What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina
Sorry for the long first post guys.
Last month, I was hiking with some friends in the upstate of South Carolina. On the way back I fell and sprained my ankle. I was carried back to the trail head by park rangers and that is where the difficulties began.
At the trail head I was met by an ambulance. My injuries were not life threatening in any way and I asked the EMT if the rangers could take me back to the cabin where my friends were so that one of them could get me to a hospital for an X-Ray and he told me no. I was eventually billed $515 for the EMS ride and an ice pack on the way.
When we arrived at the hospital is when the real fun started. I got there around 8:00 P.M. and the room they were putting me in was not ready for me yet (another patient was leaving but not gone yet and then it had to be cleaned quickly). While waiting in the hallway, the registration clerk came back and took my insurance card and information.
In the room, a nurse held up my bad leg while I shifted myself off of the EMS stretcher and into the hospital bed. Everyone then left and a few minutes later a nurse brought me a Gatorade.
20 or 30 minutes after that, my friends arrived and it was almost another 30 minutes before a doctor came in and spoke to me. The initial consult was brief at best, it lasted about 1 minute. She poked my foot and ankle in a few places and asked what X-Ray had said. I told her I had not had an X-Ray yet and she said "okay, let's get you to X-Ray" another 30-40 minutes went by and the nurse came in and took me to X-Ray.
I was in X-Ray for 15 minutes and had 3 or 4 shots of my leg taken before the X-Ray tech brought me back to the emergency room.
Another 40 minutes went by and the doctor came back in and told me that my ankle was not broken. She gave me a prescription for pain killers and said that I would have to wear a splint on my ankle. I asked how long I should wear the splint (first sprained ankle) and she looked and sounded very annoyed but told me to keep it on until it didn't hurt anymore.
20 minutes later, the nurse returned and put a cheap plastic splint on my ankle and brought in a wheel chair to discharge me. He didn't help me get into the chair despite the obvious fact that I could not put weight on my left foot without a significant amount of pain. He wheeled me to the ER entrance and left me there with one of my friends until the other 2 drove up. At that point I had to lean on my friends to get to the car. This was a bit tricky because I weigh 260 pounds and the largest of my friends is probably around 160.
10 days later, I get a "this is not a bill" statement in the mail for $916. The breakdown was that $392 was for the X-Rays and $514 was for emergency room. I immediately contacted the billing department and no one has been able to tell me what the $514 charge is actually for. All they have said is that they bill based on trauma level and mine was a level 3 which is $514.
I have a high deductible insurance plan and have not met my deductible yet so I am responsible for the entire amount. My insurance was able to get an in network discount of $112 so now I only owe $804 but it still seems fairly high.
They have forwarded my complaint to the ER manager but have said that it can take up to 3 weeks to get a response.
This morning I learned that another $390 charge was sent to my insurance company. Ever the optimist, I assumed they had reviewed my case and adjusted my bill accordingly. It turns out that the ER doctors bill separately. So now I owe $1194 for a handful of X-Rays and a splint and another $515 for an ambulance ride that I did not need or want and requested to opt out of.
What are my options here? Am I hosed or can I fight this somehow? Was the hospital negligent at all in basically ignoring me for 3 hours and not assisting me as needed when I needed help getting out of bed or to the car? Was I required to take the EMS ride or did I have the right to opt out?
Sorry for the long first post guys.
Last month, I was hiking with some friends in the upstate of South Carolina. On the way back I fell and sprained my ankle. I was carried back to the trail head by park rangers and that is where the difficulties began.
At the trail head I was met by an ambulance. My injuries were not life threatening in any way and I asked the EMT if the rangers could take me back to the cabin where my friends were so that one of them could get me to a hospital for an X-Ray and he told me no. I was eventually billed $515 for the EMS ride and an ice pack on the way.
When we arrived at the hospital is when the real fun started. I got there around 8:00 P.M. and the room they were putting me in was not ready for me yet (another patient was leaving but not gone yet and then it had to be cleaned quickly). While waiting in the hallway, the registration clerk came back and took my insurance card and information.
In the room, a nurse held up my bad leg while I shifted myself off of the EMS stretcher and into the hospital bed. Everyone then left and a few minutes later a nurse brought me a Gatorade.
20 or 30 minutes after that, my friends arrived and it was almost another 30 minutes before a doctor came in and spoke to me. The initial consult was brief at best, it lasted about 1 minute. She poked my foot and ankle in a few places and asked what X-Ray had said. I told her I had not had an X-Ray yet and she said "okay, let's get you to X-Ray" another 30-40 minutes went by and the nurse came in and took me to X-Ray.
I was in X-Ray for 15 minutes and had 3 or 4 shots of my leg taken before the X-Ray tech brought me back to the emergency room.
Another 40 minutes went by and the doctor came back in and told me that my ankle was not broken. She gave me a prescription for pain killers and said that I would have to wear a splint on my ankle. I asked how long I should wear the splint (first sprained ankle) and she looked and sounded very annoyed but told me to keep it on until it didn't hurt anymore.
20 minutes later, the nurse returned and put a cheap plastic splint on my ankle and brought in a wheel chair to discharge me. He didn't help me get into the chair despite the obvious fact that I could not put weight on my left foot without a significant amount of pain. He wheeled me to the ER entrance and left me there with one of my friends until the other 2 drove up. At that point I had to lean on my friends to get to the car. This was a bit tricky because I weigh 260 pounds and the largest of my friends is probably around 160.
10 days later, I get a "this is not a bill" statement in the mail for $916. The breakdown was that $392 was for the X-Rays and $514 was for emergency room. I immediately contacted the billing department and no one has been able to tell me what the $514 charge is actually for. All they have said is that they bill based on trauma level and mine was a level 3 which is $514.
I have a high deductible insurance plan and have not met my deductible yet so I am responsible for the entire amount. My insurance was able to get an in network discount of $112 so now I only owe $804 but it still seems fairly high.
They have forwarded my complaint to the ER manager but have said that it can take up to 3 weeks to get a response.
This morning I learned that another $390 charge was sent to my insurance company. Ever the optimist, I assumed they had reviewed my case and adjusted my bill accordingly. It turns out that the ER doctors bill separately. So now I owe $1194 for a handful of X-Rays and a splint and another $515 for an ambulance ride that I did not need or want and requested to opt out of.
What are my options here? Am I hosed or can I fight this somehow? Was the hospital negligent at all in basically ignoring me for 3 hours and not assisting me as needed when I needed help getting out of bed or to the car? Was I required to take the EMS ride or did I have the right to opt out?
