How to reduce my copay to the hospital after a visit to the ER?
Hello, I was recently admitted to ER because I was having heart palpitations. They did a while bunch of tests and all, and in the end they told me nothing looks suspicious. Since I knew it would be expensive and my insurance deductible was 3000, I asked them how much if I pay cash. They said 1000 but the doctors's bill would be separate. I wasn't sure how much they would send that bill for and didn't want to spend 1000 upfront because what if the doctors send a bill for 4000 later on.
A month later, the hospital bills insurance company for 20,000 and insurance company rejects 10k, and approves 10k (approx). They pay 6500 and ask me to pay 3500 as copay and deductible. I am baffled how can a 1000 cash service becomes 20,000$. I want to go back to the hospital and ask all the questions but can someone who is familiar with the ER systems suggest what I should be doing to reduce the payment?
Btw, the ER doctor couldn't diagnose what the problem was and three days later I went to my physician who suspected acid reflux and prescribed Omniprozole. In two days, the discomfor in chest went away and didn't return. My doctor also said the ER doctor should've at least asked me questions about acid reflux after seeing a normal ECG before doing CT scan and so on. Is there grounds for malpractice since it seems to me that the ER hospital/doctor basically had exploited my fear in doing more tests than needed just to fleece money.
TL;DR: My insurance copay is almost 4000$ after an ER visit that resulted in nothing. Later found out it was Acid Reflux. What can I do to reduce the amount I pay? Since they seemed to have all tests unnecessarily, do I have a malpractice case?
submitted by /u/Numerous-Student-856
[comments]
