Rete

So right. Hospital put a lien on a friend's home for bill for doing a stent. He thought he had medical insurance only to discover that it lapsed the day before surgery because of a late premium payment. Sucks big time.

Was put on a monthly plan to pay the hospital

Guindalf

I'm pretty sure that I heard (or read) somewhere that overdue medical bills DO NOT affect your credit like others do.

Of course a declaration of bankruptcy is a different matter.

Lion in Winter

My experience is that that is only correct if the medical institution decides to keep the debt in-house (ie not sell it to a collection agency) and not report it to the credit agencies.

Mrs Danvers

I am glad you are feeling somewhat better and that you have good insurance. However, I'm sure you mean well when you give that advice, but health insurance is something that the most responsible people with the best laid plans can lose through no fault of their own.

Bob

You never do till you do... Just like good car drivers lol

Glad the insurance is taking care of you, Rete and that you're on the mend.

Bob

Back at uni, mate fell off the back of a Jeep and smashed his face in but we are only down the street from the hospital in Windsor. Turned out to be a private hospital and they told GS to piss off

AmerLisa

Ugh! Don't tell me that! Not so much the money part (will deal with that later, I know...) but the complication part..

They say my surgery is at 8:30 and I should be ready to go home by noon! That's what I want!

Jerseygirl

My 87 year old MIL had hers removed 2 years ago with no problems...she bounced back to her normal self quickly.

Bob

Indeed. We've had one bill after insurance we had to pay $5 towards but they sent it to an old address. Two weeks past due they sold that to a collections agency and that was a nightmare to sort out.

This was from a lab in the hospital, but the only lab that didn't have the hospital process things centrally.

Jerseygirl

There was a large sign outside the private hospital in Chester saying that they do not except emergencies and patients are seen by appointment only.

AmerLisa

I have four weeks before I get on a plane to the UK to see my older daughter and the grands...

Jerseygirl

Not sure that she even had keyhole surgery as the docs warned her that she may have to have her bowel removed...but when they took a look it was her gall bladder that was giving her problems.

AmerLisa

Well they know it's my gallbladder (based on my very expensive HIDA scan last month...) But I don't have any excruciating pain, just a dull ache on my side, nausea etc.. Apparently my gallbladder is not ejecting at the rate it's supposed to, so the best recommendation is to take it out. Well ok, and he did say I could wait until I came back... But I hate to spend 5 weeks over there not feeling well if I can have a simple surgery and feel better. Well that's the plan anyway...

Anyway

RoadWarriorFromLP

I'm sure that hospitals vary in their approach. But I think that it's reasonable to generalize that they often try to work out a payment plan that gets them paid in full within a couple of years, and if they can't, then they'll sell the account to a collection agency.

And of course, in the US, you often end up with several bills, not just one. Get surgery, for example, and the hospital, surgeons, anesthesia, and lab work all generate separate invoices....

RoadWarriorFromLP

I think that one of the key differences between the US and everywhere else is that in the US, the insurer's relationship is primarily with the medical provider, while elsewhere, it's with the patient.

So here, it's a matter of whether the insurer's "network" has the stuff that you want within it, while abroad, the insurer's focus is on whoever is paying the premiums, since the only feature that they can use to distinguish themselves is better service. (They aren't getting better pricing nor do they have their own pool of unique providers.) Ironically, a completely free market for healthcare actually provides less choice, while costing more money simultaneously.