the bill from the hospital about a week after she came home. It was a copy of the bill that was sent to the insurance company. The total bill for the surgery and one night in the hospital was $20,476.50.
Yesterday we got the final bill. Our "account balance" that is now due is $170. Now that's not bad. Insurance is a good thing. But as I looked at the bill, I saw that the insurance company had paid a total of $6,931.25. Because the hospital and insurance company have a contractual arrangement, the total adjustment in the bill was $13,375.25. The hospital wrote it off, or at least I'm assuming they did.
On the original bill there was a statement that said if the insurance company did not pay the claim, we would be responsible for the full 20+k. Health care reform anyone?
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