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ER Overcharges: Don’t Give Up!

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Statesboro, GAJulia has decided to give up fighting her Emergency Room Overcharges, believing she won’t win. But as they say--“It ain’t over til it’s over”--and attorneys experienced with hospital overcharges have disputed many emergency room bills, some of which have been reduced by thousands of dollars.

Here is Julia’s situation...

“I’d had great difficulty in swallowing for a number of days and by Sunday night, January 22 of this year the feeling became so intense that I phoned my on-call doctor, asking for advice,” Julia says. “He told me that I should go to the emergency room right away.

“I had two tests in the ER: an X-ray and a CT scan. They did not ask what I thought about this, and they never, at any point, explained the financial implications - which probably I should have known. I am a foreigner by birth, so I’m not familiar with a lot of US laws and regulations, but I guess I should have known.

"The X-ray and the scan showed nothing. I was in the ER for about three hours and then I had to walk home, since my ride had left. Of course this is not the hospital's problem but no one asked how I would get home or even showed any interest, which, considering they had decided two hours before that I needed a CT scan, seems strange. It was now 1 am, and raining. Three weeks later, a bill arrived for over $1,300.

"I phoned the hospital, and, after four attempts, got through to an administrator who explained that the CT scan was the expensive bit. She assured me that the doctors in the ER had "no idea" what any procedures cost. I said that a) I found this hard to believe, and b) if they didn’t know, they should have. Anyway, she agreed to knock off the co-pay, reducing the amount to about $1,100.

"I suppose I have learned my lesson. The emergency room is a crazy place to go, unless one is nearly dead. But what I would like is for some ruling to be put in place whereby ER units are obliged to explain to patients about the possible cost of procedures. I realize they wouldn't know exactly how much, because insurance in this country is so amazingly complex; but they must surely know whether a procedure is an expensive one or not, just as GPs know what medicines are likely to cost. The pretence that arrival in an ER means that one has no concerns whatever except one's immediate health is ridiculous: patients also have to afford their daily lives.

"Well, I'm sure that attorneys dealing with emergency room overcharges hear much worse than this every day! But it was a horrible shock, and a serious waste of money for someone on a fairly low salary, as I am. If attorneys have any way of pushing forward my idea about a physician's duty to explain financial implications, I would be very happy to hear it.”

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READER COMMENTS

Posted by

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When to E.R. Calhoun Ga.my face was broken out raised leisons and very itchy I told the doctor it felt like a crawling sensation I ask for a biopsy or maybe scraping of the skin test for whatever he actually raised his arms in the air and said(wow this is way over my head)I ask if another dr, would see me he said no but he would write a script for a one time pill that should take care of it.At the drug store she said this is no longer on the market but I could buy it off the shelf...it was for pin-worms what an idiot dr. wrong end.The bill is for $425.00 o and by the way he never touched me.maybe he has worms on the brain.

Posted by

on
I had a $ 15,000 hospital for 5 stitches.I now have a pending class action against the hospital.As well they tried suing me and my wife for my bill.Since then they have dropped the bill and the class action is pending still.So dont give up.I have a good attorney handling these type of cases

Posted by

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I am sitting here in the ER with abdominal pains. They are hurting bad because I am being scheduled for a hysterectomy. The ER admission staff is too busy conversation about their love lives. Not being funny but who cares when they are in pain. The other patients that are here is here for colds. Since when does a cold becomes more important than abdominal pains. This hospital is the worst. If you ever need a hospital don't ever go to River Oaks hospital on Lakeland drive unless you ready to die.

Posted by

on
I have one better than that! 3 years ago my daughter was awakened with severe abdominal pain. We got to the ER at about 5:20 am. They immediately took us to triage. The triage nurse took her blood pressure & it wouldn't read so he took it a second time and still no reading so he blew it off as the cuff malfunctioning. We were told to go back to waiting room and they would call us back shortly. She stood up and passed out in the triage room! The nurse helped me ease her to the ground because she was falling and falling fast! They immediately took her back then. They drew blood and did maybe an x-ray (can't remember exactly). Bottom line is the ER doctor saw her for 5 minutes at the most, gave her phenergan & tagamet & sent her home! The next day, I drove 120 miles to River Oaks Hospital in Jackson Mississippi. She was in the ER 45 minutes & they had done 2 blood CULTURES, 2 urinalysis, started her on a drip and admitted her! She was in the hospital from Sunday afternoon until Saturday morning! They finally removed her appendix on Thursday. There was a small piece of the appendix with puss & about to rupture. The surgeon came & checked on her everyday for 6 days and performed surgery on her and his bill was not as much as my ER bill was here at home. I sent a real ugly letter to the local hospital and they called me and abated my co-pay of $50.00. I let her know how ridiculious my bill was and suggested they seek more competant doctors!

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