Cook's Childrens in Fort Worth? (insurance, deductible, income)

[Robinlp]

I am so upset. We took our son last week to the ER for some major stomach problems. Anyway, we sat in the ER for 8 hours and saw countless families say..."no pay"..."no insurance". Anyway, we do have insurance but we are self employed so we have a huge deductible. Anyway, today we got a hospital bill from Cook's for 6800K for our son's ER visit. Does this not sound outrageous to anyone? Any advice? I am floored as I have never seen a visit to the ER for so much. We had a stomach ultrasound done and some blood drawn...that is it!

[skelaki]

Originally Posted by Robinlp

I am so upset. We took our son last week to the ER for some major stomach problems. Anyway, we sat in the ER for 8 hours and saw countless families say..."no pay"..."no insurance". Anyway, we do have insurance but we are self employed so we have a huge deductible. Anyway, today we got a hospital bill from Cook's for 6800K for our son's ER visit. Does this not sound outrageous to anyone? Any advice? I am floored as I have never seen a visit to the ER for so much. We had a stomach ultrasound done and some blood drawn...that is it!

Your first step is to call the billing department and, if you don't have one, insist they send you a detailed billing showing each and every charge separately that adds up the total. Frankly, it sounds outrageous if you are stating what was done accurately.

[Robinlp]

Originally Posted by skelaki

Your first step is to call the billing department and, if you don't have one, insist they send you a detailed billing showing each and every charge separately that adds up the total. Frankly, it sounds outrageous if you are stating what was done accurately.

My Husband plans to call today. Yes...that is accurate. We left w/ an over the counter med and exhausted from all the waiting.

[xS☺B☺s]

I'd definitely check that. Depending on your insurance provider, it's typical to get a crazy bill that you don't really owe. Insurance companies typically refuse at first just to see if you'll pay it, and hospitals often can't figure out the insurance company's coverage plan so they just send the bill and let you call the insurance company.

I've had that problem regularly except when our company has had BC/BS. The hospitals know how BC pays and they do so it's pretty automatic. Anything else, you never know. Some of my hospitals have on occasion had to stop accepting insurance from even the likes of Cigna for non-payment.

Challenge it and take the opportunity to review your plan with a rep to make sure it's worth a hoot. If not, try to go with BC/BS. At least you'll have peace of mind.

[Robinlp]

Thanks...I do have BC/BS...but they may not realize we have a 10K deductible (of course just recently...because our rates skyrocketed this summer :-(). Husband is working on this with them..I'll let you know how it all works out in case anyone else faces the same!

[loves2read]

first of all--I think you mean your bill was 6800 vs 680,000, 000 which is what your post said...
second of all--our son was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease when he was in 5th grade--at Christmas time no less--after he had been seeing his pediatrician AND and ENT specialialist for over a month--
numerous visits--plus an expensive/borderline-dangerous biopsy for a diagnosis that could have been done WITH A CHEST X-RAY ...
I ASKED them if all his symptoms did not all up to Hodgkin's--and I was told that the % of children coming in with Hodgkin's in their offices was about 1 kid a year--so the odds were totally against that--
THEY were totally incompetent
We went to Cook's after the diagnosis (received via phone on Christmas EVE no less--they could have cared less about our state of mind)...
we found totally compassionate care and people who were professional and competent--
our son is alive--more than 20 yrs later--because of the HO clinic at Cooks--
so I think the world of them...
that being said--
the Cook's of today is much, much different than the one we went too--the "old" Cook's--and I mean that literally--we went to the original Cook's--ancient, and creepy...but the staff was wonderful...before they moved to the new bldg--which is now old--
and there were NO satellite clinics in our time in local towns...so Cook's has definitely stepped up their marketing plan and become not just a hospital but a medical service provider in a big way...

I would suggest like others--that you call--WITHOUT hostility--that never gets you anywhere with a hospital billing office--at least at first--

there may have been tests that you don't realize were done -- there may be billing errory with your child's patient # crossing someone elses
you should be as specific as you can about the time you waited--went into the cubical and were treated--and the doctor that you saw--
they will work with you on the bill--
you can apply to have it reduced based on your income I believe but it will take time to put all that in-train...