I just got a bill for $128,000...HOLY CRAP!!!

[driverno8]

I just got a copy of the "Explanation of Benefits" bill from Loma Linda Hospital to my insurance. This is for keeping my new born in the NICU unit at Loma Linda University Hospital for 29 days! $127,897.14:jawdrop: :jawdrop:
Oh there's more to come. That bill was just went through the 7th of this month. And, Gavin isn't even ready to come home yet. He's still there. They don't even know when they can give us an estimate on when he might be able to leave. All he's got to do is figure out the bottle and he's home free. Until then it's $4,410.25 a day! Guess I need to shut up about the $781 a month I'm paying for insurance out of pocket....gotta love Cobra.:devil:
Just wait until they get the bill for the open heart surgery in a few more months...OUCH!:sqeyes: :sqeyes:

[pixilatedpussy]

I just got a copy of the "Explanation of Benefits" bill from Loma Linda Hospital to my insurance. This is for keeping my new born in the NICU unit at Loma Linda University Hospital for 29 days! $127,897.14:jawdrop: :jawdrop:
Oh there's more to come. That bill was just went through the 7th of this month. And, Gavin isn't even ready to come home yet. He's still there. They don't even know when they can give us an estimate on when he might be able to leave. All he's got to do is figure out the bottle and he's home free. Until then it's $4,410.25 a day! Guess I need to shut up about the $781 a month I'm paying for insurance out of pocket....gotta love Cobra.:devil:
Just wait until they get the bill for the open heart surgery in a few more months...OUCH!:sqeyes: :sqeyes:
:jawdrop: Thank goodness for insurance!

[rivrrts429]

My son was in the NICU at Loma Linda (actually two sons - twins, one didn't survive) for two months and the bill was astronomical (sp.). I had to pay something like $20k in deductables...Thats just deductables!!! Thank god for my insurance or I wouldn't ever of been able to pay it off.
But the staff was awesome!! We had one nurse that went above and beyond and we're forever grateful. I know how you feel but its money well spent. Good luck and get that feeding part down;)

[clownpuncher]

Couldn't be at a better place than LL.
Insurance...it's a good thing:)
Hope all goes well with the little one.

[Nord]

Makes you realize you NEED good insurance!!:jawdrop: :jawdrop:

[Mrs. 20]

We had a 27 week old son up in Flagstaff Arizona. He was helicoptered down to Phoenix, and spent 3 months in the hospital His tab..... almost two million. We had good insurance, but it is amazing how much the NICU costs.

[LLGirl]

Yes - thank goodness for insurance! Our daughter was born at 25 weeks, spent 3 months in the NICU and it was over $500,000.00 - and that was 13 years ago! :sqeyes: Although if you don't have insurance I believe the state pics up the bill :rolleyes:

[RitcheyRch]

Thankfully you have insurance

[Outnumbered]

First, hope your son gets home soon. That has got to be tough. Sounds like he is almost home:)
Second, this thread is a good example of why insurance premiums are getting out of control. Since we don't pay it out of our own pocket, we rarely complain. The whole medical profession abuses the insurance system and uses it to rape the insurance company who in turn raise our rates.
I am self employed and have shitty insurance. We usually pay out of pocket for the small stuff so I have got a little inside view. It is very common for the convo to go like this...
Them: "Will you be billing your insurance today?"
Me: "How much is it?"
Them: "If we bill insurance we charge $395 but if you pay cash we will only charge you $200"
Me: "Why charge the insurance so much if it is only a $200 procedure?"
Them: "Well, that is our agreed rate and we have to use it."
You get the picture. They are making money at $200 and making a killing at $395 "because they can". It is totally out of control and now everyone is screaming for help from the government so we can have socialized health care and wait 2 months to get to the doctor all the while paying 4 times the going rate for care via tax increases. We're doomed:jawdrop:
Rant over:D

[rivrrts429]

Driverno8,
Don't want to thread jack but thought I would add this
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EV4-Wtu-vvI
Good luck with your baby boy

[CarBizIndio]

Done feel so bad, the IRS sent me a bill for over 1.8mill

[driverno8]

Driverno8,
Don't want to thread jack but thought I would add this
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EV4-Wtu-vvI
Good luck with your baby boy
God I wish! Unreal how f'd up our system is!

[Ryphraph]

It seems to me that most rates negotiated by insurance companies pay the doctor far less than what they can charge. That is why the care we get sometimes doesn't seem so good.
I heard they used to get $12000 for an apendectomy and now they only get about $800. That's a big drop in pay.
Ryph

[driverno8]

I'm self employed and have been for 10+ years. My wife's always worked and we did the insurance that way. Well when the mortgage business started going down she quite before the layoffs began (loan underwriter). We started shopping for insurance a week later. Well come to find out she's pregnant. Not an insurance company out there would take her being already prego. So we HAD to take the Cobra option. Man it hurts. And now with this little guy having issues there's no way we can go shopping for new insurance. What company out there would like to take over when we have to disclose Gavin's heart issue and the Down Syndrome. So we're stuck. My wife had her tubes tied at the time of the c-section. I was hoping that would help lower the rate a bit. But no. So we're stuck with Cobra option for a while.
On another note. Gavin was born 3 weeks only and he is a twin. The other little guy (Reed) is healthy and home. (since day 4) I do have seperate insurance for my 2 year old at $76 a month. Not bad. But it still ads up.
I am glad that Similac stepped up and Fed-Ex's us 2 cases of formula a month.:)

[driverno8]

Perfect example. Out of that $128,000 bill the insurance paid $43,000. The bill said I saved $83,000+... there you go. LL just wiped out $83 grand.

[jbone]

What would the illegal alien pay for the same service:idea: :idea:
My guess is nothing:mad:
J

[rivrrts429]

I'm self employed and have been for 10+ years. My wife's always worked and we did the insurance that way. Well when the mortgage business started going down she quite before the layoffs began (loan underwriter). We started shopping for insurance a week later. Well come to find out she's pregnant. Not an insurance company out there would take her being already prego. So we HAD to take the Cobra option. Man it hurts. And now with this little guy having issues there's no way we can go shopping for new insurance. What company out there would like to take over when we have to disclose Gavin's heart issue and the Down Syndrome. So we're stuck. My wife had her tubes tied at the time of the c-section. I was hoping that would help lower the rate a bit. But no. So we're stuck with Cobra option for a while.
On another note. Gavin was born 3 weeks only and he is a twin. The other little guy (Reed) is healthy and home. (since day 4) I do have seperate insurance for my 2 year old at $76 a month. Not bad. But it still ads up.
I am glad that Similac stepped up and Fed-Ex's us 2 cases of formula a month.:)
Wow, We have the same issues. My twin boys were identical, born 10 weeks premature at Loma Linda with Twin-to-Twin Transfusion, 3 weeks later we found out they had Down Syndrome. Surviving twin (Cole) is now 4.5 years old and doing great. I know exactly what your going thru, it takes time to get that feeding thing down. Congratulations you have alot of fun to look forward to driverno8

[OCMerrill]

Oh man after reading some of these posts:( :( my deal is not that bad :(.
My son, now 4, spent 8 days in the NICU at Saddleback after he was born(south OC) and the bill was around $42k after all contracted deductions were taken out. Before that it was over $100k. Some of the tests were like $5k alone. I could just not imagine having no insurance and getting hit with that $100k number.
I had $4500 deductible then 80/20 to 10k out of pocket. I paid it but it took a year and Saddleback was VERY aggressive chasing their money.
My Son is ok now but all that $$$ thing kept going until he was 3. No Iron in his blood. We fed him so much iron all of his food tasted like metal. Three years of "he's got some major blood disease", test, test. Then one-day bam Iron content was normal. Out of the blue. Answered prayer? Maybe.
All total this deal was about $25K over the three years we spent and he is uninsurable on the personal level. Cobra ran out right in the middle of this. Thank God I own a business, made my wife an employee and got group coverage. Damn.

[Invisible Sun]

Done feel so bad, the IRS sent me a bill for over 1.8mill
I think that's called Karma

[2Driver]

We had a 27 week old son up in Flagstaff Arizona. He was helicoptered down to Phoenix, and spent 3 months in the hospital His tab..... almost two million. We had good insurance, but it is amazing how much the NICU costs.
Holy crap!!!!! Our then 2 year old was in the medical helicopter from Carefree to Maricopa Trama center. The over all ICU/hospital bill was huge. I remember getting the Helicopter Bill it said:
Medical Helicopter service: $12,000
Out of network Helicopter service coverage paid by plan: $500
Your portion: $11,500
We settled it but the stuff medical billing puts you through is insane. I found errors in 1/2 of the bills.

[coolchange]

I think that's called Karma
Bwahahaha!

[Lightning]

I offer health insurance to my clients. It's really suprising how much premiums can be - no one complains about the premiums when they have to use it though. There is a lot to be said about having good coverage.

[finsfan4life]

I just got a copy of the "Explanation of Benefits" bill from Loma Linda Hospital to my insurance. This is for keeping my new born in the NICU unit at Loma Linda University Hospital for 29 days! $127,897.14:jawdrop: :jawdrop:
Oh there's more to come. That bill was just went through the 7th of this month. And, Gavin isn't even ready to come home yet. He's still there. They don't even know when they can give us an estimate on when he might be able to leave. All he's got to do is figure out the bottle and he's home free. Until then it's $4,410.25 a day! Guess I need to shut up about the $781 a month I'm paying for insurance out of pocket....gotta love Cobra.:devil:
Just wait until they get the bill for the open heart surgery in a few more months...OUCH!:sqeyes: :sqeyes:
My son was in nicu at St. Josephs for three months...Imagine that bill !!!!

[WYRD]

most of those bills seem less than what you all are willing to spend on your next boats..............rejoyce the fact that your loved ones were taken such great care of;)

[yopengo]

I'm self employed and have been for 10+ years. My wife's always worked and we did the insurance that way. Well when the mortgage business started going down she quite before the layoffs began (loan underwriter). We started shopping for insurance a week later. Well come to find out she's pregnant. Not an insurance company out there would take her being already prego. So we HAD to take the Cobra option. Man it hurts. And now with this little guy having issues there's no way we can go shopping for new insurance. What company out there would like to take over when we have to disclose Gavin's heart issue and the Down Syndrome. So we're stuck. My wife had her tubes tied at the time of the c-section. I was hoping that would help lower the rate a bit. But no. So we're stuck with Cobra option for a while.
On another note. Gavin was born 3 weeks only and he is a twin. The other little guy (Reed) is healthy and home. (since day 4) I do have seperate insurance for my 2 year old at $76 a month. Not bad. But it still ads up.
I am glad that Similac stepped up and Fed-Ex's us 2 cases of formula a month.:)
Look into Healthy Families http://www.healthyfamilies-ca.us/?gclid=CIf9-6GH64wCFRWZYAod6icr1g for the kids. It is a great program. When I started my business in 2000 I went the first three years without pay. :eek: My wife and I paid for our insurance and put the kids on this program. It was a lifesaver. :D

[Cigalert]

Hopefully your son can come home soon. My wife is 32 weeks and they just informed us the baby is starting to slide down a little too soon so this has been a hot topic around the house.
Second, this thread is a good example of why insurance premiums are getting out of control. Since we don't pay it out of our own pocket, we rarely complain. The whole medical profession abuses the insurance system and uses it to rape the insurance company who in turn raise our rates.
I am self employed and have shitty insurance. We usually pay out of pocket for the small stuff so I have got a little inside view. It is very common for the convo to go like this...
Them: "Will you be billing your insurance today?"
Me: "How much is it?"
Them: "If we bill insurance we charge $395 but if you pay cash we will only charge you $200"
Me: "Why charge the insurance so much if it is only a $200 procedure?"
Them: "Well, that is our agreed rate and we have to use it."
You get the picture. They are making money at $200 and making a killing at $395 "because they can". It is totally out of control and now everyone is screaming for help from the government so we can have socialized health care and wait 2 months to get to the doctor all the while paying 4 times the going rate for care via tax increases. We're doomed
Rant over
I took a coors light can to the dome
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g274/cigalert/FastCan.jpg
They wanted to charge the insurance company $850. I decided to pay cash and they only charged me $300 to give me 7 stitches and take them out. That's the last time I go golfing without a helmet.

[CarBizIndio]

I think that's called Karma
No its called a screwed up agency that does accounting there way.