A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills

Greenbeard · Jan 7, 2019

Today Vox continues its year-long dive into hospitals' ER billing practices with a doozy.

A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills

On April 3, Nina Dang, 24, found herself in a position like so many San Francisco bike riders — on the pavement with a broken arm.

A bystander saw her fall and called an ambulance. She was semi-lucid for that ride, awake but unable to answer basic questions about where she lived. Paramedics took her to the emergency room at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where doctors X-rayed her arm and took a CT scan of her brain and spine. She left with her arm in a splint, on pain medication, and with a recommendation to follow up with an orthopedist.

A few months later, Dang got a bill for $24,074.50. Premera Blue Cross, her health insurer, would only cover $3,830.79 of that — an amount that it thought was fair for the services provided. That left Dang with $20,243.71 to pay, which the hospital threatened to send to collections in mid-December.

Zuckerberg San Francisco General (ZSFG), recently renamed for the Facebook founder after he donated $75 million, is the largest public hospital in San Francisco and the city’s only top-tier trauma center. But it doesn’t participate in the networks of any private health insurers — a surprise patients like Dang learn after assuming their coverage includes a trip to a large public ER.

Most big hospital ERs negotiate prices for care with major health insurance providers and are considered “in-network.” Zuckerberg San Francisco General has not done that bargaining with private plans, making them “out-of-network.” That leaves many insured patients footing big bills.

A spokesperson for the hospital confirmed that ZSFG does not accept any private health insurance, describing this as a normal billing practice. He said the hospital’s focus is on serving those with public health coverage — even if that means offsetting those costs with high bills for the privately insured. . .

But most medical billing experts say it is rare for major emergency rooms to be out-of-network with all private health plans.

An ER that's out-of-network for everybody with private insurance is really something.

ttwtt78640 · Jan 7, 2019

Greenbeard said:
Today Vox continues its year-long dive into hospitals' ER billing practices with a doozy.

A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills

An ER that's out-of-network for everybody with private insurance is really something.

Imagine that - a public, non-profit, teaching hospital screwing over the public that have 'private' medical care insurance.

The hospital is a safety net hospital additionally serving poor, elderly people, uninsured working families, and immigrants. About 80 percent of its patient population either receives publicly funded health insurance (Medicare or Medi-Cal) or is uninsured. SFGH also cares for the homeless, who make up about 8 percent of its patients.[5][better source needed] SFGH is rare in that its emergency rooms does not have agreements in place with private health care insurance providers, which means that many patients who have private insurance insured can end up with sizable bills which their insurance will not cover. A Vox analysis of health care billing practices (derived from a database of more than a thousand emergency room bills) characterized SFGH's billing practices as "aggressive" and "surprising".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_General_Hospital

Jetboogieman · Jan 7, 2019

That’s just called “freedom” or something and if you don’t like it, move to Venezesweden.

Hawkeye10 · Jan 7, 2019

Greenbeard said:
Today Vox continues its year-long dive into hospitals' ER billing practices with a doozy.

A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills

An ER that's out-of-network for everybody with private insurance is really something.

Really something bad.

Kobie · Jan 7, 2019

Hawkeye10 said:
Really something bad.

Piping hot take

Checkerboard Strangler · Jan 7, 2019

There's a word for that something but it won't get past DP :censored :censored :censored

Jetboogieman · Jan 7, 2019

Hawkeye10 said:
Really something bad.

That’s all your

“lifetime of pretty decent education and an amazing curiosity and tenacity”

could muster as a Response?

Doesn’t the truth teller tribe zen rebellion have something more substantive to say on the issue?

Perhaps you used to be better.

Threegoofs · Jan 7, 2019

Greenbeard said:
Today Vox continues its year-long dive into hospitals' ER billing practices with a doozy.

A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills

An ER that's out-of-network for everybody with private insurance is really something.

Greatest healthcare system in the world.

Amirite?!?

ttwtt78640 · Jan 7, 2019

Jetboogieman said:
That’s just called “freedom” or something and if you don’t like it, move to Venezesweden.

Actually, that is called a public policy. This is not a private, for profit hospital.

Jetboogieman · Jan 7, 2019

ttwtt78640 said:
Actually, that is called a public policy. This is not a private, for profit hospital.

Sorry, true but I think the patchwork and complexity of the American system leads to these outcomes.

ttwtt78640 · Jan 7, 2019

Threegoofs said:
Greatest healthcare system in the world.

Amirite?!?

You do realize that you are talking about the pricing policy of a public, non-profit, teaching hospital in the bright blue land of unicorns and rainbows. This is not some private, for profit hospital run by evil capitalists. Note that if this patient was under Medi-Cal then the billing amount would have been "adjusted".

ttwtt78640 · Jan 7, 2019

Jetboogieman said:
Sorry, true but I think the patchwork and complexity of the American system leads to these outcomes.

Partly, if you can only charge $4K for treatments costing you $5K to provide for 80% of your (publicly insured) patients, then you must charge the other 20% of your (non-publicly insured) patients far more ($20K?) to try to make ends meet. What is not the least bit complex is that discounts for some (most?) getting care have to be offset be overcharging others for their care. See post #2.

apdst · Jan 7, 2019

Jetboogieman said:
That’s just called “freedom” or something and if you don’t like it, move to Venezesweden.

It's a ****ing government hospital, dude. :lamo

It's organized to serve poor people. That's literally it's mission!

Holy ****! :lamo

Bring on the ****ing socialism! LMAO!!

apdst · Jan 7, 2019

Threegoofs said:
Greatest healthcare system in the world.

Amirite?!?

How's government operated healthcare working for the patients at Zuckerburg General?

SDET · Jan 7, 2019

Greenbeard said:
Today Vox continues its year-long dive into hospitals' ER billing practices with a doozy.

A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills

An ER that's out-of-network for everybody with private insurance is really something.

Easy solution: Just don't pay the bill.

Threegoofs · Jan 7, 2019

ttwtt78640 said:
You do realize that you are talking about the pricing policy of a public, non-profit, teaching hospital in the bright blue land of unicorns and rainbows. This is not some private, for profit hospital run by evil capitalists. Note that if this patient was under Medi-Cal then the billing amount would have been "adjusted".

So you’re saying we don’t have the greatest healthcare system in the world?

ttwtt78640 · Jan 7, 2019

Threegoofs said:
So you’re saying we don’t have the greatest healthcare system in the world?

Certainly not at the hospital being discussed in this thread. This pubic hospital adjusts its care price based on who the payer is.

ttwtt78640 · Jan 7, 2019

SDET said:
Easy solution: Just don't pay the bill.

Slight complication - doing so can ruin one's credit rating.

Threegoofs · Jan 7, 2019

ttwtt78640 said:
Certainly not at the hospital being discussed in this thread. This pubic hospital adjusts its care price based on who the payer is.

Pubic hospitals are not the kind that have Trauma centers- I’m pretty sure they’re mostly in Brazil, anyway.

But the hospital she was sent to was not her choice, which is a weird thing to happen if you live in a country with the greatest healthcare system in the world, dontcha think?

ttwtt78640 · Jan 7, 2019

apdst said:
How's government operated healthcare working for the patients at Zuckerburg General?

Fine if you have government provided (taxpayer subsidized) insurance.

apdst · Jan 7, 2019

ttwtt78640 said:
Fine if you have government provided (taxpayer subsidized) insurance.

Otherwise, there's a good chance you're SOL.

ttwtt78640 · Jan 7, 2019

Threegoofs said:
Pubic hospitals are not the kind that have Trauma centers- I’m pretty sure they’re mostly in Brazil, anyway.

But the hospital she was sent to was not her choice, which is a weird thing to happen if you live in a country with the greatest healthcare system in the world, dontcha think?

Are you kidding me?

Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH) is a public hospital in San Francisco, California under the purview of the city's Department of Public Health. It serves as the only Level I Trauma Center for the 1.5 million residents of San Francisco and northern San Mateo County.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_General_Hospital

apdst · Jan 7, 2019

Threegoofs said:
So you’re saying we don’t have the greatest healthcare system in the world?

Not when the government gets involved.

apdst · Jan 7, 2019

Threegoofs said:
Pubic hospitals are not the kind that have Trauma centers- I’m pretty sure they’re mostly in Brazil, anyway.

But the hospital she was sent to was not her choice, which is a weird thing to happen if you live in a country with the greatest healthcare system in the world, dontcha think?

Louisiana's charity hospitals have some of the best trauma care in the country.

ttwtt78640 · Jan 7, 2019

apdst said:
Otherwise, there's a good chance you're SOL.

Not if you don't care about having a decent credit rating.

A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills

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