Posted on 06/13/2005 12:12:37 AM PDT by B-Chan
The sheriff's constable delivered the lawsuit to the neat brick home in Cliffside Park on Valentine's Day. It was a bouquet of heartache from Hackensack University Medical Center.
"GUIDO OSSO," it read. "You are hereby summoned in a Civil Action of the Superior Court of New Jersey."
The reason: Failure to pay a hospital bill of $160,170.35.
The wanted man sat at home, slumped in his wheelchair. His head rested on a television tray and his bottom on an incontinence pad. Since a devastating series of strokes in 1999, the 66-year-old Osso hadn't known what day it was, much less the details of his worsening financial situation.
He'd been a butcher all his working life, cutting steaks and roasts at the Grand Union and A&P. He was a member of his union's health plan. When he felt sick that October morning as he woke up to take his 14-year-old son to school, his family thought only of his health.
Little did they know that his illness could end up costing them everything.
Guido Osso didn't have enough health coverage. It ran out 21 days into his 38-day stay at Hackensack.
From that moment on, everything done for Guido was on Guido's dime.
He was charged the hospital's highest rates - its so-called sticker prices - rather than the heavily discounted fees insurers pay. That meant he was billed nearly twice as much as his health plan would have paid for the same care.
And when he no longer qualified for the insurance discount, the hospital was no longer satisfied with his plan's payment for those first 21 days. He was billed tens of thousands of dollars more for that care, too.
It was all completely legal. The Osso family's predicament was business as usual for the hospital's billing department...
(Excerpt) Read more at bergen.com ...
It looks like the union is guilty of providing a lousy policy... maybe if they spent more on better health policies than on donations to Democrats...
The different higher price seemed unethical, after some reduction, I believe the poor fellow would owe though.
How would the insurance discount not count for any of the bill just because the insurance couldn't handle all of it?
That is a problem with the hospital and the insurance company. There's no reason the insurance discount and coverage can't be applied for what it really covered. Just bizarre.
Otherwise, they mention the reverse mortgage as a possibility.
I would make a stink about what the stink can be made from and hopefully, it will affect the donations to the hospital, too.
Husband got his bill for the emergency room and one night in the hospital and this bill did not include the surgeon: $33,000 and some change. Thankfully he has good insurance so the whole thang including surgeon's fee cost him $900 out of pocket. Heck, the 10 minutes ride to the hospital in the ambulence was billed out at only $1500. Chump change, huh?
If only he had claimed to be an illegal alien. Then there would have been no cost to him at all.
If they don't start out with a high sticker price, then insurance companies will seek to negotiate down from the lower sticker price. This is negotiating 101, and I'm not sure how they can get around this.
Illegal aliens receive the care for "free", because they are judgment proof (lack any assets that can be recovered in a lawsuit - and since they are often paid in cash under the table, nothing to garnish either). This guy/his wife has money available to pay the hospital - they just don't want to.
Moral of the story: either be a flat broke illegal, wealthy, or have good health coverage... but having assets and poor health coverage is a lousy combination.
Well, gas prices have been going up.
ROTFLMYKWO! With a good laugh, I am calling it a night.
There has to be some sort of way to fix this. I am right now trying to help a friend who will be going through a similar situation. The specialized medical care and upcoming extended hospital stay may not save his life. His small company may fire him, and since he has a pre-existing condition, he cannot get his own policy. He faces certain bankruptcy, and we can't figure out a way around it.
He faces certain bankruptcy, and we can't figure out a way around it.
Dispose of all assets BEFORE he incurs the hospital expense.
Frankly, I don't see why we see it as a bad thing that some people go bankrupt to pay their hospital bills. Someone has to pay for their care. If you get really sick, you ought to have to pay a lot for your care.
Fair? Sure. Someone has to pay for it, and I'd rather it not be I. And then, if I ever get really sick, I'll pay for it.
The first problem with the whole of the system is that the medical insurance system drives costs up and distorts the cost of virtually everything.
We should ban medical insurance and make everyone pay for medical expenses out of pocket. Watch costs drop then.
I swear I was typing my response before I read yours. :)
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
In many states, and ( I think ) federal laws there is a time limit between disposing of assets and liability...
In Missouri, it is as much as 2 years..
Creditors can make claims on property disposed of less than 2 years prior.. ( that includes state and federal "fees and charges" ..)
How many people know they are going to incur massive medical expenses 2 years from now??
My parents went thru this. My father lost almost everything he'd worked his whole life for. I don't know what the solution is, or if there is one. I just keep my insurance paid and hope for the best.
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