Saw this and it kind of explains why things feel off.
Prices kept climbing… incomes barely moved.
No wonder buying a home feels further away, even when you’re doing “everything right.”
At some point it stops feeling like effort is the problem.
For those wondering about costs in the Houston area, this was my cost with BCBS. My question is about the pending insurance amount — could insurance still cover the remaining balance, or should I expect to pay that amount myself? Either way, it was a lot cheaper than I initially thought.
Also, after everything is finalized, can I still negotiate a cash deal with the hospital? For example, if I’m expected to pay $1,561, can I ask them to lower that amount if I pay it right away?
Classic tourist post...I ended up with food poisoning in Raleigh, NC back in January and had to go to the ER (Duke) in an Uber. I have PoTS and my heart rate was 165bpm from the dehydration and I couldn't walk I was so weak. They got me straight in and told me the total hospital bill would be just over $1000 if I paid immediately, and then the provider's costs would be billed separately later on. They said if I wasn't able to pay it would be quadruple that price later on. I said fine. I had full travel insurance so I could claim it back later, so I paid the $1000 on my credit card.
I stayed in the ER for maybe 5-6 hours, had two IV drips, and magnesium and potassium tablets, then they let me go when my HR came down to normal after all that.
A few weeks later back in February I then got the $264 bill from the provider. Fine, paid it immediately. Got it all sorted with my travel insurance and they repaid me the full amounts I'd paid.
Last week I then got an email saying I owed them another $4500. Is it normal to get a huge bill like that three months after the visit? I also feel like $4500 plus the $1264+ I'd already paid is an insane cost for 6 hours of sitting in a room with an IV?
It also feels iffy that $4500 is exactly quadruple what I paid, and what they said it would cost if I didn't pay directly at the hospital. I've asked them for an itemized bill but they said it's been posted to me by snail mail as they apparently can't just email it or add it to my dukemychart account.
I'm also concerned because the new $4500 isn't showing in my dukemychart account like the other one did, it was just emailed to me with a direct link to pay.
Question is, where do I stand legally with this? What happens if I just don't pay it? (I'm British and live in the UK) I don't know if my travel insurance would cover this extra amount since they already closed my case as I wasn't told more bills would be coming my way.
I got a bill from AssetCare for a hospital visit from 2023 in Illinois, but when I called my insurance company they said the hospital never billed them. AssetCare says it’s for the “physician portion,” but my insurance still says they don’t see any claim for that date of service.
The hospital was in-network and I had active insurance at the time.
The hospital billing department isn’t answering my calls, and I’m confused about what I should do next. Has anyone dealt with this before? Can a physician bill go to collections without insurance ever being billed first? Should I dispute the debt directly with AssetCare?
I also don’t want this affecting my credit report.
Hi All,
I've had wrist pain for a few months and I suspected it was De Quervain's Tenosynovitis. Went to an ortho to get it diagnosed and get a cortisone shot to reduce inflammation. They did a few X-rays of my hand, looked at it to determine that there was no fracture and then gave me the cortisone shot. I was a new patient in this clinic and was maybe there for an hour total. My insurance was billed $2.5K total (see images). Almost $1K for X-rays and another $1.5K for the consultation and injection. I've had to pay ~$620 of that out-of-pocket. This seems a bit excessive so I wanted to check if this is normal or perhaps I got billed excessively and maybe I should dispute? Looking for any insight or guidance. Thanks!
On Dec. 30th 2025 I had to go to the ER at my small town hospital in WA state. In January 2026 I left my job and am now working at a place and earning significantly less. After I left my job I received my hospital & follow up care bills for ~5k. I applied for financial aid and was approved for full coverage for any visits in 2026, but was completely denied for any financial aid for my original hospital visit in December (~4.5k) because that visit occured in 2025 and they have to base my financial aid on my 2025 tax return. Very frustrating considering that if I went to the ER two days later the bill would be fully covered. The hospitals billing department says there is nothing they can do about lowering my 2025 bill.
I'm thinking about just letting the bill go to collections since it can't be reported on my credit statement and working out a deal with the collections agency to pay less, but I'm hoping to figure it out with the hospital first so any advice is appreciated.
I'm currently receiving oncologic care at the #1 cancer hospital MD Anderson for leiomyosarcoma (rare/aggressive soft tissue sarcoma). My doctor has recommended systemic chemotherapy with doxorubicin in combination with trabectedin (Yondelis). My insurance has denied the Trabectedin on the basis that the regimen is not FDA-approved for this specific adjuvant indication and is considered off-label or investigational under the plan’s policy. There is literature supporting of using leiomyosarcoma to support this combination chemotherapy.
I have been denied by a self-funded plan BCBS of Texas. Ironically, I am an employee of the university of Texas the same university system as MD Anderson, on a plan for that university, seeking treatment at one of their hospitals.
I tried filing a complaint with my state's commissioner, but couldn't because it is a self-funded plan. I applied for the Johnson & Johnson patient assistance program for the drug Yondelis, but was denied because I don't meet income guidelines for the drug (60k for 2 people).
Does anyone have any recommendations on how to get the insurance decision overturned?
So I had a mole removed that required extensive testing to determine whether it was cancerous and this is the bill I received from the pathology lab. Is there any way I can lower this? I’ve never negotiated a medical bill and I’m not sure if I’m even eligible given that my insurance deductible was $5k. Any insight would be helpful.
Hey all. I am back with more questions.
I made a previous post about my wife's OON ER visit, which can be found here. TLDR summary: wife had a hemorrhagic stroke, we went to OON ER where she got a emergency surgery and stayed in the hospital for couple more days until she was transferred to INN for acute therapy. EOB sent by insurance said patient responsibility is several tens of thousands of dollars. She has Blue Shield of California through her employer.
Since then, I had more chats with BCBS because we had received more EOB of different procedures and there I found out it was provider billing us the "disallowed" amount. By my understanding, this is balanced billing where the hospital bills us the portion that the insurance doesn't approve. The BCBS representative at first told me that they can't do anything about this "disallowed" portion of the bill, but when I pressed on the fact that No Surprises Act shouldn't allow the provider to bill me this amount during emergency situations, the representative looked into it a bit more and agreed that they shouldn't be able bill me this amount. My question is, in this case, is filing a dispute with BCBS enough or should I start disputing with the provider about this billing? What are some other things (like requesting itemized billing from the hospital) should I be doing to fight this?
Many thanks in advance.
Edit, change provider -> insurance for accuracy
Hello! I recently went to an urgent care clinic in Boston for a sore throat, did a couple of tests, consulted a bit. I was shocked to receive this billing statement. I have legitimately never seen these prices before, and while my insurance covered most of it, I still have a hefty amount of co-pay. Can anyone let me know if these are normal costs??
My wife and I had our first baby and we had to go to UW medicine for the birth due to it being a high risk pregnancy. UW medicine and Seattle children’s hospital are both in-network facilities. (UMR insurance)
She was scheduled for C-section and everything, and right after baby was born he was getting transported to Seattle children’s hospital via ambulance. Everything went great, no issues.
We’ve already hit our maximum out of pocket. But now we’re getting an ambulance bill of $5,270. Our insurance said they paid $1,200 of it but the ambulance can charge more than what the insurance is allowed to pay?
We’ve talked to both the ambulance service, and our insurance (UMR) and both said to appeal it, but in opposite directions.
I’ve read that as of January 2025 balance billing is illegal in Washington state under the balance billing protections act.
Confused about what to do/who to call.
I had an Endoscopy last month, I got the bill today. I have United Healthcare through my employer. The facility charged about 2100 dollars to United, I was given a 500 dollar copay. When I spoke to United they said this was how my benefits worked, when I checked my benefits I saw that scoped procedures (like my endoscopy) had an in-network copay of $500. I had no idea. Is there anything I can do? Even if I speak to the provider I’m still on the hook for $500 no? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Hi, I am looking for advice on how to handle this, I got caught in a messed up situation when i was 19 I had a three day day stay and ambulance ride that was considered out of network and now i’m on the hook for 42,000 that’s in collections. I’ve payed on it off and on since i got it and i’m sure they could sue for that much. Is there anything I can do?
Nearly fifteen months ago I visited several doctors (same medical group, major provider in NY/ NJ) and was told by their offices that their services would be covered by my insurance but after these urgent visits it turned out they were not. It seems they misunderstood/ didn’t bother to verify my exact policy despite me giving them my insurance policy/ card info. I made many, many, attempts to resolve with the provider and after initially being told that it would be sorted out the lines went dead.
Fast forward over a year and the bills have gone to collection. I’ve spoken with the collection agency already and have been offered a 25% discount (I didn’t mention the billing issues/ disputed, only conveyed that I’m unemployed, which is accurate).
Prior to paying, I’ve asked for something documenting that the debt would be considered resolved if the negotiated amount were paid, and that they would not report to any credit agencies. They’ve refused to provide any kind of documentation before payment and won’t speak to credit agency reporting.
I’m considering emailing vs calling again (I’m a lot better negotiating in writing) and while I’m at it trying to get a discount larger than 25% given the circumstances. The full debt is around $1500, providers are in NY state, and I lived in NY state at the time of service (now in PA). Any suggestions on language to use/ points to make/ records to request?
My main concern is avoiding a significant hit to my credit, though I’ve been told by a few parties (including by the original provider “off the record”) that medical debts like this are NOT reported by either the provider or collection agency. Is this accurate? It’s now been well over a year as mentioned so I am quite concerned.
Sorry for the long winded post. I’m going to post on other subs so I’ve included all pertinent details. Thank you!
These bills are through the clinic which are attached to the hospital.
I have gone to billing twice, and they said they looked into it but according to them, I was charged properly. Even though she said she had never seen blood workup cost so much.
My primary doctor referred me to a cancer specialist because she was worried about my white blood cell count, which keeps rising.
The specialist took samples, then told me they were inconclusive, so I had to retake them. During the first one, I had not met my deductible,but during the second one I had. So my responsibility is drastically different between the two bills. But the overall is the same.
However, when I look at a breakdown of the items, I think I was overcharged - or well, insurance was over charged.
According to the price files posted by the hospital, it should be a lot cheaper. Is the difference in price normal? Or should I contest it?
When looking into it, it looks like they might be coding it incorrectly. It was tested 25 times but instead of coding it individually 25 times it looks like they are using the nine times amount 25 times.
Am I seeing that correctly?
I am beyond frustrated right now. I just got back from a week long vacation in the Caribbean with a second degree sun burn and some blisters had burst on the flight home.
I got home, went to shower and noticed they were looking a little gnarly so I called a triage nurse right away to either prescribe me something over the phone to pick up later that day or just to schedule an appointment with my primary in a few days. I do this process all the time and never had any issues. Well, as soon as I told her the blisters had burst hours prior she immediately went into speaking with an urgent tone and told me I need to go to the ER asap to prevent infection. I took her seriously despite questioning it and went in. Turns out I should have just gone to my primary as originally planned and now I’m going to be stuck with a massive bill for nothing. I should note, I asked her point blank if it would make more sense to go to urgent care if my primary couldn’t see me for a few days and she told me that no, I need to go to the ER so they can give me an IV to prevent infection. I should have trusted my gut but I was running on no sleep for over 24 hours from multiple layover flights home and it scared me because it is a pretty nasty burn and looked in rough shape.
Both the doctor and the nurse on site told me I would have been fine. I wouldn’t have gone in if it wasn’t for that triage nurse telling me I needed to. Is there a way to fight the bill when it comes in? What verbiage should I use with the insurance company?
hello, would really appreciate any advice for my current situation
for context:
broke my ankle in 2 places a month ago and needed to call 911 (was in the mountains) and was rushed to hospital in which they performed surgery the day after, i ended up staying for abt 4 days total.
now:
i was billed $300,000 for the whole hospital visit and an extra $3000 for third party anesthesia services (although i was still charged for it in the initial hospital charges). I was getting help while at the hospital in applying for emergency insurance coverage but was denied as i “made too much” (i make abt $3500/mo). now i am still trying to work with the hospital for financial assistance and they said they can drop it to $32000 if i pay within 30 days, which i can not do. I haven’t paid anything yet, it’s been abt a month since the initial billing and unsure about my next steps. would seriously appreciate any advice. 🙏
I’m have never been to a hospital so I’m not familiar with what cost are normal. Below are the charges I got. What took me back was the emergency room cost 3k!!! I let out a big WTF IS THIS. Is that really the going rate for a room?
