Amusing phone call yesterday.....

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Amusing phone call yesterday.....
6
Fri, 12-16-2005 - 11:30am

I get a phone call yesterday from the hospital.

The lady is extremely nice, and says that I still owe them $45. (I have a pile of various doctor bills, and I pay 10-30 dollars a month on each.) I just paid this hospital $10 less than a week ago, bringing my balance down to $45. I planned on paying the $45 next month.

No big deal, right? :)

Well, this lady is calling me, asking about the money! She offers me a "settlement" of something like $28 instead of the full $45!!!! I was so embarrassed!!!! Money is tight, but it isn't like I can't scrape together $45! I just wasn't in a hurry to do so!

Apparently the hospital was in a hurry to get their money! ha ha I told her that I would pay the FULL amount of $45 (which surprised her), and she asked "Can you get it in the mail this week?" !!!!

The hospital must be hurting for cash or something. ha ha I cannot believe she called me over $45 when I am sure there are tons of people that owe them thousands! ha ha

Oh well. I wrote them a check and will stick it in the mail today. It just made me laugh, and it was kind of embarrassing for her to offer me a settlement!

~Aravis~

 

Image hosting by TinyPic

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 12-16-2005 - 12:03pm

I just got a courtesy call from our hospital system that the pediatrician is tied up with for about the same amount. I was waiting because the statement looked like insurance had paid yet but still I think I've had the bill about 3 weeks!

Taleyna

Avatar for mymartes
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 12-16-2005 - 12:14pm

my guess is that they probably want the money before the end of year.

MYM

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Fri, 12-16-2005 - 1:20pm


They're probably trying to close out their 4th quarter budget in the black. DH's company is doing the same. He flew home from Philadelphia last night and called me from our airport here in Atlanta, and he said, "Good news, bad news. Good news is I'm home. Bad news is, they want me to fly back out to New York tonight". Basically, a customer in New York was very upset with a co-worker's work he had done, so my husband was told it was up to him to fix the problem....and if he couldn't, the company wouldn't make their 4th quarter numbers.

So it's probably something like that, but I know how it feels when a doctor's office or hospital makes you feel that way. When I was first married, about 13 years ago, I had a surgery for endometriosis, and although our insurance was good, we still couldn't afford to pay off our part of the surgery in one lump sum. So I made $50 payments each month on a $1500 bill. One month, I called to make sure my payment had been received, and the doctor's nurse said, real snotty, "You know, the doctor has already done his job. Don't you think he deserves to be paid for it?!? And not just 50 bucks a month!" I felt so horrible about her saying that and broke down crying when I got off the phone. We ended up putting it on a credit card to just get it paid off, but then of course we got hit with interest. If only I knew then what I know now.

Pat

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Fri, 12-16-2005 - 11:42pm

Pat, I had a laparoscopy done in March because of blocked fallopian tubes, and to check for endo., etc while they were in there.

I charged a lot of those doctor bills, but have decided that doing that is a bad idea, so I will no longer being using the credit cards for doctor bills.

On the subject...I got a letter in the mail today from another doctor that I owed $75 to!!! Sheesh! So, there went that money out the window...completely NOT budgeted for. But at least those are both bills I no longer owe anything on.

Ugh....does this ever get any easier??????

~Aravis~

 

Image hosting by TinyPic

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Sat, 12-17-2005 - 10:58am


All in all, I had four laparoscopies (with DnC's) for my endometriosis symptoms. One of the things I saw most often in my bills were the odd bills from doctors that I wasn't familiar with. I'd have to call and find out exactly what these doctors did for me. Even my own GYN didn't know who they were! Turns out, they were doctors who just came into the room to double-check my medical history with me. You know, the ones who walk in with a clipboard and say, "So...do you have a history of heart disease in your family? Bleeding disorders? Diabetes? Do you have any questions about your surgery?...." They were billing me mucho bucks just for doing that! I fought every single one of those charges, and luckily, I got them reversed. Every penny. My argument was that I knew what my surgeries were likely to cost (hospital, doctor, anestisiologist), and anyone trying to charge more than that should have entered my room and said, "I'd like to talk to you, but I will be billing you for this little chat". :-D

On a side note, if you have had multiple laparoscopies, and those laparoscopies included DnC's (dialating the cervix, etc), please let your doctor know, or remind him/her, before you ever decide to become pregnant. I didn't know there was any risk to having these procedures done, and as a result, I ended up losing a son at 19 1/2 weeks, 8 years ago. My cervix was too weak from these repeated surgeries, and I dialated to 10cm painlessly in my sleep. With my 2nd son, a cerclage was placed, where they stitched the cervix closed and removed the stithes at 36/37 weeks to allow me to go into labor), and all went well with his birth. I've met so many women who did not know the risks, resulting in lost children, so I wanted to make sure you knew about them.

Hugs,
Pat

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Sat, 12-17-2005 - 12:29pm

Pat, thank you for the information! I have only had one laparoscopy, and there was no DnC done. I actually had to have my left tube removed, but my right tube is all clear now (had an HSG a couple months ago to confirm it..). We have been trying to have a baby for over two years now. Ugh!

But financially, it has probably been for the best! We have slowly bought things for a nursery, so that is something we won't have to pay for later. :)

~Aravis~

 

Image hosting by TinyPic