Hospital sent me $1,000 invoice 18 months+ later!

[Vexis 0]

Hello Everyone

I hurt myself jumping in Florida about 18 months ago. Had to go get 2 xrays of my ankle.

Was in hospital for about 2 hours, tops.

Nothing broken and everything turned out ok after lots of rest.

I came back to the UK.

I paid about $100 before I left hospital and they said they would invoice me for the rest.

I have literally only just received the bill for the remaining $1000 (!!!!!!)

It's 18 months later!!

It ofcourse pisses me off that an hour or so in a hospital for you Americans costs $1,100 (and me in this instance) but more than that it pisses me off that they have taken such a long time to persue. I forgot about it long ago.

Is there a statutory period in the USA after which time an invoice can no longer be raised?

in the UK you probably wouldn't have to pay this, there is an obligation to raise an invoice in a sensible timescale.

Not interested in "you should pay it you bastard" type comments. Interested in what the law says over there??

If any of you know, I would much appreciate it. Thanks.

Simon

[The111 1]

Are you the guy from France who hurt his ankle in the Skyvan at DeLand? If so I remember you.
EDIT: Nevermind, you said UK. Something about this story, the timeframe, and the name Simon sounded familiar though.

I agree with you that it's bullshit, and I hope someone who knows the law better can chime in and say you're off the hook. I'm curious what they could do to you if you refused to pay it. If you lived here they could keep chasing you down and put a spot on your credit report, etc. Are credit reports international?

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[kenz 0]

thats a bunch of crap if i've ever heard any... i would argue with them big time - especially if they are charging any kind of interest... i also have not heard of x-rays being $1000 a few hundred? yes but a$1000 no way... i would make sure they're not screwing you in any other way

"life does throw curveballs sometimes but it doesn't mean we shouldn't still swing for the homerun" ~ me

[chaoskitty 0]

Sounds like they have shitty billing software, or they took their time billing your insurance. But that does not mean that you dont owe for services provided.

You can try to contest it, but probably the best they'll do is set you up on a payment plan. Otherwise your account will go to a collection agency.

Hopefully this hosptial is not one of my clients..

[The111 1]

If he went to the ER it's actually pretty average (not saying I agree with it). I went to the ER twice last year, was only there for 2-3 hours and nothing major was wrong. I saw the bill and both times it was like $2300 (insurance paid it... I would not go to the ER if I didn't have insurance unless I was really dying).

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[rehmwa 2]

1 - Emergency room trips are very expensive relative to normal visits. No surprise there.

2 - Late billing - either you received treatment and owe the money or you don't regardless of how long it took to get an invoice. As far as it being late, then you had use of the money the entire time to your benefit, not theirs. They are the ones that lost by not billing earlier, not you.

The only thing I see here is not being 'informed of the amount' earlier, getting the invoice late is just life - suck it up.

I don't know anywhere where "I forgot about it" being a valid legal argument. As far as 'sensible' billing period (that's a very subjective term). 18 months might be sensible if the insurance/billing trail was complicated.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[tigra 0]

Well, fist of all, sadly $1,000.00 for an ER visit with X rays sounds about average, and I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't more misc. bills in addition to that. Since it is your bill, I think you should make arrangements to pay it and not try to skip out on a technicality. (Sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear, but one of the reasons our medical costs are so high is because too many people don't pay their bills!)

I do believe there is a statuatory timeframe for billing, however you would probably have to prove they didn't bill you or make any effort to to collect previously. (if they could provide a bill they sent even if it was to the wrong address, they'd be in the clear.)

[Nataly 38]

I'm no expert, but I'm guessing the bill's so high because they expect certain foreigners to have medical insurance.. I know it's different, but I have friends who work in garages and they say they double the bill when they know the insurance will be paying out. I'd be willing to bet that Canadians and Brits would fall into the category of people who are likely to be overcharged (because of their healthcare policies).

If you don't have insurance, I'd call them (cheap number 08448 615 615 -- 1p per minute; country code 001; area code probably 813 in Florida). I'd tell them you are a single individual & don't have insurance. Ask them for an itemised bill. Probably they'll have charged you for a whole bunch of stuff they never used but always put on the bill (gloves, box of kleenex, q-tips, etc). You can contest these items, and probably lower the bill by a couple of hundred dollars, believe it or not. Did that myself and my 5 minute pee sample went from 1400$ to a measly 1100$. Still a fucking rip off, but 300$ less, anyway.

Collection agencies cannot pursue you after a certain amount of time (I can't remember if it's 1 or 2 years--I think it's 2), but although they're not allowed to bug you about it, some of them will, and worse, it won't go away until you pay and it'll take forever to build up a good rep after this--especially as you are not american & won't be actively doing things to change your credit status over there.

Although bad credit in North America (or good credit, for that matter ) will *not* follow you to the UK, the US can be particularly nasty about letting you back into the country for stuff like that. I'd consider whether or not you want to be black-listed before you leave it for too long. If after speaking to you they do not send an itemised bill and they are not willing to budge, I'd try taking some legal action--though I couldn't tell you how to go about that..

All of this sucks, but the fact is that you chose to go to the States, engage in a risky sport, and make use of their health facilities... At the end of the day, they make the rules, and the moment you stepped into that hospital and received their care, you consented to playing by those rules. A good lesson to be learned here is to have proper insurance when travelling--it's always a lot cheaper to dish out £50 than 1000$ -- just think if you had broken a leg or hip, or dislocated your neck, or needed to be air-lifted to hospital etc..

Hope this helps..

**Edit to say: by legal action, I'm not suggesting you dispute having to pay the bill, but you can certainly put pressure on them to justify the *amount* they charged.

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

[tigra 0]

As other people have pointed out, the bill is about average for an ER visit with X rays, possible even on the low side. It has NOTHING to do with his being British! (not to mention, your logic makes no sense! Why would a health care professional assume a Brit or Canadian would have medical insurance when they don't need it?) I agree that healthcare costs in this country are outrageous, but your assumption that foreigners are automatically over charged is pretty insulting. When it comes to overcharging the US healthcare system has a strict equal opportunity policy!

I do agree that its worth a phone call to try and get the bill reduced.

[Nataly 38]

Quote

(not to mention, your logic makes no sense! Why would a health care professional assume a Brit or Canadian would have medical insurance when they don't need it?)


To answer that question -- we *do* have insurance. Canadians, for instance, all have "medicare", which covers basic stuff. In addition to this, most people have additional insurance (ie: blue cross) through their work (all military personnel, for example), which covers more things, like medication and dentists. More people still have travel insurance when they go abroad. Many, many, many Canadians have their own medical insurance policies. "Free" healthcare doesn't cover everything...

Similarly, although brits have free national health care, many Brits take out personal healthcare & pay for insurance..

I'm not saying it's a policy to overcharge foreigners.. I'm suggesting that it's a possibility that the bill is higher when they assume the insurance will cover it (because individuals often can't pay out). It may not be happening in hospitals--it's just a theory. But it *does* happen in all kinds of places.. Just think.. Lots of people charge more when they know they can get more money.. Our editing company charges rich clients more under the pretense that they require more attention--but really it's just because they can afford it!!

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

• Quote

[tigra 0]

In actual fact, the amount most insurance companies pay out is almost always much less than what was billed.

[Nataly 38]

Quote

In actual fact, the amount most insurance companies pay out is almost always much less than what was billed.

Which supports my theory

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

Quote

In actual fact, the amount most insurance companies pay out is almost always much less than what was billed.

Which supports my theory

Isn't it great, insurance companies are cheap so they underpay, as a result hospitals overcharge (more than they used to overcharge) to compensate for the shady policy. Both are happy - the hospital can cover it's expenses and profit requirement and the insurance companies can claim all the savings from pricing agreements. The person that then gets the raw deal is the uninsured who gets the standard charging scheme and must take time to counter it in person to make sure they are only overcharged the normal amount.

Get insurance

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[skyyhi 0]

Hi, and sorry about you getting your bill so late. That does suck.

A few things you can do:

1. Ask for an itemized bill. They are required to provide one to anyone who asks. This is a law.

2. After reviewing itemized bill, dispute any charges that seem erroneous. . .i.e.; given aspirin (did you actually take one?).

3. Talk calmly and politely with the billing office (kindness can get you EVERYWHERE), set up a payment arrangement (many will take as little as $10 US per month for this amount - 10% of total bill) and stick to the arrangements.

As far as statute of limitations on billing, you would have trouble pursuing this claim because you probably had to provide a US addy as well as your home addy in the ER. I am sure they would have originally mailed the bill to your US addy, which will provide proof. And legal action here in the US costs as much, if not more, than medical bills so even if you didn't have to pay the medical bill, you would then have to pay for filing a legal claim.

________________________________________
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Darcy