Right but they don’t actually do that, because when they do it gets rightfully plastered all over local news.
They do great threatening people but know full well foreclosing on grandma might cause real policy action outlawing their scumbag behavior. Better to just send mean letters and collect from the majority of people who get scared and fork over the cash.
At least where I live most of the hospitals do exactly that. At least the wage garnishments and putting liens on real property (although not actually foreclosing) part of it. That may not be true everywhere and my state has some of the most creditor friendly laws in the country so that might be a part of it.
Source: I own a fairly busy bankruptcy practice and a lot of my business shows up once their employer gets the garnishment summons.
Thanks for sharing. I live near a rural hospital that has collections out to literally like 75% of households in the community and they either can’t or don’t garnish wages or place liens on real estate. It seems the smarter debtors just agree to pay some trivial amount monthly.
Sounds about right. I broke my arm on vacation in the States last summer. Ambulance plus ER care (some painkillers plus a brace for my arm). Total bill over $10,000. I paid $0 because my Canadian employer provides 100% out of country health coverage.
Ya I am sure that in situation it makes sense for them not to. I live in a fairly large metro (1.5m) and so there are several different hospital chains here and they probably don’t give AF for that reason.
https://twitter.com/wendellpotter/status/1206623274362261508
https://twitter.com/wendellpotter/status/1206623275511513088
Update!
Apparently the girl at the digestive care place had already submitted an appeal to Anthem Blue Cross for them not covering my Pepcid A/C - which doesn’t work anyway.
I just got 4 pages of results including a detailed report on why my appeal was DENIED - from a named MD who has determined that I don’t need it or something (I refuse to read the whole thing - otherwise the terrorists win).
How many reams of paper and person-hours have gone into requesting, denying, appealing, and ultimately denying the appeal - of my $5/month worth of Pepcid AC? (and that was w/o shopping around for deals)
Our healthcare system is basically the movie Brazil.
The weirdest part to me is when you talk to anyone - whether it’s at the pharmacy, the doctor’s office, the hospital, the digestive care place, or the insurance company - price is never even considered. It’s only whether the thing is denied or approved.
Whenever I finally ask “Well how much money are we talking here?” they look at me like I just asked them about the weather on Neptune. Could be $1.50 could be $10k - all items are given the exact same gravity and concern.
These are the “jobs” everybody gets so up in arms about… as though all jobs economic value are created equal. Like I’m glad someone is getting a paycheck, but maybe it would be better for everyone if those people went out and found something more productive to do with their lives than insurance subrogation.
This is the same kind of crazy that causes people with PhD’s in hard science to go work for quant firms figuring out how to do arbitrage .01 milliseconds faster so that some asshole can make an extra 5-10M a year. You want good arguments against capitalism, shit like this is pretty high on the list.
We get super super angry when socialist countries waste. And we should. Waste is bad. But waste is waste, and I feel like an awful lot of people want to pretend that capitalism doesn’t waste. It wastes a hell of a lot… Especially environmental resources and human time.
You guys really want to ban people’s choice to have a team of employed people telling you fuck no everytime you ask them to pay for stuff they should obviously pay for?
I went for a flu vaccine and a Tdap at local pharmacy. She kept punching it in and getting PC LOAD LETTER for the latter. After consulting the pharmacist, they eventually determined that it just wasn’t covered–at least not at that location–and that I’d have to go elsewhere. But I wasn’t going anywhere else and asked for the cash price. She looked surprised, and then even more surprised when I snapcalled it.
Yeah more than any, the people at the pharmacy always look so shocked that you’d rather pay $15 than fight endless customer service bureaucracies tooth and nail for months.
Then again I guess that’s how they get you.
Then again the opposite happened with Viagra:
Sorry sir your insurance won’t cover it.
Well how much is it?
$60
Ok that’s pretty steep for 10 pills but I guess I’ll just pay it.
Oh no, it’s $600 for 10 pills.
Awesome.
Fuck it I’ll just drink less before sex.
I live in France where it’s public insurance, but because of boring reasons my son is on private insurance where we pay and then get reimbursed. We always have a moment at the pharmacy where they go off to get stuff without bothering to say how much, and they look amazed that we want to ask first. Assumed it was because we live in a socialist hellscape that no one knows the price of anything.
God I relate so much to your story.
“Hi, picking up for Riverman”
“Have your prescription, looks like your insurance doesn’t cover this. Balance is $797 but I’m going to apply a manufacturer coupon so your total is $637.”
“Why was it not covered?”
“I don’t know.”
FFFFFFUUUUUUU
My doctor doesn’t give them lol, gave me a prescription to take to pharmacy. I took it to Von’s, they say my insurance doesn’t work with them even though that’s where I pick up my prescriptions.
I google and find out CVS works with my insurance. I go to CVS, they tell me my insurance only covers it if the doctor gives it. Sure. So like you I paid cash, but this is a joke.
But look at all the choices you made in the process… doesn’t it make you feel free?
My doctor recommended I get an HPV vaccine, as he recommends to all his patients. I went to CVS, find out my insurance doesn’t cover it and that I’d have to pay $800. Nope, I’ll just go on risking becoming a future symptomless carrier–surely that’s better for society.
But at least I had choice!
You can get lung/throat/mouth cancer. Don’t you only have one partner? No real need to get it then assuming you’re both monogamous.
Currently, yes, but at the time it was recommended, no, so I was seriously considering it. Hadn’t heard the male cancer side of it, had only heard of the cervical side of it. I’ll have to look into it… and probably still not spend $800 on it.
In ancient Rome
There was a poem
About a dog
Who found two bones
He picked at one
He licked the other
He went in circles
He dropped dead
