Note: This is the fifth entry on my experience with transparency in the US health care system. See the first entry here, the second entry here, the third entry here, and the fourth entry here.
I just got off of the phone with Boulder Valley Center for Dermatology. So far, they’ve agreed to give me a 30% discount on the bill, which brings it to $1,262.80, still more than 4x their ballpark estimate. I understood the bill was definitely going to be higher than what they quoted me, that’s just the way the world works. I just wanted to know how their estimate could be off by that much.
The person that handles their billing is just that, she is just an outsourced person who collects their money. I’ve been talking to her and she is the one who got the doctor to agree to a 30% discount. But she needed to have somebody from the doctors office call me to discuss why the estimate was so far off.
When she called, I asked her why my surgery was so much more expensive than the estimate.
She told me: “It was just an estimate.”
I said, “I understand that, but what was the estimate based on? I told her that it was a baseball sized lipoma on my shoulder blade. Are there some people that can get a baseball sized lipoma removed from their shoulder blade for $200-$300?”
“Sir, she made a mistake and I’m sorry you’re not happy.”
Finally, an apology… for not being happy? Am I dealing with the mafia?
Fat Tony voice: “Yeah, I know what our estimate was, but it seems we made a mistake. That’s very unfortunate for you, isn’t it.”
