Woman With Heart Condition Gets $67,747 Medical Helicopter Transport Bill
When a Brooklyn woman with a heart condition was on vacation in the Poconos over the summer, she had an episode and had to be taken to the hospital. It was her heart doctor who asked for her to be transported to his hospital while she was sedated.
[su_center_ad]That’s when a medical helicopter came to pick her up to transport her to that hospital. Months later, she received a staggering bill for the helicopter services to the tune of $67,747.00.
NBC New York reports:
Months after her recovery, she got a nearly $67,000 bill for the medical helicopter transport she never authorized.
Lori Rozany had gone to visit a friend in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for a relaxing weekend in July 2013. She complained of what felt like indigestion the night she arrived and went to an emergency room the next morning. Rozany, who was born with a hole in her heart, said she couldn’t breathe. Medical records indicate she was experiencing tachycardia – or a rapid heart rate – when she was brought in.
Given her medical history, Rozany was especially concerned. She says she immediately gave the hospital staff the name and number of her cardiologist in New York. Medical records from the Pennsylvania hospital indicate Rozany was intubated and put on a ventilator.
Ms. Rozany recalls what she remembers from that day, “I remember being moved from one bed to the other side of the emergency room for a chest X-ray. And that’s all I remember.”
Abby Normal November 6th, 2014 at 9:24 am
I spent 2 nights in ICU. It was a precaution more than anything. A nurse came by 2 times a day to give me my regular medication (same medication I took at home). Other than that, they paid no attention to me because I felt fine. I walked down the hall to the restroom whenever I wanted to. $16,000 for those 2 nights. That doesn’t include tests and physician’s fees. Just the room.
mea_mark November 6th, 2014 at 9:36 am
Then we should start suing them for price gouging. After a few law suits maybe they will be to afraid of being sued to charge so much for so little.
red-diaper-baby 1942 November 6th, 2014 at 9:47 am
All this would probably accomplish would be to raise insurance premiums, and thus further inflate medical costs. The only real solution is a total revamping of the whole system, with universal single-payer coverage for all Americans.
Carla Akins November 6th, 2014 at 11:09 am
This was a coup[le of months ago, about a 2nd surgeon (out of network) in the OR that the patient was aware of. Eye opening. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/us/drive-by-doctoring-surprise-medical-bills.html?_r=0
Abby Normal November 6th, 2014 at 2:01 pm
Here’s another true one. My mom had dementia and I was her caregiver. One day she said she was seeing pink spots. I called our family opthalmologist for an appointment but was told she was on maternity leave. I set up an appointment with another local opthalmologist. He gave mom an exam and said the pink spots were “floaters” and assured me everything was fine. But he said she needed cataract surgery. I told him we were aware of the cataracts and that our family opthalmologist said there was no hurry and, as long as mom could see well enough to read, watch TV and go about her other activities, there was no need to rush it. I told him mom would be seen by our regular opthalmologist as soon as she returned from maternity leave, within 3 months, and we would discuss it with her. He finished mom’s exam. Later we got a bill for $900 for a refraction test. He claimed medicare and mom’s supplemental insurance company would not pay it (not true) and that we had to pay. He said the “special” refraction test was performed because mom agreed to have him perform the cataract surgery. She didn’t – I was in the room the whole time. He threatened to sue us. Aetna insurance sided with us and sent investigators to his office. Mom saw our own opthalmologist three months later and she just shook her head in disgust when we told her about the other opthalmologist. It took more than a year to get that guy off our case. We probably got a dozen threatening letters before it was over. And that was just for an eye exam. Sadly, there are dishonest doctors out there.
Carla Akins November 6th, 2014 at 3:36 pm
That is awful.
Dwendt44 November 6th, 2014 at 11:23 am
I’m on Medicare now and those bills are amazing due to how little that Medicare pays. Less than half in most all cases. Less than a quarter in some, and about 10-15% in others.
red-diaper-baby 1942 November 6th, 2014 at 9:33 am
Every so often, I’m reminded how fortunate I am to be living in a Scandinavian welfare state, where we have universal coverage for all medical care. Sometimes there are nominal charges, usually nothing at all. The care, in my experience (at 72) is excellent. This is the norm in almost every prosperous western nation. WHEN will Americans achieve this basic human right? Or do you insist on your inalienable, god-given right to lose everything — your money, your job, your home — when you get sick?
Maxx44 November 6th, 2014 at 9:39 am
The ACA is a baby step in the right direction, but you have to understand that the Republican party does not see health care as a basic human right. It is a govt. boondoggle that kills jobs and just encourages people to suck on the govt. teat. Of course, their position is pure BS but it’s what we have to live with as long as single issue voters and the knuckle draggers keep voting for the likes of McConnell and Boehner.
red-diaper-baby 1942 November 6th, 2014 at 9:45 am
Many analysts here in Europe are saying that the main reason for the GOP victory this time was the poor turnout: Democrats, progressives, minorities and the young simply didn’t bother to vote. If this is indeed the case, it’s truly sad. Nothing will happen until progressives decide to MAKE it happen. In 2008, I thought Obama’s victory would bring real change, but the Republican obstruction was too great — and perhaps he was unwilling to get his hands dirty getting down in the mud with them. (If so, I certainly sympathize — I would find it very distasteful too.)
Abby Normal November 6th, 2014 at 9:42 am
We have too many knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing, anti-science people called Republicans who will never let it happen. They have no compassion because they have reptilian brains. A turtle was just elected Senate Majority Leader.
searambler November 6th, 2014 at 9:41 am
Americans are too stupid to fight for single payer universal healthcare. Stupid, and powerless in the face of the big money forces behind keeping health care private. In America, healthcare is a privilege, not a right.
mea_mark November 6th, 2014 at 9:43 am
I don’t think were stupid, I just think it is going to be a long uphill battle.
Larry Schmitt November 6th, 2014 at 9:49 am
These horror stories are meaningless. The medical bills we get from the hospital never bear any relationship to reality, or to what is actually paid. Insurance companies always pay a small percentage of the bill. Even without insurance, the provider always settles for a much smaller amount. I was in the hospital for a week a few years ago, and the total bill was over $15,000. The insurance paid about $1,700. The reason the initial bill is so high is that they are trying to make up for the indigent people who pay nothing. Assuming this woman had insurance, she probably paid a small co-pay.
Abby Normal November 6th, 2014 at 9:55 am
I’m glad you didn’t have a horror story. I did and it’s not meaningless. I’m insured. The insurance companies paid a portion of my doctor and hospital bills but not all. The doctors and hospital demanded full payment – they’re businesses, not community hospitals. The portion I ended up paying was huge. To you, it’s a meaningless horror story. To me, it was one huge expense that took years to pay off and if I hadn’t paid it off they would have been only too happy to take my house.
Larry Schmitt November 6th, 2014 at 10:04 am
That’s normally not the way it happens, even at for profit hospitals. I didn’t mean to minimize your experience. My hospital was for profit also.
Abby Normal November 6th, 2014 at 10:19 am
Here’s a true story. A 14 year-old girl was dying of liver failure and needed a liver transplant. Her parents, both well-paid professional people, were fully insured. Their insurance company decided that liver transplants were “experimental” and refused to pay. The girl’s doctors and nurses pleaded with the insurance company. They wouldn’t budge. The girl died.
The US has world-class universities, medical schools, hospitals, research centers, doctors and nurses. Sadly, this world-class healthcare is not available to everyone. The GOP has determined that healthcare is a privilege and not a right and I don’t expect to see that change in my lifetime.
starskeptic November 6th, 2014 at 11:26 am
‘True stories’ are better with links to originals – more often than not, there’s more to it.
Abby Normal November 6th, 2014 at 1:50 pm
This is a true story with many sources you can check out. The girl’s name was Nataline Sarkisyan. You can Google her name and find multiple sources. Here’s a NY Times article about her case.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/health/views/06chen.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
tracey marie November 6th, 2014 at 1:45 pm
in Alabama it is a RIGHT to own a gun…go figure
Abby Normal November 6th, 2014 at 10:44 am
Here’s something else to consider. Hospitals will often negotiate with insurance companies but they will not negotiate with individuals. There are thousands, perhaps millions, of hard-working, successful people who have been denied health insurance due to pre-existing conditions (congenital heart disease, and so on). These people work hard, are well-paid, put money away and live the American dream. Until a medical emergency. If they’re hit with a $16,000 2-day ICU stay (or worse), the hospital will demand full payment. I don’t know why they negotiate with insurance companies but not individuals. Also, let’s say you spend 3 days in ICU and the cardiologist says you need a valve replacement or other open-heart surgery. You’re not going to get it regardless of how hard-working and successful you are if you have pre-existing conditions that make it impossible for you to buy health insurance. Hopefully President Obama’s ACA will put an end to this scenario. But if the GOP takes the White House and retains both houses of Congress in 2016, all bets are off.
red-diaper-baby 1942 November 6th, 2014 at 12:17 pm
“But if the GOP takes the White House and retains both houses of Congress in 2016, all bets are off.”
Now THERE’S a horror story.
tracey marie November 6th, 2014 at 1:44 pm
everyone has insurance or at least should have.
searambler November 6th, 2014 at 11:17 pm
Umm, sorry, nope. You’re incorrect.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100840148
eyelashviper November 6th, 2014 at 12:17 pm
Just saw something on TV recently, where medical horror stories were being discussed (the economic aspect), and a person who had undergone planned surgery was charged $175,000 by a surgeon assisting his practitioner. He had never been informed of this, and the surgery was not even something major. I just had to wonder how any surgeon could charge such a fee, ever…..our “health” care system is horrid, unless you are a billionaire.
tracey marie November 6th, 2014 at 1:44 pm
When I had back surgery, lower spine a cardiologist was present and he charged 80,000 to witness and be on hand in case my surgeon nicked the femeral artery.
eyelashviper November 6th, 2014 at 2:50 pm
That should be a crime….unbelievable.
tracey marie November 6th, 2014 at 3:20 pm
I contested it, the bill was accidentaly sent to me. I called my insurance and complained. I lost a very good sugeon that day but I kept my integrity
Denise November 6th, 2014 at 1:45 pm
if the heart ailment doesn’t kill her, the bill should have. I would send the bill to the doctor