his insurance had settled its portion. If he struggles to understand why healthcare bills are so high, it doesn’t bode well for the rest of us.
Such ranges aren’t limited to surgeries; even routine cases like a normal vaginal delivery can be as low asMost of us who are fortunate to have insurance hope and feel shielded from these absurdities. Yet unfortunately that’s not the case. None of us – even if we are insured – is immune from the financially devastating effects of the administrative monstrosity of the U.S. healthcare system.
Jack has the fortune of being covered by both Medicare Part A and employer health insurance through United Healthcare. The charges of his total hospitalization were over $250,000. Despite repeated inquiries to Kaiser, United Healthcare, and Medicare, it appears there are more than 30 outstanding claims that somehow have not been submitted or processed.
In reviewing his claim summaries, I created an Excel spreadsheet so I could see them in one place. There are 55 of these esoteric and poorly described services in categories such as “inpatient visits,” “inpatient services,” “medical services,” and “diagnostic services.” Within “inpatient services,” three of the same services are listed with the same claim number and same dates of service but have been charged separately as $18,323, $58,408, and $99,508.