– I felt cheated, and I got very angry.
That’s what American Jaden Janak says after a sky-high corona bill dumped into his mailbox earlier this year.
Shortly after Janak’s grandmother died with covid-19 last year, he himself was told that he could also be infected. He therefore traveled to the hospital to take a test.
It cost him dearly, writes the news agency CBS.
Was at a Christmas party in a solar energy company
Pocket out
Janak took a quick test at a hospital in his home state of Texas – a test he himself thought was free.
Only several months later did the shock come, when he suddenly received bills totaling $ 4,000. This corresponds to just over 36,000 Norwegian kroner.
He was first sent a bill of 2700 dollars, marked emergency room and laboratory fees. Later came a medical bill of 1300 dollars.
The insurance company promised Janaks to cover the corona expenses. But there was never a check from them, and Janak therefore had to fight against the hospital’s bills and fees for almost a year, according to CBS.
– What if this happens to someone else who thinks it is their own responsibility to pay the bills? How will they manage to make ends meet ?, Janak says to the news agency.
Warns against test negligence: – Highly irresponsible
Not alone
Barry and Jaime Constanzo from South Caroline had a similar experience in September. They tested themselves at Conway Medical Center after developing corona symptoms. Both tests were negative.
In retrospect, they received bills totaling 570 dollars – about 5,000 Norwegian kroner – after their insurance had already paid the test costs.
– They tell you that you are not infected, then they ask you why you are here before they see in your ears, nose and mouth – and before you know it you have received a bill that is not corona related, says Barry Constanzo to CBS.
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Conway Medical Center claims that the couple themselves are to blame for the bills, as they should have tested themselves in the emergency department and not at the hospital’s free drive-through test station.
– We are legally obliged to carry out medical examinations and treatments before we can discharge patients from the emergency department. They are examined by health personnel at the emergency room and are then invoiced, the hospital explains.
Requires cash support for help with the electricity bill
– Confusing
Last year, a new law was passed requiring insurance companies in the United States to cover tests and other treatments related to covid-19.
– Nevertheless, examples like this keep popping up. This can probably be explained by the fact that our health care system is very complicated and confusing, says professor and founder of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms, Sabrina Corlette.
Corlette explains that the insurance companies are in principle obliged to cover the entire test amount, but does not hide the fact that she has heard of someone who has added extra fees, such as “outpatient fees”.
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