A Florida woman tried to dispute an emergency room bill, but the hospital and collection agency refused to talk to her — because it was her child’s name on the bill, not hers.
Category: surprise bills
Surprise-Billing Law Loophole: When ‘Out of Network’ Doesn’t Quite Mean Out of Network
Billing experts and lawmakers are playing catch-up as providers find ways to get around new surprise-billing laws, leaving patients like Danielle Laskey of Washington state with big bills for emergency care.
Can They Freaking Do That?!? (2023 Update)
Can a medical provider you’ve never heard of send you an outrageous bill? Sure. Can you fight back and win? Yes, sometimes you can. Here’s how to do it.
Readers and Tweeters Diagnose Greed and Chronic Pain Within US Health Care System
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
KHN-NPR’s ‘Bill of the Month’ at 5: A Treasury of Solutions for Confounding Medical Bills
Readers and listeners shared more than 1,000 personal stories of medical billing problems with KHN-NPR’s “Bill of the Month” investigative series this year, helping us illuminate the financial decisions patients are pressed to make in their most vulnerable moments.
This Open Enrollment Season, Look Out for Health Insurance That Seems Too Good to Be True
Complaints about misleading health insurance marketing are soaring. State insurance commissioners are taking notice. They’ve created a shared internal database to monitor questionable business practices, and, in the future, they hope to provide a public-facing resource for consumers. In the meantime, consumers should shop wisely as open enrollment season begins.
Readers Boo Medical Debt and Viral Threats in Winning Halloween Haikus
We unmask the winner and runners-up in KHN’s fourth annual Halloween haiku competition — plus the original artwork they inspired as a special treat.
A Billing Expert Saved Big After Finding an Incorrect Charge in Her Husband’s ER Bill
A medical billing specialist investigated her husband’s ER bill. Her sleuthing took over a year but knocked thousands of dollars off the hospital’s charges — and provides a playbook for other consumers.
Turned Away From Urgent Care — And Toward a Big ER Bill
Russell Cook was expecting a quick and inexpensive visit to an urgent care center for his daughter, Frankie, after she had a car wreck. Instead, they were advised to go to an emergency room and got a much larger bill.
Watch: How Nursing Homes Put Friends and Families on the Hook for Residents’ Debts
In pursuit of unpaid bills, nursing homes across Rochester, New York, have been suing relatives and friends of their residents. This CBS News report, done in partnership with a KHN-NPR investigation, takes a look at the practice and tells the stories of some of the people affected.
