Looks like my CT Scan shows:

ABD W\P CONTR.
PELVIS W\O

Sounds to me like two scans of the same area just billed separately so it doesn't look like two of the same thing...

Can any doctor types let me know if they are essentially the same area just worded differently?

From my google search a Pelvic scan is used to find kidney stones and so is an abdominal scan.... so it sounds like two words to check the same region to me?

Abdomen/Pelvis scans are frequently ordered together, although they are different scans. Now it is possible that the Dr. ordered only one of the scans, and the techs assumed that the Doc wanted both, but I would guess both were probably ordered. You would have to ask your Doc to check the chart.

Greg

Well they won't work with me on the 3500$ They want that 100% by the 15th if not Iowe 8800$. I offered to pay a chunk of 3500 and the rest monthly... nope none of that.

She was fine having me pay $50/mo as long as it went toward the $8800....

She was also fine telling me to "just use" a CC.

GRRRRRR. And here I thought I was putting together a nice cushion

What to do.

Many errors creep into hospital billing, it's not right, but it's rarely malicious. Get an itemized copy of your bill and a copy of your medical records.Find someone who reads "medical" (EMT,Paramedic,LPN,RN,PA,NP,Doc, etc.)and ask them to review the record compared to the bill. If necessary pay someone to do this , you will likely come out ahead. A 50% reduction for cash is typical due to the "game" of billed charges vs. negotiated payments that insurers cause to occur. After you have the above info, schedule an appointment with whoever is in charge of billing/collections at your hospital to discuss payment. Don't talk to the tech at the window, they likely have NO ability to negotiate anything binding. If you run into resistance here, contact the Customer Service Rep (or whatever your hospital calls them)orgo directly to the Administrator or whatever your hospital calls them - titles at hospitals have gotten confusing and ridiculous anymore). When the deal is done, GET IT IN WRITING. Also when you have reviewed your chart & charges, especially if you find significant errors, talk to your Doc - He/She can be your best resource and ally. Most Docs are not enamored with most hospital administrations, especially when it comes to how they deal with patients.

That W\P should have been W\O typo

I got my itemized bill.

And it's enough English I can read it and they did everything mentioned.

Just checked the bill on a recent lab test I had done. They checked blood and urine; all typical tests, nothing exotic. Lab billed $728.00; insurance paid (and they accepted) $84.03, or about 11.5% of what they billed.

I can't comment on this fact. I'm too stunned.

Exactly.

It's ridiculous that insurance can pay so little but average joe with no insurance out of pocket... make him pay 50 to 100% of their "amount" that they pull out of their rear-end.

Next up for me is to deal with the ambulance.
They are billing $1800 and refused to give me any pain medication because they told me "The doctor must know where it hurts"... now I have proof of 3 pushes of extremely strong pain medication to show how much pain I was in. They refused to help me though and made me SUFFER SEVERELY. Hell, I had to wait 1 hour for ambulance to get there, and then they also pulled over to let people pass on the ride down. So the 45 minute ride turned into an hour + to the hospital.

Y'know, having worked CA EMS for years... you live in the mountains of California. Remember? I'm assuming you had to come down the hill to get to the hospital?

Remember that law about having to pull over if there's more than 5 cars behind you on those mountain roads? Ambulances aren't exempt from laws. Especially when driving without lights/siren. which I'm assuming they did, for 2 reasons: they didn't think you were critical (thus the risk of driving that way is higher than the benefit) and a slower ride tends to be a bit more comfortable (but, yeah, it's always bumpy in the back. Trust me). So their driving, as much as it probably sucks for you, does make sense to me.

Pain meds? Might either be: 1) basic EMTs, and don't carry any, 2) protocols won't let them give it without base hospital permission which they didn't get, or 3) they're sadistic bastards. I'm sure you prefer option 3 to be the case, but see if you can't find out which it is - there might be a reason. And sometimes the EMS crew is stuck explaining base hospital's wacky thought process to the patient.

As for the bill, I think the base rate on a basic ambulance in CA is something around $450, paramedic ambulance $550. The mileage they can charge for, equipment (oxygen cannulas, sheets, basically everything they have to throw away).

To get on my soapbox, I think it's utterly absurd that you pay insurance companies out the nose to cover you, then they end up paying only a percentage of the bill and stick you with the rest. Really? doesnt' that totally contradict all those contracts and the POINT of insurance? How much do people blow over months or years that never gets used, they never getting the coverage they expect??? health care is the ONLY field in America where you can get treatment and get away without paying the bill. Seriously - try getting your brakes changed and telling the guy after he finishes that you'll only pay $50, and see what happens. Or walk out of a jewelry store paying 15% of the total cost. It's absolutely absurd.

As per some other comment, absolutely doctors have to practice litigation-mediated medicine. You think most of them know that they don't need blood work, or a CT? But if you don't do it and get sued, well, "everyone" does it, so you're breaching standard of care. And patients get mad if every last thing isnt' done for them. God forbid they go to the ER, wait 8 hours, get one lab drawn, and get told: You have mono. Go home, take some Tylenol, drink lots of fluids. You'll get over it in a couple weeks. The exorbiant costs of health care can probably be traced to 3 reasons: 1) non-payment by consumers, 2) litigation or the threat thereof (I mean, the hospital has to keep lawyers around), and 3) the patients DEMAND high levels of care adn fancy testing. Then don't pay... leading back to number 1... and number 2 when you get down to it.

Off soapbox.

Oh, Todd, I am sorry it took so long to get you to the hospital. But it is a JOB, and there are methods to their madness, and they're hamstrung by buracracy just like the rest of the US.

<tangent alert>

I was put in a knee brace by my GP. I was told that if insurance did not pay that I would have to. (Obviously)

I got home and googled the brace. The first couple of places that looked like decent ecommerce sites had the brace listed for just under $200 shipped. The GP billed $459 which was the MSRP of the brace from the manufacturer. My insurance paid $456!

Of course I've seen it the other way too. My DD had >$1300 in labs done years ago and insurance paid (and the doctor accepted as payment in full) less than $200. If I hadn't had insurance I wonder if they would have settled for cash @ 50 cents on the dollar. I doubt it.

</tangent>