Medical bills pile up for coronavirus treatment. ‘I was trying to do the right thing.’
Many people are being met with surprise bills from coronavirus treatment that cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, as patients battle with their insurers.
“I could have chosen not to do all this, and put countless others at risk,” said Andrew Cencini, who told Kaiser Health News he was tested for COVID-19 in a New York emergency room. “But I was trying to do the right thing.”
Cencini, despite being insured, still had to pay $2,000 and he told Kaiser Health News he was afraid there would be more bills.
His story mirrors others, including New York resident Christopher Hoffman, who had many coronavirus symptoms but was not officially diagnosed with the disease, he told NBC News.
Hoffman was put on an IV and diagnosed with pneumonia, though he was certain it was COVID-19, according to NBC News. He is now forced to “duke it out” with his insurance company after receiving an out-of-pocket bill for $3,800, the TV network reported.
Inpatient admissions for coronavirus treatment could cost more than $20,000, according to HealthSystemTracker.org, which looked at hospital costs for pneumonia admissions to determine its figures. Out-of-pocket spending costs could exceed $1,300, the organization said.
Bills for those on ventilators could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars to insurers, Janine Logan with the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council told Newsday.com.
People who go to hospitals within their provider’s network could still see a provider who is not covered under their plan, Matthew Rae, associate director of the Healthcare Marketplace Project at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told Yahoo Money.
“When you get a balance bill, it’s typically a much higher cost,” Rae said. “And these bills can be very expensive for people and importantly, these are financial protections that are baked into your insurance plan. So out-of-pocket maximums don’t apply to spending.”
Those with coronavirus symptoms who do not feel they need to go to an emergency room can use a telehealth or 24-hour nurse hotline program, Kim Buckey of DirectPath told CNBC. DirectPath is an organization that helps employees reduce health care costs. Telehealth services cost around $43, according to FAIR Health.
“These may save you a trip to the doctor’s office entirely, and at the very least will cost less than a trip to the ER,” Buckey told CNBC.
Other ways to reduce costs for coronavirus treatment include finding out if your insurer is waving out-of-pocket costs aside from testing, signing up for Medicare if you are older than 65 years old and fighting “surprise medical bills,” according to U.S. News and World Report.
“If you get a bill that you think insurance should have paid, call the insurance company,” Karen Pollitz with Kaiser Family Foundation told U.S. News. “You have appeal rights.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 9:04 AM.