Health Care Bureaucracy Strikes Again

[bluehenbillk]

So...today I get a collection notice in the mail for my then 5-year old son's operation last August. Bill is for over $300, not a big deal, except I've been told twice the proper amount is more like $70, so I never paid it b/c I was always told I'd get a revised bill.

The previous two times this happens I go through the same drill, call the hospital, they refer me to call my old health insurance provider & have them call the hospital back to adjust the bill. Well I do that 2x & it's still screwed up, so today, after getting that same tired old response I tell them , why can't you just call them & get all 3 of us on the line so the issue can be resolved? Sounds pretty simple right. Well, we call the healthcare provider & I'm told that I need to drop off of the call b/c the call is "privileged" between the insurance company & the hospital & they'll call me back within 48 hours.

What kind of BS is this? They want my money & potentially play with my credit, but hey Mr. Customer you have to drop off the line, and if you don't mind, bend over while you hang up?

Anxiously awaiting this call back.....

[93henfan]

What are you worried about? US pharma has your best interests in mind at all times. They'd never ask for nor keep a penny extra. Private industry at its finest. REPEAL OBAMACARE!

[Skjellyfetti]

I think I missed the role played by bureaucracy in this story.

[AZGrizFan]

I think I missed the role played by bureaucracy in this story.

You might want to look up the word bureaucracy.

bureaucracy: a system of administration marked by officialism, red tape, and proliferation

Nowhere did he say "government" bureaucracy.

[houndawg]

So...today I get a collection notice in the mail for my then 5-year old son's operation last August. Bill is for over $300, not a big deal, except I've been told twice the proper amount is more like $70, so I never paid it b/c I was always told I'd get a revised bill.

The previous two times this happens I go through the same drill, call the hospital, they refer me to call my old health insurance provider & have them call the hospital back to adjust the bill. Well I do that 2x & it's still screwed up, so today, after getting that same tired old response I tell them , why can't you just call them & get all 3 of us on the line so the issue can be resolved? Sounds pretty simple right. Well, we call the healthcare provider & I'm told that I need to drop off of the call b/c the call is "privileged" between the insurance company & the hospital & they'll call me back within 48 hours.

What kind of BS is this? They want my money & potentially play with my credit, but hey Mr. Customer you have to drop off the line, and if you don't mind, bend over while you hang up?

Anxiously awaiting this call back.....

It's the invisible hand of the free market at work. Don't worry, they're probably just trying to figure out a way to charge you less.

You sound like you may have some doubt about what your insurance companies priorities are; no worries, the free market places your health above the profit margin of your insurance company.

[Skjellyfetti]

I think I missed the role played by bureaucracy in this story.

You might want to look up the word bureaucracy.

bureaucracy: a system of administration marked by officialism, red tape, and proliferation

Nowhere did he say "government" bureaucracy.

My point was that the government had nothing to do with his problems.

And, "bureaucracy" is usually associated with government. The definition you copy and pasted is the 3rd definition... you conveniently skipped the first two. Dictionaries list definitions in order of common usage.

[Chizzang]

This is EXCELLENT...
The first half dozen posts on this thread point out both sides of the argument (sarcastically) but perfectly...
It's a tricky problem - health care is...

In a true free market - Insurance companies and big Pharma will not provide honest Healthcare - it's Business
And letting insurance companies write legislation can't possibly work - not ever

The answer isn't "true free market"
and it's not socialist medicine either

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION...?

[AZGrizFan]

You might want to look up the word bureaucracy.



Nowhere did he say "government" bureaucracy.

My point was that the government had nothing to do with his problems.

And, "bureaucracy" is usually associated with government. The definition you copy and pasted is the 3rd definition... you conveniently skipped the first two. Dictionaries list definitions in order of common usage.

"usually". If he'd meant government bureaucracy, he'd have said government bureaucracy. Your paranoia is showing through.

[houndawg]

This is EXCELLENT...
The first half dozen posts on this thread point out both sides of the argument (sarcastically) but perfectly...
It's a tricky problem - health care is...

In a true free market - Insurance companies and big Pharma will not provide honest Healthcare - it's Business
And letting insurance companies write legislation can't possibly work - not ever

The answer isn't "true free market"
and it's not socialist medicine either

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION...?

There is nothing tricky about it at all.

The simple fact is that no private insurance company is going to place my health ahead of profit. Period. End of story.

The solution is a single payer system.

[Bronco]

I can post stories like this all afternoon...let me know of you'd like some more


--
Socialized Medicine Director dies waiting for Operation.
The New American ^ | 04/04/2011 | Selwyn Duke


It’s a bit like a supermarket manager dying of starvation or a bottled-water distributor dying of thirst: In the U.K., a former National Health Service (NHS) director died while waiting for medical care — at her own hospital. The Daily Mail reports:


(Excerpt) Read more at thenewamerican.com ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Wedgebuster]

^^^^^^^^^^

All the things that might go wrong with your health care services if we try to change the nearly perfect system that we have now. As long as it's story hour, post away. I don't know how we all are going to make a decision without the rest of the story.

[Baldy]

So...today I get a collection notice in the mail for my then 5-year old son's operation last August. Bill is for over $300, not a big deal, except I've been told twice the proper amount is more like $70, so I never paid it b/c I was always told I'd get a revised bill.

The previous two times this happens I go through the same drill, call the hospital, they refer me to call my old health insurance provider & have them call the hospital back to adjust the bill. Well I do that 2x & it's still screwed up, so today, after getting that same tired old response I tell them , why can't you just call them & get all 3 of us on the line so the issue can be resolved? Sounds pretty simple right. Well, we call the healthcare provider & I'm told that I need to drop off of the call b/c the call is "privileged" between the insurance company & the hospital & they'll call me back within 48 hours.

What kind of BS is this? They want my money & potentially play with my credit, but hey Mr. Customer you have to drop off the line, and if you don't mind, bend over while you hang up?

Anxiously awaiting this call back.....

I wouldn't expect anything less from the most regulated industry in the US.

Good luck getting through the red tape.

[bluehenbillk]

Well, well, well. Finally!! After dealing with this BS since October I got someone with a functioning brain to help me today. Got a letter from a collection agency on Monday saying I owed $380 & change, which I knew was incorrect. Finally, after the woman I talked to on Monday failed to call me back in the 48 hours she said she would (maybe the bus broke down that takes her to work every day, who knows), I got a different, more cognitive rep on the phone. This brain surgeon was able to see that I paid the bill last Setember/October, and that there was a billing error on their end and I don't owe them $380 & change but I'm actually due a REFUND FOR OVERPAYMENT of $42 & change.

I should've asked them for the interest on that too....

Case closed - you may need extra years of schooling to pile up 6 figures of debt to work in a hospital providing care to the masses, but at least could they require a person to have a HS diploma or GED when they're talking to a customer about their bills.....Dumb people should be unemployed.

[93henfan]

Dumb people should be unemployed.

My sentiments exactly after spending three days on the phone and a trip to the local Comcast office to get my channel lineup restored after renewing my contract last week.

Who knew the cable company can destroy their own equipment sending a signal to your house?

[BDKJMU]

This is EXCELLENT...
The first half dozen posts on this thread point out both sides of the argument (sarcastically) but perfectly...
It's a tricky problem - health care is...

In a true free market - Insurance companies and big Pharma will not provide honest Healthcare - it's Business
And letting insurance companies write legislation can't possibly work - not ever

The answer isn't "true free market"
and it's not socialist medicine either

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION...?

There is nothing tricky about it at all.

The simple fact is that no private insurance company is going to place my health ahead of profit. Period. End of story.

The solution is a single payer system.

Yeah, govt is the answer. That will fix everything.