NumptyDumptyLump
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Okay, I had a hydrocelectomy. My right nut was the size of a grapefruit. Literally, like literally. It was ongoing for about 3 months and it decided, hey, I'm going GIANT. Surgery, then I get this. Fucking American 'health' insurance is a fucking joke.
JustDumbCommentsAndCorrections
If the surgery was less than a week ago, this is a fuck-up on the hospital's part. Call their billing department.
GorillaFLicks
Heavychunkymoisture
Tell them to go stick where the sun don’t shine.
Hexidimentional
i'm honestly surprised how long it took someone like mangione to murder a health insurance ceo, you guys have been sparing the guillotine way too much on this
NumptyDumptyLump
Across the pond I'm guessing? But agreed.
Hexidimentional
Canadian, just up the street.
backrideup9
That doctor is a twat for sending you to collections straight away, but that my be a blessing to your wallet. Debt collectors, for the most part, have to sue you in your home state to collect and may not have an office in your state or feel like paying to cross state lines for a lawsuit. I had to pay a lawyer $150 to get this info many years ago.
NumptyDumptyLump
I have a lawyer. This is bogus. I have insurance through Luigi's favorite provider. I mean, I received a collection letter before a bill!? Put a bullet in the USA already.
intrepidsea
I read an article stating that some hospitals are trying to collect as much upfront as possible before they negotiate with insurance because it’s harder to collect from patients.
TheFuckfaceWhisperer
Just inform them in writing that you've denied their request to attempt to collect as the procedure is unnecessary.
NumptyDumptyLump
"Ridiculously nice" what the ever fuck do they mean!?
Sebastopol140
They're pieces of shit, with a smile.
NumptyDumptyLump
TomahawkJackson
Offer them $135.95 (5 cents on the dollar) in exchange (in writing) that they will "delete the furnished credit-bureau tradeline and never re-furnish it."
They're an "outsourcing" firm actually collecting on behalf of your medical provider's office and not a "bought ancient bad debt for a penny on the dollar" firm - so "success" is measured a bit different.
If you can get clean credit bureau record for less than 30c on the $1 ($815), it's a solid win for you.
Heavychunkymoisture
This
Heavychunkymoisture
Also wait it out. They will offer you different/lower amounts to settle it. It will damage your credit score but it’s worth it in the end
TomahawkJackson
The rules changed a few years ago - None of the 3 Bureaux report medical debt when your credit is pulled anymore.
NumptyDumptyLump
Offer them exactly $135.95.!? I just had the surgery 2 weeks ago. I'm just perplexed that I'm already in collections, while being insured.
Pyrokneticbeavr
This is normal now. In the last two years I've had a 15 pound sarcoma removed and a total shoulder replacement, the whole sentara ecosystem has been sending all of my bills to collections before they even get to me and literally no one has been able to tell me why.
WaterUnderTheRocketAppliances
Don't offer them shit. Demand proof that the debt is even yours, in writing only.
NumptyDumptyLump
I'm not lawyer rich, but I work at a country club full of lawyers that like me.
Heavychunkymoisture
For that amount they won’t take it to court and sue you. If it was a bigger amount they might try to take it to court. The collection agency will pester you often but hang in and barter with them. I have done this a few times
NumptyDumptyLump
Appreciate the good advice. I'm just gobsmacked that I received a collection letter before a bill. I had the surgery done 15 days ago.
TomahawkJackson
Correction (because of the timing): if it was just two weeks ago, then this *might* just be a regular bill. Hell, it MIGHT be a bill that your insurance hasn't even seen to *try* to pay yet. The timing does change the interpretation. I'm gonna guess your provider and your insurer both have portals you can sign up to so you can see (and follow, slowly) the provider's medical records and billing, and your ins. working through Explanations of Benefits (what they covered, what they don't)
TomahawkJackson
(2) ...and explain next steps, every step of the way. THEN... Use the other one (Claude Code first, then Codex, or vice versa - in their related desktop apps) to "red team" what the other one said. This makes them cooperate (they're working on the same thing in your best interest) but also adversarial (You're telling the other one to aggressively fact-check the first one's work, and tell you the holes)
Outright hallucinations are mostly a thing of the past, it'll more be edge cases or phrasing.
TomahawkJackson
(3) The $40 you spend for a Pro account with both will probably save you (at least) a couple thousand dollars - because this for sure isn't going to be the first bill you get for this. I had a hospital visit last November and documented the whole thing in Obsidian direct from my EMR and EOBs. it was SUPER helpful, and saved me either money, hassle, or a trip to the ER at 2:45am for something that was a totally normal (but scary feeling) thing after the event I had.
TomahawkJackson
And no matter what your take has been on it in the past. FUCKING USE AI FOR THIS. The Provider and your Insurer both are, and if you don't, you're tying one hand behind your back. Get on your Provider Portal and your Insurer Portal. Get Obsidian installed and copy *everything* in both records out to docs in a folder in Obsidian. Use Claude Code or Cowork and/or OpenAI Codex (given access to your Obsidian Folder) to explain everything in there to you in terms you can understand...
NumptyDumptyLump
Thank you for this info. You rule. I tried dealing with them tonight for the last 2 hours. Exhausted. AI sucks but if it can actually do some good that's awesome. It's so fucked, I make more money by far than my parents did and I'm still just, not struggling, but this could fuck me.
TomahawkJackson
/1 If you're insured, it's probably not going to fuck you - but understanding what the whole process is - is not easy, nor is it intuitive. But if there's one thing AI is good for, it's having read every fuckin' thing that anyone has ever posted to Reddit on any subject, and what it doesn't already know from training, it can go look up live on the web. And it does. The days of ChatGPT "Don't Glaze Me, Bro" 4o and ChatGPT "Liar Liar Pants On Fire" o4 are now several generations behind us...
TomahawkJackson
/2 and if you don't need anything even more sophisticated than A Better Google, asking whatever dumb question you have into Chat and then visiting the SOURCES section is better than Google could ever hope to be... (And on the water thing? Data Centers and AI = 670 Million Gallons of water per day. Lawns and Golf Courses? 9,600 Million Gallons of water per day. "AI" consumes 7% the water that GRASS does.