If you do not pay your Doctor bills go to JAIL!!!!!!

[BUD]

http://www.boston.com/news/special/spot ... page1.html

This is a little from the report:
And in Lowell District court, on the Tuesday before Christmas, an assistant clerk magistrate calls debtors up to her desk, one by one, to review their promises to pay.She then warns "IF you don't pay, you could be found in contempt, and you could go to JAIL".

So we have debtors prison again???It cost the tax payers $65 a day to keep someone in jail.What about people who are layed-off work???Gas prices are at $3 or higher a gallon alot of people are hurting.Please try to read all its a very good read at what the bill collector are trying to do to hard working people.People are going to start robbing banks to just pay these collectors because if they do not pay they go to jail so what do they have left to lose???

[Cookiely]

I've seen hospital emergency rooms request jewelry that the family was wearing as collateral if they don't have insurance. I assure you my mouth flew open in surprise. Demanded a woman's wedding rings to treat her son and a daughters gold chain.

[TexasStooge]

They're really THAT desperate to get their payments, huh?

[cajungal]

I have pretty bad problems with my stomach. After a particular severe episode, I ended up in ER. After just a couple of hours there, my bill totaled $1,000. I don't have medical insurance and I was like how am I going to pay for this? Even if I put down $10 a month, I would be paying on it forever. So, I wrote a letter to financial aid explaining my situation and totally got out of paying the bill.

[x-y-no]

More and more, even having insurance doesn't help. I had a problem last fall that put me in the ER and neccesitated a bunch of tests - MRI, EEG etc. ... all told about $5000 in bills which my insurance is giving me a huge hassle about. At this point, the hospital is about to put me in collection (which will do wonders for my already awful credit rating.)

[Ptarmigan]

It's like in Idiocracy. Joe Bowers does not pay his medical bills and he ends up going into jail. The world is becoming like Idiocracy.

[Canelaw99]

I handle all the coding and billing for a doctor's office, so let me chime in here....

The majority of people that seek treatment are really good people who intend to pay their bills - I believe that and it's evidenced at our practice. However, there are those who have no intention of ever paying for their care, be it something minor (a cold) or something major (a heart attack or serious laceration/fracture). We are not a free clinic - they have those in every city around the country pretty much. All doctors' offices and hospitals have expenses - medical supplies, staff, electricity, etc. - and the only way to pay those is by the patient bills. Now, I can only speak for us of course, but we are always willing to work with people if their bill is to high to pay all at once. However, they have to be willing to pay.

For those that aren't willing to pay, what recourse do we have? We can contact them repeatedly, but that gets us nowhere. We can turn them over to a collection agency, but that usually gets us nowhere. They can have the debt reported to the credit bureaus, but it's reported separately on the reports so it doesn't impact ones ability to get credit, a mortgage, or a car, so what's the point? We can sue them, but because of the costs involved, it has to be a pretty hefty bill to make it worth while. Do I think they should go to jail over one medical bill? No, not necessarily, however, from my experience, those not willing to pay their medical bills aren't paying their other bills either. Maybe some jail time would do them some good as they are consistently bad debtors. Something needs to happen in this country regarding medical debt, in my opinion, because the physicians have to make a living out there, and all of us who DO pay our bills suffer for those who don't - who do you think picks up that tab eventually?

Just my two cents

[LSU2001]

I have several chronic health problems and I do have good health insurance but I must say that $100.00 for a 5-10 minute office visit is the going rate for my doctors. Say the doc sees 5 patients an hour (low figure in my experience) thats $500.00 an hour. Do that for 8 hours thats $4000.00 a day. or $20,000 a week. I know about overhead and insurance but give me a break. The reason people can't/won't pay their bills is because the price of health care is outrageous.

Diagnostic tests are even worse. Say a clinic or hospital buys an MRI machine for lets say 1 million dollars (made up number, don't know the cost) they charge around 2,500 dollars for a test. If they do 10 per day thats 25,000 a day. The machine is paid for in 40 days. AFter that the only cost is overhead so I would love to see the profit margin on MRI's.

Anyway my point is that until health care gets into the real world and charges prices that are more like other businesses for services rendered we will continue to have problems with people being unable to pay.

I will get off my soap box now.
TIm

[Canelaw99]

You do make a point. I can't speak for other facilities, but I know that my office manager buys a fee analyzer every year (product put out by Ingenix) that lists the different procedures/visits/etc. and the costs at various percentiles in our area. Based on this, she sets our fees every year. For us, a general office visit (sniffles, cold, etc.) is $97 if you've been to us before (this is in NC). I live in S. FL and would expect prices to be higher here. Furthermore, the insurance companies don't pay the doctors and hospitals what they charge. We'll get paid, on average, $57.81 (yes, actual figure) for that same $97 visit. So...if we have to write off $40 from every level 3 visit, that adds up over time (say 20 level 3 patients a day=$800 times 7 days= $5600 each week we have to write off). I'll even post real figures here: in 2006, we had to write off $72,800 because of the $40 difference (we averaged 5 level 3s a day for the whole year). Not a fun write-off when you have expenses, and this happens with every single procedure code - X-rays, suturing, fractures, lab tests, etc.

I, for one, would like to see the big insurance companies doing their part by offering discounts to those who pay premiums every month yet don't use the insurance (kinda like Allstate's accident forgiveness or something). To my eyes, the insurance companies are the primary ones to blame for the outrageous costs in health care today, and their inflated premiums are the reason we have so many people unable to afford preventative care, etc. I would love to see an overhaul of the insurance system, but I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

[LSU2001]

It seems to me that the $57.81 that insurance pays is based upon reasonable and customary charges. I think you missed my point entirely. $97.00 for a routine office visit is outrageous. Why should a doctor get that type of pay. IMHO the main problem is not the insurance companies but the corporate mentality that has now taken over the medical community. I have several friends who are MD's and they now simply draw a check for a contracted amount each month. Their "practice" has hired a CEO to run the business end of the clinic . This CEO is responsible, not for patient care, but for the bottom line and profit margin. It has become common practice to charge exorbitant fees for simply care and simple procedures while cramming in the maximum number of patients per day. This could help explain how many doctors are now able to form groups to build large private hospitals/clinics with the latest state of the art equipment and how they will not treat people without insurance in these specialty hospitals.

I am not against doctors or any other health provider making a profit and getting compensated for the long hours, high stress, and extensive education they must endure but the emergence of medical corporations has done more to jack up medical costs and reduce patient care than anything the insurance companies have done (other than the extreme cost of malpractice insurance)

I for one would like to see doctors put patient care first and charge a reasonable rate for services provided I am sorry if I sound harsh but 5 or 6 hundred dollars an hour is obscene.
Tim

[coriolis]

I'll bet that the $97 is a number that's based on some sort of probability analysis. If they charge $97 and get paid $58, what would happen if they charge $58? Would they then get paid $40 by the insurance compaies? I would imagine that different insurance companies may pay different rates. I wonder if medicare and medicaid pay the full $97. Maybe the fee is based on what the gov't programs pay. Finally I guess that the Dr's try to maximize what those with insurance pay to cover their losses on patients that don't have insurance.

The family practice that we go to has two MD's, a physicians asst., about 3 RN's, a receptionist, and two administrative people there all the time. That's a lot of people to pay. They get a patient in about every 10 minutes. Probably half of the patients are kids with colds. One of the problems I see with health care today is parents who want to run to the doctor every time their kid sneezes, and demand antibiotics. Add to that the schools who demand a doctor's excuse after the kids are out of school for a total of 10 days.

[azsnowman]

What about all the illegal "aliens"? What the Hades are THEY going to do about them skipping out on bills? This is STUPID!! Best thing to do if they start harassening you, file medical bankruptcy...it does NOT effect your credit rating and most credit companies don't bother looking at medical collections anymore, I should know....

I "tried" working with the hospital on a $25K bill, I told them I could make $200 a month payment to them, their answer? NOT GOOD ENOUGH...so I send them $5 a month till they sent me to collections and now, they can go to HADES as far as I'm concerned! Why you ask? My insurance paid over $27K to them and that's what the insurance deemed was the approp. price for the procedure so rain on 'em!

[lurkey]

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Just in case someone needs it.

[BUD]

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Just in case someone needs it.

I sure know about that and also SC,NC,PA,TX are NON-garnishment states there is a fifth state and can not recall.

[Canelaw99]

I'll bet that the $97 is a number that's based on some sort of probability analysis. If they charge $97 and get paid $58, what would happen if they charge $58? Would they then get paid $40 by the insurance compaies?

Yep, that's basically what would happen.

I would imagine that different insurance companies may pay different rates. I wonder if medicare and medicaid pay the full $97. Maybe the fee is based on what the gov't programs pay.

The different companies do generally pay different rates. Nope, Medicare & Medicaid have a set amount that they allow, which is around that $50-$58 range, and is actually less than that because the require the insured to pay a 20% coinsurance amount of the allowed.

Finally I guess that the Dr's try to maximize what those with insurance pay to cover their losses on patients that don't have insurance.

Yep, that has to be factored in as well.

They get a patient in about every 10 minutes. Probably half of the patients are kids with colds. One of the problems I see with health care today is parents who want to run to the doctor every time their kid sneezes, and demand antibiotics. Add to that the schools who demand a doctor's excuse after the kids are out of school for a total of 10 days.

Yes - we have a ton of this since we're a walk-in.

[JenBayles]

Most medical providers are easy to deal with, but you MUST communicate with them. I've dealt with the System for too many years to count with multiple medical problems. For the education of those new to the medical system, listen up. Medical bills in this country are treated differently than other consumer debt. As long as you make an effort to pay monthly, your credit will remain undamaged. Just because a provider turns the account over to a collection agency does NOT mean your credit rating has been zapped. It's simply cheaper for providers to hire an outside agency to manage these accounts.

I owed many thousands of dollars for a week-long inpatient stay involving multiple tests and eventually surgery. There was no way I could have just paid those bills. It took me three years to do it, but I did, and suffered no bad news on my credit report. Every month, I lined up my bills, paid each provider $5.00 and focused on the smallest one to pay off that month. After the larger bills have gone a year or more, most providers will either write off the remainder, or substantially discount it to something you can afford just to get rid of maintaining the account. The key here is communication - preferably in writing. Only in the area of medical bills does the consumer have the power to set the monthly payment amount. YOU, the patient, set the amount you can pay monthly. Yes, collectors and even some providers will lie out their rears to scare you into thinking otherwise, but don't buy it. The law is on the patient's side. As long as you pay something, anything! each month, they can't touch your credit.