My insurance didn’t cover an emergency visit here for a kidney stone so it was $5200. I didn’t have that much money because I was in school, so I got on a payment plan. Then, I applied for financial assistance and did not hear back for 2 months (from the end of April to July). In June, I got a notice saying if I did not pay, my account would be referred to collections so I payed the amount under my payment plan. I tried calling every week for a month and left 2 voicemails but I did not hear back. 10 days later I got a call from a billing agency saying the hospital had sent me my third notice and my account was going to collections. I said I only got 1 notice and I had a payment plan, and I hadn’t heard back about my financial assistance I applied for months ago. The lady from the billing agency said there was no record of a payment plan and despite me only getting 1 notice, she said it was the third one. She told me to give the hospital a medicaid denial letter because that may be why I had not heard back. I gave the hospital the letter the next day, and I also called again to explain what was going on. The person said she would have to get back to me which she did not. Instead I called back again and they told me they would process my application in a few days (this was in June after it was first submitted in April). After everything, the application was denied and a lady told me that because I did not pay for 2 months + the 2 months I was waiting to hear back, my account may still go to collections even if I keep making the payments (I started paying again after the first notice). I figured that was the end of it and all I could do was hope my credit wouldn't be ruined over a huge miscommunication and sad healthcare system, but then a lady called saying she saw my review and wanted to hear more about what happened to do an investigation. She was very polite and assured me that the hospital wanted to work with me to pay the bill and did not want me to feel like people couldn't come if they are sick because of the money. Overall I think the care here is good and I get that they can't help the bill. For months I had a horrible experience trying to get through to people ,and then getting through to people who had no idea of anything going on, and then getting through to other people who were totally unwilling to work with me, but in the end there are good people there. I really appreciate that someone took the time to call and see what was going on and assured me that they did want to work with me.
