I got a 3 degree burn on my leg a few months ago and about a month in, long story short, something happened the scab fell off and and the new scab that was forming wasn’t healing correctly so I decided to go to the doctors.
Well I went to the doctors and the first thing he did was completely remove the scab off the wound, the wound itself isn’t that big, and rubbed antibiotics on it. He then swabbed it and said it maybe infected and that he needs to run some tests and will be sending this to the lab and he gave me a referral to a local burn center and said I should see them in the next week and if I can come back here. Total charge for all that was about 300$ for the lab tests and visit and my insurance covered some of it and I came out of pocket like 200$ and some change and it was fine.
Well when I finally got an appointment scheduled with the burn center they did everything the previous Doctor did but just give me medication to rub on the wound and new wrappings. They also charged me 520$ for the lab tests for their swabs, 1.2k for them to remove the scab, 190$ for an outpatient visit, and another 250$ for a new patient visit. I think my insurance was willing to cover about 500$ of this.
In my head I thought hey I don’t think I should’ve been charged over a grand just to rip the scab off when I could’ve did that before I came in with my fingers. Also I think the 190$ outpatient assessment and 250$ new patient visit seems like I’m being charged twice for the same thing. However, hey at least my insurance covered 500$ and now I’m more than over 50% of my yearly deductible and ill just take it as a life lesson learned to ask for the cost of stuff before accepting it.
This issue really comes in the two weeks after this when I had a return check up appointment. This time there is no scab to remove because everything is basically healed over and they charged me 1300$ and it’s listed as the same procedure as before. All the doctor and nurse did was come in and repeatedly wipe it with a wash cloth and I think the doctor poked at it a bit. Then once again I’m charged ~200$ for my appointment and another ~200$ for outpatient assessment.
Although my insurance covered around 90% of my second visit I think this place is ripping me off. How are you charge way more for a “procedure” you didn’t do and bill my insurance for nothing.
I’m a recent graduate and this is my first time ever having/using insurance how do I navigate this? Do I reach out to my insurance or hospital first?
TLDR: my first “procedure” I was charged 1100$ for them to remove a scab when a week earlier another doctor just pulled the scab off for free. Two weeks after they charged me 1300$ for the same “procedure” when there wasn’t a scab for them to rip off. They’re charged 1300$ for nothing
Submitted July 22, 2024 at 02:48AM by Schxdenfreude https://ift.tt/mESTJjN
