. Forty percent of Americans say they have received an unexpected and unwelcome bill for health care they thought was covered by their insurance.
A couple weeks later, Taylor went into labor. Like Parast, she got an epidural at the hospital, but her delivery took much longer."It was a particularly painful process in the end," Taylor said,"but [my son] was perfectly healthy, and everything turned out just fine."the vast majority of the cost of their deliveries. A few weeks later, Parast received a bill from the anesthesiologist for $1,600.
Taylor said she never got that bill in the mail, even though she went to the same hospital and had the same insurance. Her anesthesiologist was covered. Parast decided to investigate and called the insurance company. She said the woman on the phone told her she chose an out-of-network provider when she was in the hospital.
In California, where Parast and Taylor were treated, the state Legislature passed a law in 2016 protecting consumers from surprise medical bills when they go to in-network facilities. It also ensures patients only have to pay their in-network cost sharing amount. That means they only pay the share of costs covered by insurance that patients pay out of pocket.. Some states have protections like California's but there's no federal fix just yet.
Parast's anesthesiologist, Dr. Ronald Wahlig, said his usual practice was to inform patients if he did not take their insurance but that wasn't always possible since childbirth can be unpredictable. "I had no idea that out-of-network providers could be in an in-network hospital," Parast said."I thought if you chose an in-network hospital, everyone in the hospital's in network."
Two people go to McDonald's . One paid more than the other . No different .
One chose HDHP and an unplanned pregnancy. The other had PPO. How is this the insurance company’s fault?
Why? Because the American health insurance system is fucked up. Period.
Yeah, grateful I now live in Finland
Why must they pay for giving birth?
Universal Healthcare Now!