Thursday, August 7, 2008

$42, 944.32

I'm just now cleaning my office. It's been a while and it's trashed. I guess I take after my dad in that respect. There are just so many better things to do than organize paperwork.

In going through piles and piles of unopened mail I found one envelope with Boston's Children's Hospital listed as the return address. It dates back to June 29, 2008 and states:

Account #XXXXXXX
Account balance: $42, 944.32

This is to inform you that a claim for the below referenced patient has been submitted to your insurance and as of this date, we have yet to receive payment, or a response to the claim. In attempt to resolve issues related to the delay, your assistance is requested in contacting the member services department of your insurer.

Luna Ruth
Service dates: 04/27/08-04/29/08

Sincerely,
Patient Financial Services,
Children's Hospital Boston

Um. Okay.

I checked my calendar and sure enough the dates correlate with Luna's balloon cath. She was in the hospital for a total of two nights. And received blood work, X-Rays, lung scan, anaesthesia, and of course the balloon cath.

Since we never received another notice (though I do still have a mountain of discarded mail sitting on my desk) I assume this was resolved. It seems so long ago. Paul was at a different job at the time. We no longer carry the insurance referenced. I suppose at some point some clerk at Blue Cross ponied-up the 43K. But I wonder if unbeknownst to us, there was a moment, much like the Michael Moore film SICKO where some worker-bee was instructed by her higher-up to toss the bill to the side for a few good billing cycles.

One wonders.

3 comments:

Mindi said...

LOL! As you know we are living this right along with you and you have captured perfectly our "hands in the air" attitude every time we try to coordinate payment. Thank you for sharing the tragic humor!

Love,
Mindi

Cathy said...

OMG!!! What the hec?

likeschocolate said...

Hi! I came across your site via McKay. We are also a CHD family. Your daughter is adorable. I also love the wall paper on your blog. Way way too cute. I am glad Luna is doing so well. Yes, isn't it crazy how fast the bills can rack up. We call our baby the million dollar miracle.