I did something last week that I’ve never done before.
I complained loudly about the billing for a medical treatment.
I’m glad I did, but I know it didn’t solve anything except make me feel better that I complained to the top people.
Until that day, I’d always gotten the copies of medical billings over the years and never let my feeling about the outrageousness of the charges be known except to family members or close friends.
This time, I’d had it and decided to let the billing people know they ripped me off, ripped off my insurance companies and, in general, are making a mockery of the practice of medicine.
I received a summary of medical bill for a recent minor incident.
I’d cut the tip of my index finger with a garden tool. It was bleeding a lot, and I thought I might need stitches.
I went to a nearby emergency clinic. The doctor looked at the wound, blotted the blood and poured antiseptic on it. I asked if she was going to stitch it. She said no and that she’d “glue it.”
That was a new one for me, but she said, “It would hold and be all right.” And “glue it” she did. She poured a bit of some kind of adhesive over the cut, and that was it! I was told the glue would peel off in a few days and the wound would heal.
I was skeptical but decided she was the “doctor” and should know best.
She didn’t even ask about a tetanus shot, but I know that with such an injury, it’s important to be up to date. I knew that I should get a new shot – and so I asked for it.
After a short wait, the tech came in and administered the shot.
By that time, the bleeding continued and the glue came loose, so the doctor had to come back and put more glue on the cut.
I didn’t see the doctor again.
That was it, until I got a copy of the itemized charges that were submitted to my insurance company. When I saw those charges, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I saw red and decided to complain – really complain.
There was a charge for $244 for “medical,” a charge for $208 for “surgery,” a charge for $75 for “medical” and another “medical” charge for $50.
I called the billing company and was told they just charge what the doctor’s office declares. I called the manager of the facility and asked her. She told me the charges for services are negotiated with the insurance companies, and the billing just picks the appropriate charge from the master list of procedures.
I asked about my billing.
She said the $244 was for the “presence” of the doctor. In other words, just for her being there, before she does anything!
The $208 was for the noted “surgery.” When I informed her there was no surgery, just glue on a half-inch cut, she had no logical reply.
She did comment that she wondered why it would be so labeled, but she made no offer to modify the charge because, as she told me repeatedly, the prices are negotiated with the insurance companies and are “out of their hands.”
I asked about the $75 charge. It turns out that was for the tetanus shot. Well, not exactly. It was for the tetanus vaccine. The other charge, $50, was for sticking the needle in me for the shot.
What an outrage! It wasn’t even the doctor who administered the shot. It was the tech.
Consider: Just that morning, I’d taken my dog to the vet for a regular shot. It was administered by a tech, and the entire charge was $22!
Clearly, there’s a real problem with medical billing.
I asked the woman if they charge the same if a person comes in with an infant for regular shots, and she made a point to say, “No, that they have a price list for that.”
I asked if she would send that to me, and she assured me she would. She had my address. I haven’t heard a word – but she will hear from me this week and again and again until I get the appropriate answers.
I’m not sure any of this will make any difference. In fact, I know it won’t. Those people don’t care what I or any other patient might think, nor do they care what they charge the insurance companies. It all boils down to what “agreement” they have with the insurance people.
There’s no relationship between price and the service provided, and it appears the physicians have no real input into this system. They just do what they do medically, fill out the forms, and the system does the rest.
I found it curious that the woman assured me that my insurance company would not be paying the billed amount. It would be a lesser amount, based on those mysterious prior agreements, as though that should make me feel better.
In other words, feel good about the fact that the billing was an overpriced sham and doesn’t reflect the real charges and payments.
If this is the nonsense that exists on such a small, local level, it’s no wonder our whole medical insurance system is in such shambles.
Since it appears people “just follow orders” – I can see how the whole thing will never get “fixed.” We need to throw it all out and start over with a system that has honest charges for honest services and allow patients to have a say in their insurance coverage and how it works.
As for $50 to stick a needle in someone – that is a racket!
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