Huge ER Bill from Texas Children's Hospital (Howe: insurance, credit card)

[hounewhome1]

Hi Y'all,

Life happens and it happened to us this week when our kid had to be admitted to Texas Children's hospital; the total bill is around $70,000 ($48,000 after insurance discount) and I have the high deductible insurance plan so my share has comes to around $12,000.

The insurance company has already paid the $36,000 and the balance on me is $12,000. I have a few questions:

1.) I have got bills from many docs (8-10) along with the hospital (the biggest bill); why can't they send one bill so I can talk directly with one person.

2.) Is this bill negotiable? I don't fall under the poverty lines but this bill is HUGE for me. Even If I Pay $500 per month, It will take me 2 years to pay it off. We have already cancelled all forms of unnecessary expenditure immediately - cable, swimming classes, eating out etc but this amount is still huge for us even after that.

3.) Does TCH offer any discounts or generous payment plans (4-5 years) to people in order to pay the balance portion off? Do I have call each of the 8-10 docs that I'm getting bills from or can I just call someone in TCH to negotiate/request discount on the bill?

Thx.

[JasonAndJulie]

Technically it is not negotiable once insurance has paid. There is a law about it. However, you might get them to lower it if you keep calling back. I have done this before and got 25% off. Other times I offer to pay it all at once if there is a discount. Just because you aren't poverty level doesn't mean you won't qualify. Try anyways. I am sorry about your child. I hope it works out. Keep trying and keep pushing on the bill. Something will give.

[chris_ut]

The health care system in America is completely broken. You should be able to negotiate it since they already got a decent chunk from insurance and whatever you pay them is just gravy on top. There are people who negotiate on your behalf to get bills down for a fee called patient billing advocates.

[texas7]

Well 500 a month is a big note. Just make regular payments each month until its paid off. Do what you can afford $100 each month or more or less until its paid off. There is no interest and if you make monthly efforts to pay, it's usually fine. May take you a while but you've got a healthy kid and that's priceless. I was a single parent for many years and I had bills that took me 10 years to pay off but I did.

[hounewhome1]

Originally Posted by texas7

Well 500 a month is a big note. Just make regular payments each month until its paid off. Do what you can afford $100 each month or more or less until its paid off. There is no interest and if you make monthly efforts to pay, it's usually fine. May take you a while but you've got a healthy kid and that's priceless. I was a single parent for many years and I had bills that took me 10 years to pay off but I did.

I'm happy that they healed my child and I'm thankful for that. I'll be happy if they give me discount and maybe agree to $200-250 per month payment but let's see.

It's going to be hard to pay off 20 dollars per band-aid, 5 dollars for one alcohol wipe, 20 dollars for one sip of generic med etc...let's see. Life happens.

[KatieKennedy]

The doctors are not employed by the hospital. Each practice bills separately example, ER docs, radiologist, pediatric medicine, etc. Your insurance should pay a portion of each of the bills. Many times the insurance agreement says the doctors agree to take whatever the insurance pays and not seek the balance. Talk to your insurance company and find out if there are such agreements in place. Call each doctor's office and try to work out a payment plan with them. They usually will not sue as long as you are making efforts to pay.

[theSUBlime]

Eep. Yeah, definitely try to negotiate and see what options are available by calling the billing office.

[Schumacher713]

The number one cause of bankruptcy in America is health care. You owe 12K. If you can walk in with 3-4K cash they will take it. Borrow it from somewhere.

[fnh]

hounewhome1, my heart goes out to you and I feel your pain albeit to a much lesser extent. I brought my toddler son to the ER when he ran right into a door knob and the lock button left a hole in his forehead. Turns out he needed only a little Dermabond, not a single diagnostic test. We were billed over $3000 because, although the hospital ER was in-network, the attending physician was not and glueing his forehead was classified a surgery. He didn't even do it, it was a nurse! Grrr.

I've heard that hospitals will offer a prompt payment discount of 10% but you have to ask for it and pay within 30 days. I wonder if it might be worth obtaining a personal loan from your bank to pay it off quickly. The discount would likely exceed the interest charges. Of course, this may only apply to the hospital portion of the bill - I don't know if individual providers give the same discount. I would definitely call each provider who sends a bill and at least ask in negotiating payment, as previous posters have suggested. KatieKennedy also has a good point about forgiving the balance insurance doesn't cover. Good luck to you and I'm glad your child is OK.

Added: Schumacher713 and I cross-posted but we have the same idea - borrow it elsewhere to pay the medical bills in cash if you can and ask for the discount.

[hounewhome1]

Originally Posted by Schumacher713

The number one cause of bankruptcy in America is health care. You owe 12K. If you can walk in with 3-4K cash they will take it. Borrow it from somewhere.

There a 12 bills worth 4000, 800, 600, 1400 etc....amounting to 12K (70K bill for 5 day hospitalization). Where do I go and negotiate all the amount at one. The doc who I owe $600.00 doesn't probably care that I have $11,400 in other payments because everyone is worried about their portion. So, I'm really confused how to call multiple docs and get a flat rate discount. If they ALL settle for 4K, I'll get a credit card right now at 0% APR and pay them off right now if they will accept