Ok This is not literal. Yes I am pissed off and fuming and I think there is steam coming from my ears. However I will get my own revenge with pen and paper well Computer and DK in this case. So now I commence to let it rip.
I am have let you know just how much fun I have had in my journey to get my back fixed. It has not been a fun journey. In fact a good chunk of it has sucked. Today it got a hell of a lot worse. I thought I had seen it all in the greedy doctor category. Well today I got introduced to the greedy freaking hospital category. Let's start off with the whole story. I had seen my surgeon and he wanted to get an MRI and Nerve tests done to see how bad my cervical spine was. No biggie. I do not like the tube much but I am not going to freak out. So we scheduled this back at the beginning of April.
Today I get a phone call from the hospital. Norton's Hospital here in Louisville Ky. They said it was to pre register me for my procedures. No big deal. I called them back on my break from work. They immediately demanded $1000.00 from me. I don't owe them one dime. I asked why. They replied in case your insurance doesn't cover it. Hmm that sounds fishy. I am insured by my company and yes they can turn down claims but not when they are pre approved like this had been. I explained that I had a 90/10 plan and had hit my deductible already. They said yes we know that but you have to pay $1000.00 now if you want us to keep you on the schedule. Or pledge to pay it in CASH when I walked in on Monday. I said I'm sorry but that is why I have insurance. I will pay my 10% when I get the bill. No deal from them. I explained that I couldn't pay an extra $1000.00 and I would pay the bill when I got it. You know the way it is supposed to work. Nope no good. I explained that I would also be having at least 1 surgery in the near future and it would be there at Norton's. Then came the real fun. They said that would be great they would schedule it when I gave them $25000.00 in cash. I have pretty decent insurance and when I hit 5 grand I don't pay anything at all. I am not that far from that point but that doesn't make a difference to Norton's Hospital here in Louisville. They told me they would reschedule my MRI and Nerve tests once I gave them the $1000.00 and don't even think of scheduling the surgery without the 25 grand up front. SO I explained that they were throwing away about 800 grand in insurance payout. That was their cut on my last surgery after the insurance company knocked down the bill. That didn't matter to the lady on the phone.
I swear it was like she was on commission. She kept demanding cash up front.
This is really freaking ridiculous. I could understand if I didn't have insurance. Then I would be negotiating with different hospitals to get the best rate. However I do have insurance. It isn't one of the grandfathered in garbage policies. It has no max cap. It has no lifetime cap. It covers this and pays pretty quick compared to some insurance companies. I am talking less than 30 days on most claims. So I hung up on them. I was boiling mad at this point so I sat down and smoked a cigarette to try and calm down more before calling my surgeon's office.
I calmed down and called the surgeon's office and asked the lady to reschedule my MRI at a different facility. She said sorry they only use Norton's Hospital. They had to because Norton's bought them a few years back. I explained I was not going to set foot in Norton's and then told her why. She started defending them. Saying I must have a crap insurance policy. She actually told me that. That it must be crap. I explained I was insured by the company I work for and it wasn't one of the cheap policies. I know better than that. I went with the best they offered. She said my surgeon only operates at Norton's Hospital here in Louisville and then she started telling me if I had to have surgery I would need to pay the deposit in cash just like they told me on the phone. I told her that was kind of funny since my insurance had a Max out of Pocket of $5000.00 and I was pretty close. Why would I have to pay $20 grand over my maximum ? Because that is the policy. That was her answer. My answer was to tell her to cancel not only my MRI and nerve tests but also my appointment the next day. I told her she could explain to the doctor that she had just kissed close to $50 grand for his end of my surgeon goodby. Hope he didn't need to make a car payment or hell buy a new car. I hung up with them. By then I could feel my pulse pounding in my neck. I knew my BP was sky high so I checked. Yep 205 over 142.
I tell you if I was having a heart attack outside their ER doors. I would not allow them to treat me. I will not go to a doctor who works for them. What kind of freaking Hospital demands cash up front from people with insurance and large amounts of it ? Is that all they care about is cash? Sure freaking seems like it. I wonder if they make you pay in cash when a nurse comes into your room. I would not put it past them. Do their doctors walk around with a card swiper so they can charge a patient when they see them ? Talk about fee for service medicine. What a rip off. I bet a lot of people just pay and shut up because they need to get treated. I am also betting they don't refund any portion back to the patient if the bill does not come up to that amount. I bet they pad the freaking bill so their is no "Refund" owed. I would not doubt that they add charges for services not even rendered just to make sure they don't have to refund any money.
So if you happen to be here in Louisville and you need to go to the Hospital you should avoid Norton's Hospital. Go to U of L or Baptist. Heck run across the river to Indiana and hit up Clark Memorial but stay away from Norton's and all of it's satellite facilities. Stay far far away from these greedy freaking bastards. The only thing you will get is a huge bill and a large rise in your BP. You don't need these greedy bastards getting their hands on you. If you must go to one of the hospitals affiliated with them watch your bill closely and scream bloody murder over any charges you don't think are right.