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[Cheerful_Lender]

Thanks Trav, you're always a fountain of good info

Atleast this $70 DQ shouldn't hurt my 825 FICO too much should it ever show up as a negative.  But 7 years (5 still to come)... sheesh.  I'm hoping they forget about it eventually and give up their collection efforts which have probably cost them over $70 in supplies/labor by now anyways.

[otacon]

My two stories:

1.) My wife had a seizure while on a school field trip (exciting for the kids!).  The ambulance that took her to the hospital apparently never got her insurance info.  I got to the hospital before she had been checked in (to my surprise, I wasn't driving THAT fast  ), and actually talked to the ambulance crew.  They never asked me either. 

Time passes.  We get a bill about 6 months later, then very shortly after, a letter from a collection agency.  Talk to my insurance, they never filed.  Turns out they missed the "statute of limitations" on the bill, and were not allowed to bill me for it under the contract with the insurer.  Told the collection agency the bill wasn't valid, and never heard anything more.  No, there is no DQ on my credit report.

2.) Current issue.  Sent by orthopedist to pain management office of clinic for a spinal cortisone shot (sciatica).  Get notice (not yet bill) saying doctor not in network.  Since the entire clinic (Harvard Vanguard, aka Harvard Community Health Plan) except the mental health group is in network, it's hard to see how this can be.  Haven't started making calls yet, but now the holidays are over, it's time.

[xraider]

Otacon, How did you get to the ortho?  Likely the in-network ortho referred you there?  Likely pre-authorized, as well.  Feel free to PM me if you have trouble getting that claim paid. 

[China0813]

Well, I'll add my story too.  My son was born 8 weeks premature.  He was in the NICU 11 days, in the step-down unit for 3 days.  His only medical concern was jaundice, a very mild case of jaundice.  On Day 4, a nurse from our insurance company came to review his chart.  "When is he going home?"  she asked.  "I have no idea,"  I replied.  "Well, when is he being moved to a step-down unit?"  Again, I had no idea.  She was completely baffled that a healthy, no IV, no meds, eating on his own baby was in a NICU bed.   

It became clear to me that it was a battle between the hospital trying to overcharge and the insurance company trying to underpay.  NICU reimbursement rate is $$$$, but step-down units are only $$. 

Oh, and one funny (sort of) story.  One day my husband and I got to the step-down unit and there was, of course, yet another new nurse we'd never met before. 

"How do you pronounce his name? Opus?  Opoz?" she said.

"His name is Bob," we replied.  (This was also on a sign on his isolette.)

"No, no, no...here look at his chart...Opos?" she insisted.

"Uh...that's his blood type.  O Positive."

"Oh...ha ha ha...the previous nurse didn't report out to me so I didn't know.  Ha ha ha."

Yeah.  Ha ha ha.  Wonder how much the hospital was paid for her "nursing" care?

Julie

 

[Mtnchick]

Oh, and one funny (sort of) story.  One day my husband and I got to the step-down unit and there was, of course, yet another new nurse we'd never met before. 

"How do you pronounce his name? Opus?  Opoz?" she said.

"His name is Bob," we replied.  (This was also on a sign on his isolette.)

"No, no, no...here look at his chart...Opos?" she insisted.

"Uh...that's his blood type.  O Positive."

"Oh...ha ha ha...the previous nurse didn't report out to me so I didn't know.  Ha ha ha."

Yeah.  Ha ha ha.  Wonder how much the hospital was paid for her "nursing" care?

Julie

 

You owe me a keyboard.

[China0813]

Oh, and one funny (sort of) story.  One day my husband and I got to the step-down unit and there was, of course, yet another new nurse we'd never met before. 

"How do you pronounce his name? Opus?  Opoz?" she said.

"His name is Bob," we replied.  (This was also on a sign on his isolette.)

"No, no, no...here look at his chart...Opos?" she insisted.

"Uh...that's his blood type.  O Positive."

"Oh...ha ha ha...the previous nurse didn't report out to me so I didn't know.  Ha ha ha."

Yeah.  Ha ha ha.  Wonder how much the hospital was paid for her "nursing" care?

Julie

 

You owe me a keyboard.

What did they call you during your hospital stay?  Aneg?

Julie

[Mtnchick]

Oh, and one funny (sort of) story.  One day my husband and I got to the step-down unit and there was, of course, yet another new nurse we'd never met before. 

"How do you pronounce his name? Opus?  Opoz?" she said.

"His name is Bob," we replied.  (This was also on a sign on his isolette.)

"No, no, no...here look at his chart...Opos?" she insisted.

"Uh...that's his blood type.  O Positive."

"Oh...ha ha ha...the previous nurse didn't report out to me so I didn't know.  Ha ha ha."

Yeah.  Ha ha ha.  Wonder how much the hospital was paid for her "nursing" care?

Julie

 

You owe me a keyboard.

What did they call you during your hospital stay?  Aneg?

Julie

My parents are obviously a lot like you and your husband as far as picking out names - I am also Opoz

Reminds me of the joke where the family asked the old uncle to name their twins - one boy and one girl. He was a little unstable so the family was quite excited when he named the girl "Denise". Then he named the boy "Denephew"

[puckhead]

Oh, and one funny (sort of) story.  One day my husband and I got to the step-down unit and there was, of course, yet another new nurse we'd never met before. 

"How do you pronounce his name? Opus?  Opoz?" she said.

"His name is Bob," we replied.  (This was also on a sign on his isolette.)

"No, no, no...here look at his chart...Opos?" she insisted.

"Uh...that's his blood type.  O Positive."

"Oh...ha ha ha...the previous nurse didn't report out to me so I didn't know.  Ha ha ha."

Yeah.  Ha ha ha.  Wonder how much the hospital was paid for her "nursing" care?

Julie

 

You owe me a keyboard.

What did they call you during your hospital stay?  Aneg?

Julie

My parents are obviously a lot like you and your husband as far as picking out names - I am also Opoz

Reminds me of the joke where the family asked the old uncle to name their twins - one boy and one girl. He was a little unstable so the family was quite excited when he named the girl "Denise". Then he named the boy "Denephew"

I'm half pediatrician so I did some time in the NICU in residency.  Lots and lots of interesting names.  The one I'll never forget was a baby I was covering for so I had never met the mother previously.  The chart said the girls name was Dynasty.  I complimented the mother on the name, however, she quickly corrected me.  She said there had been a mistake when they made the name plates, it should be D-Y-Nasty.   True story.

[Cheerful_Lender]

In order to further hijack this thread:
While substitute teaching I had 2 brothers in my class (twins I assume) named Orangejello and Lemonjello.  Fortunately the pronunciation is not quite as I expected... and fortunately again, I asked for help pronouncing their names before taking a stab at it myself.

[China0813]

In the hospital all the doctors and nurses just loved Bob.  They though he was so hysterical!  And everyone thought his name was soooo funny!  A baby named Bob!  I think they'd all gotten used to such unusual names that a traditional name was hysterical.

Finally, after the 100th person had told me how funny the name "Bob" was I said:  "Well, we spell it with 2 "o"s."  <tick, tick, tick>   "Ha ha ha!!!!"  Yes, we were quite the entertainment in the NICU.

Julie

[MoneyDog]

There are some complex problem here.  In part, improved compensation would help.   Finding ways to reduce tuition would help, too.  I would actually argue compensation that more closely related to amount of training rather than specialty would help even more, but there is still a large discrepancy in how much physicians are trained vs amount payed compared to other fields.   

Reducing the insane cost of medical school would be a major part of the solution. If newly minted MDs don't have $200,000 loans to pay off, they can focus on providing medical care instead of getting out of the hole.

I got turned over to collections TWICE for medical bills that had been sent to the wrong address. I only realized it by checking my credit report. I paid the bills and the items were removed.

[misssalaska2000]

I have had 3 medical collections show up on my report... one was because the insurance reversed the charges (as someone else mentioned), and the other because I was in Antarctica, and the last because my insurance is refusing to pay it.  Argh.

My boyfriend is so paranoid about things showing up on his credit report, that he paid a $900 dental bill for an item insurance SHOULD have covered.  If we had been dating at that time, there's no way I would have let him do that.  It ended up he didn't even need the procedure!  Gah.

In the "bad names" thread of things, I know a guy whose last name is Bar--bich.  No hyphens, I just want to make sure you're reading it right... Yes, it's pronounced that way. Unfortunate.  Good thing he's a good sport about it.

[sreeb]

I had a quick ambulance trip to the ER a couple of years ago.  Somehow they got my PO box wrong.  My insurance paid and I received some of the bills but not others.  The ER/ambulance apparently made no attempt to correct the address and just turned it over to collections who contacted me 9 months later.  I had no clue that anything was wrong as I had paid plenty of bills.

Here in San Diego unpaid parking tickets also straight to your credit report as DQs.

[cubbiesnextyr]

My mom is a labor and delivery nurse, and she used to tell us about the silly names that people came up with.

A boy named Justin Time
A girl named Female (Fi ma lay)
The talked a foreign (India I believe) couple out of naming their little girl Vagina (spelled like the body part, pronounced like Va Gina)

[Cushie]

Okay, I'm breaking out my favorite link to add to this discussion.

www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com is a website where the owner goes to the baby websites, visits the naming boards.  She then takes those potential baby name threads to her site and adds snarky comments.  I spent hours at this site reading with tears running down my face because I was laughing so hard.  This one post, though, and I laughed so hard my sides hurt for days after.  Here is the post:

I love the Lord, am a LDS woman, and would like to name my baby baby Jesus.
Wait, she wants to call him "Baby Jesus"? How will that work after he's 33?

My husband says this is ridiculous because we are not latino and he does not even go to church anymore. I looked and it is a popular name in the US so it must be that others like me are out there spreading His love. His full name would be "Jesus Joseph Dewey". Can any one tell me if when you are at the hospital can you refuse to let your husband have a say in what the birth certificate says? I 18 years old and am a first time mom.

Issue 1: Jesus! (Praise the Lord!) Joseph! (Hallelujah!) Dewey. (.....um.....He's a duck, right?)

Issue 2: Have you ever heard anything so romantic, and yet so filled with Our Heavenly Father's purest love alighting from heaven to his children upon the earth as an 18 year old Mormon girl wanting to have her husband barred from the hospital where she's just given birth so she can name their child Jesus. Joseph. Dewey. Amen.