CPAPtalk.com

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Sun May 03, 2020 12:03 pm

The last time I stayed in a hospital, I asked for an itemized statement.
I caught an error--they tried to charge me $400+ for eye drops--and I had brought/used my own.
I made them audit the pharmacy.
It is an established statistic that nearly every hospital bill contains errors.
Nearly all of those "errors" are in favor of the institution.
PUSH BACK.
It is the ONLY way to keep them honest--at least temporarily.

One time when I was hospitalized, I caught several billing errors. I pointed them out. The charges were deleted, but several "forgotten" charges were found...which added up to much more than the original errors! It was ridiculous!

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Sun May 03, 2020 12:14 pm

USMCVet wrote: ↑

Sat May 02, 2020 10:23 am

Looking at bill for when I had surgery and they charge $500 a night for a dreamstation without humidifier lol.

When I saw your post yesterday, I thought, "Well, that's just the billable amount not the amount that the VA will allow. The allowable amount will be much lower." So, I looked up CPAP on the VA Fee Schedule. Surprisingly they show a day of CPAP is $571.35.

I never understand what the VA pays and why. Anything they do pay is considered payment in full. They paid like $35 on a $5,000 bill????? And my recent surgery shows they paid more then they were billed????

Tomorrow I have to call about charge hospital is now billing me for. I already called hospital the other week to give them right place to bill ( VA denies claims if not sent to right place and doesn't help billing departments get it to right place, so I'm constantly putting right people in contact with each other) .

Anytime I take my brother to the ER, I pack his bipap and take it with. He is admitted 75% of the time. They want him to bring his machine and he uses it in the ER since he can't breathe laying down at a 45 degree angle. It will be so nice when he gets his 5 year replacement machine - we'll leave the old one packed up and ready to go which is how I'm set up already. I think those hospitals are finding an excuse for a money maker OR they have a LOT of people showing up with machines that haven't been cleaned in ages and it takes staff too long to disinfect (although they've never disinfected bro's machine; just used sterile water).

The RT told me people bring in disgusting machines which is infection risk to others. He still wouldn't even look at mine though.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Sun May 03, 2020 12:03 pm

The last time I stayed in a hospital, I asked for an itemized statement.
I caught an error--they tried to charge me $400+ for eye drops--and I had brought/used my own.
I made them audit the pharmacy.
It is an established statistic that nearly every hospital bill contains errors.
Nearly all of those "errors" are in favor of the institution.
PUSH BACK.
It is the ONLY way to keep them honest--at least temporarily.

It's been a long time but I once read a research study where they analyzed hospital bills and 100% (ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!!!) of them contained errors.

USMCVet wrote: ↑

Mon May 04, 2020 11:45 am

The RT told me people bring in disgusting machines which is infection risk to others. He still wouldn't even look at mine though.

My old S9 looks like the day I bought it and I got it in 2010. It's packed up now, but for almost 10 years it never left the nightstand. I kept it clean with dusting and wipes. Same with my new AS10. About the only thing that needs to be touched on a regular basis is the on/off button. Our faces and hands are far worse vectors for infection than a machine that spends most of the time on a nightstand. It's not like they can put us in Tupperware. Total excuse making.

And those aren't errors in billing. They're padding your bill. If your insurance just pays it and you don't question it, the hospital can recoup money from patients in failure-to-pay situations. It's not unlike DME's buying your mask as a kit for the wholesale kit price, but billing your insurance piecemeal for the retail parts prices at a considerable cost rise. Legality and ethics seem seldom to cross paths when a price tag is involved in the health industry. Seriously, our medical system is in a bad way.

Chris

USMCVet wrote: ↑

Mon May 04, 2020 11:45 am

The RT told me people bring in disgusting machines

Hospital staff have told me stories like that. They believe some patients have not used the CPAP in years. It's been sitting out collecting dirt and even insects. The patient needs to go to the hospital and is afraid a doctor will fuss at him for not using his CPAP. So, he throws the nasty machine in a bag and takes it with him. There is no accounting for some people's lack of cleanliness.