ER visit without insurance...how much will it cost me?

Question

I went to the ER earlier today because I was having an anaphylactic reaction to about 50+ ant bites along my thighs. I went to the hospital after I blacked out, and I went in and they took my blood pressure twice, gave me an epinephrine shot, 40 mg of prednisone, 2.5mg of Benadryl, and took two X-Rays of my lungs. I wanted to know how much that would cost me. I am a college student, and I'm not currently working, so if someone could provide an alternate way for me to pay the bill other than out-of-pocket, I would very much appreciate it.

Answer 1

Contact the hospital's billing department to work out a payment schedule.  If you do not pay, they will send the debt to a collection agency and your credit record will be damaged.

Answer 2

The total ER bill could be very pricey.  And there's no way for you to get insurance after the fact.

The good news is that the hospital likely has some sort of income scale that they will use to give a discount on the bill.  Make sure that you call the phone number listed on the bill as soon as you receive it to discuss your options.

You'll still be responsible for what's left on the bill after the discount, but if a person has low enough (or no) income then the discount could wipe out most of the bill.

(Again, make sure you call the hospital's financial department as soon as you get the bill...if you ignore the bills for awhile, you might lose your opportunity to get the discount.  The hospital system I work for has requirements where the person needs to call within 60 days of an ER visit to be eligible for all the discount programs...other hospitals may have similar requirements.)

Answer 3

When you get the bill you can usually go back and apply for reduced billing.  You'll need to pay the doctors' fees but the hospital will hopefully absorb their costs.  Look to $600 as a low figure and $2000 as a higher figure if you didn't call the Ambulance.

Answer 4

It really depends on the hospital, based on location, etc. The x-rays will be at least $200 each, unfortunately. Did you go to a non-for-profit facility? They're a little more forgiving, and they usually have a low-income program in place to write off bills. Once you receive your bill, call them and ask if they have something like this in place.

Answer 5

It won't be cheap.  I'd guess a minimum of $1,000, but I'd assume less than $4,000.  Problem is with no insurance you're not going to get network negotiated rates.  So, it could be even more than that.

As mentioned you could probalby set up a payment plan.  When all's said and done you should get some insurance for the next time.

Jeff

Answer 6

Well, you're probably looking at $500 to $1000 of retail service.

Best thing to do, as soon as you get the bill, is to call the hospital and ask them to "reprice to a cash price".  That could knock it down 50% to 80%.    

The only way for YOU to pay anything, is out of your pocket.  Or under your mattress, if that's where you keep your money.  You can always ask your church or family to pay the bill for you.  As a college student, assuming you're not getting a full ride based on your income, you're likely not going to qualify for any "financial aid" at the hospital.  

If you DO, you should also sign up for Medicaid - welfare health insurance.  But if you're someone's dependent, it's THEIR income that counts, as well as your own.