When wildlife biologist Jeanette Parker stopped to feed a hungry kitten near the Florida Everglades, it nipped her finger.
Since the bite broke the skin, Jeanette wisely cleaned the wound but then began to worry about rabies.
Calling her local health department and hearing it was closed, she decided to go to the nearest ER.
While there, she received two different types of injections and an antibiotic.
“I went home happy as a clam,” she said.
Soon, the bills started rolling in. Jeanette was shocked when she received a statement saying she owed $48,5111.
Doing her research, she realized that $46,422 of that total was for one preventative medicine – immunoglobulin – a complicated concoction of blood plasma collected from people immunized against rabies. She saw that normally immunoglobulin was expensive – about $4,000 for an injection.
Instead, she was charged $48,000.
When Jeanette went by the hospital to double-check that the charge was correct, they confirmed it was.
A month later, the hospital changed its pricing on immune globulin. With the new pricing, Jeannette’s bill would have been $9,900 instead of nearly $50,000.
This begs the question:
What do I do if I receive a medical bill that seems outrageously high?
- Get an itemized bill from the hospital or office, instead of just the summary.
- Use the “chargemaster” on the hospital’s website (an alphabetical list of what the hospital charges for medications and treatments) and see if the amount billed to you matches.
- Compare the prices you see to other hospitals/offices in your area. Share that information with your employer’s HR department or use it to negotiate with your insurance company and the hospital.
Thankfully, after Jeannette’s husband’s insurance kicked in, it lowered her bill to around $5,000. Still high, but way better than $50,000.
Hospital bills and insurance negotiations can get crazy sometimes. I would love to chat with you about your coverage and any questions you have. Peace of mind is what we’re after here!