Medical Expenses

I had quite a terrible scare the other day.

I've been waiting for the invoice from my surgery to come in so that I could pay it. However, when I got the bill from Health Services, the amount was almost 10x what I had been told it would cost. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the bill, and I was rather afraid that Dad might have a conniption when he found out what had happened.

I sent a timid email to Dad and then called him, hoping that he was in a good mood. He was pleased to hear from me, although not exactly pleased about the circumstances surrounding my call. We came to the conclusion that whatever the price was, we would pay it, but it was extremely important for me to try and contact the hospital to see if I could arrange for some sort of discount.

Coming from Canada, I'm not really used to haggling with health care providers over price, but this was a special situation and I was rather desperate for any sort of monetary relief. I called the billing section of the hospital and was able to talk to a very nice woman who suggested I contact the BWC Health Services in order for them to grease some wheels with the administration section. So that is exactly what I did; I explained that I don't have insurance coverage for these types of operations, I had been told a different price, I don't have money, etc.

They were really great about the whole thing - between myriad emails and phone calls and meetings, they were able to get the price changed back to close to the original quote. Turns out there had been a lot of miscommunication that had happened prior to the surgery, and then the invoice had had the wrong code for the billing situation.

So, at the end of the day, I don't have to pay much more than I originally thought, and my parents don't have to declare bankruptcy to help me out financially. Excellent; all those prayers at the Shrines really paid off...