Hospital Billing Question
SS10 had his throat procedure last week. Today, we receive a reimbursement form from BM, requesting reimbursement of the $250 deposit she put down toward his procedure. DH had his tonsils out last month and he had to put $300 down toward the surgery - that deposit was applied to whatever insurance did not cover and the rest was reimbursed to him. Is that standard practice? My concern is that we will pay BM, then her deposit will be reimbursed to her and DH will be paying her for nothing. Thoughts?
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Have him call the doctor
Have him call the doctor himself. I would never trust BM like yours in any situation.
DH is calling the hospital's
DH is calling the hospital's billing department tomorrow to find out how they handle deposits.
I think we are actually in the right on this one. On the reimbursement form from the FOC, it states that BM must request reimbursement within 28 days of either the date insurance paid the expenses or the date insurance denies the expenses. BM claimed that insurance didn't cover it, but that was because she only paid the deposit and for the prescriptions and didn't wait for insurance to be billed before sending us the reimbursement form. I mean hell, she mailed the form out two days after his procedure; lord knows you aren't getting a medical bill that quick.
He needs to call the docs billing office.
I would not pay a cent except directly to the medical practice for no more than half. Deduct the deposit from the half DH pays to the Docs office and let BM deal with them for her half.
Our state forces
Our state forces reimbursement to the other parent. You can't pay directly to the doctors. One parent pays in full and the other parent reimburses for medical expenses.
Everytime I have paid a deposit at a hospital,
Everytime I have paid a deposit at a hospital, I have gotten all or part of it back once everything was run through insurance. I wouldn't pay it until all expenses have gone through insurance.
Yeah, he should wait to
Yeah, he should wait to reimburse BM. If BM wanted him to contribute to the deposit, she should have told him about it and had him pay the doctor. I agree with the above suggestions to call the doctor and pay them directly. HCBMs love to add their own markup.
Pay but deduct?
If you're trying to keep it friendly, or if you think she really can't afford to be out the money until it is refunded, you could offer to pay your half of the deposit, with the understanding that you will be deducting that from your final outstanding bill. (Assuming that the final amount that you expect to pay is at least that much) once the refund is issued. If it looks likes there's a chance that paying anything now would result in you just being out money (you couldn't recoup later), I'd just let her know that she may not realize that the deposit will be refunded with the final insurance payout and it would be best to wait until then.
unfortunately it can take
unfortunately it can take forever for biling to wind it's way through the billing process and then through insurance. I just got a bill last month for a hospital stay a year ago!! crazy right?
My assumption is that they would submit the full cost of the procedure to the insurance company.. and then cover is eligable and then bill the patient/patient parent.. for the balance due.
procedure cost 10,000
insurance covers 7,000
patient responsibility.. 3,000
less deposit -250
bill due is 2750.
But let's say the procedure was 10,000
insurance covered 9900
patient responsibility is 100
deposit is -250
patient is sent a refund from Dr office of 150 dollars.
The only way you will know the true deal is to see the EOB from the insurance company.. or accounting of that from the DR office.
technically .. you could give her her amount now.. and if she is refunded.. she owes money back.. to DH.. but we know how that goes with BM's.
DH called the hospital and
DH called the hospital and they confirmed our thoughts that the deposit is possibly refundable, depending on insurance coverage. They recommended waiting until insurance is billed. DH also has a voice-mail out to someone in the medical support department at Friend of the Court.