So the hospital just sent me a bill for $9000.

[johndoe]

My PS told me that there might be some small additional expenses if during the surgery they needed extra anesthesia or something, so I said no problem figuring it might be $100-$200 or something.

Today I get a bill from the hospital for $9000. I had already paid $1000 in advance for what the dr. told me was the anesthesiologist's fee, and another $1000 for the hospital fee.

Am I totally screwed or what? I'm gonna call the Dr.'s office first thing on Monday to see what's going on but if I have to pay this I'm in deep trouble.

Has anyone else had this happen to them?

[Paa_Paw]

The bill should be itemized.  So you can review the charges and see if you are being billed for services not rendered.

Generally, Hospitals are a lot more expensive than outpatient surgical facilities.  But $9000 sounds like a gouge.

[johndoe]

There's a whole list of itemized things that add up to the amount they're requesting, but I don't see how they can bill me when the PS told me it was only going to cost me $5000 total.

I have previous had another surgery and that time the bill was also only $5000.

[rhinopothole]

you need to talk to someone who works in "human resources" or a lawer or maybe an insurance person to get that advice. if that helps?  i would say its bs because ive had doctors and hospitals pull this on me, but ive got some good people at work who deal that stuff.  do u work?  do u have helath insurance?  u could ask then for advice

[johndoe]

I do work but currently do not have health insurance. We'll see what happens when I call tomorrow. I cannot afford a lawyer so that's out of the question.

[johndoe]

Well I talked to the Dr. today and they told me to fax over the bill and they'd take care of that. So now I just have to worry about this damn swelling. Sometimes my chest feels pretty flat but other times I feel like my chest is starting to puff out a little bit and sag at the bottom. :-/

[4tuneit1]

NO INSURANCE!!    For God's sake people...get at minimum temporary insurance to cover any problems you might have as result of the surgery...infection...etc.  You can get 6 month short term insurance at einsurance.com for less than $300.00.  Why risk going into considerable debt for elective surgery??

[johndoe]

well part of my bill included some type of surgery insurance for $120 or something. Either way it's over now and thankfully nothing went wrong.

[johndoe]

Well the Dr.'s assistant told me that if I get any more bills sent to me just fax them to her and she'll take care of them. I'm really glad he's keeping to his word, now I just need to keep praying that I'll get the results I want. Almost 3 weeks post-op now and things are looking decent, I'm just hoping for a little more improvement.

[Paa_Paw]

Compared to a bill for $9,000 a one hour consultation with an attorney would be cheap. This from a guy who does not generally like attorneys. My general preferences aside, sometimes you need one.

[Seal]

If you don't pay will the hospital put the breast tissue back in your chest?

[downsbs]

Johndoe, the same thing happened to me today! I had surgery last week, and today I got a bill from the surgery center for $1500 (not quite as bad as yours, but considering the original fee was $600, pretty ridiculous).

What p!ssed me off the most was that nothing was itemized, there was no explanation for the charge and not even a date by which they expect their "payment." Hopefully my doc's office will take care of this when I call tomorrow.

Where did you get surgery for $1500.00?