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Patients Pay Before Seeing Doctor as Deductibles Spread
By Stephanie Armour – Oct 14, 2013 12:00 AM ET
When Barbara Retkowski went to a Cape Coral, Florida, health clinic in August to treat a blood condition, she figured the center would bill her insurance company. Instead, it demanded payment upfront.
Earlier in the year, another clinic insisted she pay her entire remaining insurance deductible for the year — more than $1,000 — before the doctor would even see her.
“I was surprised and frustrated,” Retkowski, a 59-year-old retiree, said in an interview. “I had to pull money out of my savings.”
The practice of upfront payment for non-emergency care has been spreading in the U.S. as deductibles rise. Now, the advent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is likely to accelerate that trend.
Many of the plans offered through the law’s insurance exchanges have low initial premiums to attract customers, while carrying significant deductibles and other out-of-pocket cost sharing. The second-lowest tier of Obamacare plans in California, for example, carries a $2,000 annual deductible.
Hospitals say they need to charge patients prior to treatment because Americans are increasingly on the hook for more of their own medical costs. And once care is provided, it’s often difficult for hospitals to collect.
that happen to me when i took my son to valley in the sumer time to remove a tick. they told me that i need to give them $25.oo for the copay before the doc comes to see him. I told them to get the doctor in now and take care of my kid, if not I’m calling ch12 news . well the doc came in and took care of my boy. and then i told them to bill me.
and when i got to the door i told them piss up a door and screw obama up the hiney.
You should have called CH12 news. They would have told you to piss up a door.