Anesthesiologist out of network??

Huge problem... my hospital was in network, my surgeon (delivering my baby) was in network, and now I get slapped with a bill bc I'm being told that my anesthesiologist was out of network?? I have GHI and they said they wont appeal it so now Im stuck with this enormous bill! I dont know what to do... I am seriously having a panic attack Has anyone gone through this? I keep saying "there must be something u can do".... I just cant believe this

Re: Anesthesiologist out of network??

Ughhh I have no advice, but I had the same thing happen to me!! It makes me sooo angry! It's completely unfair, and stupid!! I was in the process of appealing, but so far it hasn't worked! I keep getting bills. My next step is to call them and ask them to re bill the insurance under a different anesthesiologist that's in my plan. Maybe try that? Mine has been going on for a year!

Anesthesiologist out of network??

Fight it. You have no choice for them. Usually they take what your insurance will pay.

Re: Anesthesiologist out of network??

Anesthesiologist out of network??

You cant oick and choose your anesthesiologist while in hospital ..they use who they have contracts with. Dont pay it & appeal. It happened 2x (St. Charles & Good Sam). Insurance ended up paying.

Anesthesiologist out of network??

My sister had the same issue. She fought it tooth and nail and they settled with her for 20% of it, same happened to me with my HSG, and I gave her this advice:
I put it in writing that I would not be responsible for charges that I was not informed about before my procedure, and since the hospital takes my ins, they are legally responsible for informing the patient that their Dr. does not accept the insurance, not the other way around. I also strongly stated that I was under financial duress and was not able (nor willing) to pay for services outside my initial and understood budget.
I got the letter notarized.

Message edited 12/3/2013 8:52:51 PM.

Anesthesiologist out of network??

I had the same issue with GHI. my DD was in NICU and I got a bill for 17,000 saying that the NICU dr was out of network. I wrote to appeals saying I was never informed, and never had a choice, etc... I ended up just paying the hospital copay

Re: Anesthesiologist out of network??

Thank u all for ur advice. I am def going to try to appeal it with GHI, eventho they told me it won't work. The anesthesiologist was out of network when my LO was born and then became in network a week later!!! GHI said "sorry there's nothing we can do" and the anesthesiologist want me to pay over $5k that's left on the balance... Insane! How can they do this to people!? I am swamped with bills and now this is going to be hanging over my head

Anesthesiologist out of network??

Appeal it for as long as it takes. The hosp is supposed to provide you wuih someone in network and if they dont have someone they should inform you...

They will not bill the services under another provider as that id fraudalent. They can only bill for who provided the services.

Anesthesiologist out of network??

I had the same issue with GHI. The first time, I had it sent to collections and agreed to a lower rate. The second time, I worked out something with the anesthesiologist and negotiated a lower payment (I owed less than $1k though).

Re: Anesthesiologist out of network??

Most anesthesiologists are out of network - they don't take insurance. Fight it. They should settle for what you would pay for an in network doctor. This happened with my DH's surgeries too.

Re: Anesthesiologist out of network??

Re: Anesthesiologist out of network??

After I send the appeal to GHI and then get denied... How do I fight it after that? The anesthesiologist office keeps saying that I'm responsible.... I honestly don't know what to do... I'm at a loss for words. This is all one huge scam! The billing lady at the anesthesiologist office told me "if you want to file a hardship with us, u have to provide w2 statements, mortgage statements, bills, etc" .... Is that true? I don't feel comfortable doing that.

Anesthesiologist out of network??

From my experience, that doesn't sound right. Ask to speak to a manager at the anesthesiologist office.

Re: Anesthesiologist out of network??

Re: Anesthesiologist out of network??

That happened to me twice. The second time I spoke to the nurse before my C-section and told her that I would like a dr. in network b/c I was charged a huge amount o fmoney the last time. She said "don't worry. you don't have to pay it." sure enough, I get a bill. I called the hospital and told them what the nurse said and they said she shouldn't have told me that but they said they would speak to the insurance company. they did and I didn't have to pay. I think my insurance co. just changed their policy b/c my ds had surgery and the anesthesiologist was not in network, but insurance co said they now pay for anesthesiologist even if they are out of network.

Re: Anesthesiologist out of network??