Monday, June 15, 2009

It is To Laugh.

I may have mentioned that my 84-year-old grandmother was hospitalized a few weeks ago. Turns out she had pneumonia, and other ailments which we won’t detail here. Of interest is the bill she just got from the hospital for her three-day stay. The bill, my friends, was for $31,000 and some change. Here now I paraphrase for you the conversation my grandmother recently had with the billing specialist:

Grandma: Hello, yes, this is Mrs. C___ and I’m calling about my bill. It says here that I owe the hospital thirty-one thousand dollars.

Smooth Operator: Let’s see here, Mrs. C___. Yes, I’m showing that you do indeed owe the hospital thirty-one thousand dollars. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Grandma: Well, I don’t have thirty-one thousand dollars. And I have insurance, so I don’t understand what this bill is all about.

Smooth Operator: Well, ma’am, we tried to bill your insurance carrier, Blue Cross, but they refused to pay.

Grandma: I don’t have Blue Cross. I have PacifiCare.

Smooth Operator: Oh. Duuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…


Oh my God. Health reform now, health reform NOW. For heaven’s sake!

5 comments:

bridget in oregon said...

You know, I just cring when I here "opponents" to health care reform cry "socialism". Do they never get sick? WTH?
I had a three day hospital bill in Oct. 2007 for $18,000. And that wasn't even the surgeon, or any body else. That was just the bed, the nursing care and the meds. I thank God for the insurance we had at the time. I hope PacifiCare comes through for your grandma.

Lisa Blah Blah said...

Yeah, it would be a shame to overhaul the healthcare system in this country so that it actually WORKS!

Yeah, I have insurance and even so I still ended up paying more than $6,000 out of pocket when I had Cily and she ended up in the NICU. I think pretty much everyone I know has a similar story. It's horrendous.

Cee in SF said...

I'm glad that they were just trying to bill the wrong company than her insurance company refusing to pay!

Madness! I volunteered to go to those healthcare reform events, per my email invite from Obama's people. I'd better get on that.

Lisa Blah Blah said...

Um, I think I meant to say healthcare reform in my original post, but ended up sputtering apoplectically, "health reform!" which, I don't know what that means, is all.

Reform your health! Talk to Obama's people. Go to those events. Rise up and overthrow!

Liz Dwyer said...

I hope it's all cleared up by now. That's just ridiculous!