A dad's COVID-19 and a mom's fainting spell cost thousands, so when their son dislocated his shoulder, they drove him to Mexicali, where facilities rival those in the U.S., and had him treated for $5.
A family received a $4,928 bill that was settled with the health system 18 months earlier, resurrecting painful memories. Hospital billing experts say this distressing scenario occurs frequently.
To realign the man's jaw and ease his chronic pain and high blood pressure, he would need two operations, the surgeon said. Both procedures went well, but the patient was shocked by the second bill.
As Community Health Systems has downsized, what remain are like zombie hospitals – little more than legal entities still taking patients to court even though the new owners don't sue.
ER doctors wanted to hospitalize the young man to help ease his withdrawal from opioid dependence. But he declined because he couldn't afford it. His mom says no one told him he had financial options.
The University of Miami Health System charged truck driver José Mendoza six times what Medicare would pay for an overnight test. He got trapped by his high-deductible health plan and sky-high billing.
The huge spending bill Congress passed last month included aid to rural hospitals, training for new doctors, new rules regarding mental health coverage and requirements for billing transparency.
Lou Gehrig's disease can take months to diagnose, then rapidly incapacitate patients, leaving many families bankrupt before disability payments and Medicare kick in. A recent law aims to change that.
It was a surprise even for a family of lawyers. A process called "subrogation" began with a Nevada family's health insurer denying their claim for an ER visit after their 9-year-old fell off his bike.
When the hospital tried to bill her for more than what she'd been quoted, Tiffany Qiu refused to pay the extra amount and the bill went to collections. She still didn't back down.
The CARES Act provides funds to pay medical bills for uninsured COVID-19 patients. But a young man's death in Nashville, Tenn., shows people often don't know about the program until it's too late.
A cook at a senior center, Matthew Fentress is one of millions of Americans whose skimpy health insurance plans leave them vulnerable to huge out-of-pocket costs when they get sick.
