Comments on: Baby Bill Finally Arrives…and We’ve got Questions…

By: Mom

Mom — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:28:35 +0000

It’s amazing how much they charge you. When they tell you that everything they bring to your room is yours to keep – they mean it. After all, you will get charged for that pack of diapers and that box of Kleenex whether you use it at the hospital or not.

The “free” package of pain killers isn’t actually free.

It can be quite insane…

By: hustler

hustler — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:15:03 +0000

My grandmother requested and received an itemized bill for a hospital stay. They charged her for everything from an entire box of kleenex and a single bandaid to outragous fees that seemed to be linked to nothing. Still, it’s worth seeing even if it is something to get riled up about!

By: Brainy Smurf

Brainy Smurf — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:52:36 +0000

Thanks for the pressure/encouragement guys — we are going to pursue getting a more detailed bill.

If not just because we’re interested but also to prepare for next time!

(and is it just me or is it sad that the hospital doesn’t have it’s own billing department?)

By: Dedicated

Dedicated — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:28:35 +0000

Definitely call and request a detailed invoice. I was a CASH payer for my childrens births and I paid $1500 for the most expensive child. It was the first time I realized that hospitals have a list of STANDARD charges for proceedures and that they automatically go on the bill.

For instance my hospital put $7 Tylenols on my bill, because most mothers need this after child birth. I never took their pills and instead had my own in my bag.

There were alot more items, I just can’t remember them all. I cut my bill in half at least.

By: Kacie

Kacie — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:01:58 +0000

Oh, and the full bill was $10,500. Thankfully, most of that was covered by insurance!

By: Kacie

Kacie — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:59:45 +0000

I requested an itemized bill (the full one that the insurance also received) because I wanted to make sure it didn’t contain errors.

My childbirth teacher was once billed for an epidural she didn’t have, and I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen to me!

I also wanted to see what everything cost, so that in the future I could know what to opt out of if it wasn’t necessary and was expensive.

If you’re interested, here’s the breakdown for my bill: http://sensetosave.com/2009/02/16/highlights-from-my-hospital-bill/

I say contact the hospital, tell them you’d be happy to pay in full but you would like an itemized bill. I bet you’ll get it!