That is scary. It seems so wrong when someone has paid all their insurance premiums, that they are not protected from this sort of thing. He had a heart attack and therefore was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital - he didn't have a choice about which one. In these situations where the patient has no choice and has a life-threatening emergency, it shouldn't matter if it's in-network and out-of-network.
Plus, most health plans have an out-of-network maximum that even for out-of-network situations there is a capped limit that the patient has to pay (usually far, far less than 109K!!) So I am shocked that this sort of thing happened to this man, who is grappling with this situation on top of recovering from a heart attack where he nearly died.
I am glad reporters followed this situation. It makes you wonder how many less-reported or less-publicized cases there are.
That is scary. It seems so wrong when someone has paid all their insurance premiums, that they are not protected from this sort of thing. He had a heart attack and therefore was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital - he didn't have a choice about which one. In these situations where the patient has no choice and has a life-threatening emergency, it shouldn't matter if it's in-network and out-of-network.
Plus, most health plans have an out-of-network maximum that even for out-of-network situations there is a capped limit that the patient has to pay (usually far, far less than 109K!!) So I am shocked that this sort of thing happened to this man, who is grappling with this situation on top of recovering from a heart attack where he nearly died.
I am glad reporters followed this situation. It makes you wonder how many less-reported or less-publicized cases there are.
$109K 'settled' for $782 after publicity. Nothing screwy there.
We bill you 109 000 dollars but settle for $782, and this is nothing screwy to you?!
The system that bills you 14000% higher than the price they are fine with is fucking screwed!
Sarcasm. Sometimes it doesn't come through.