Overinflated ships doctors visit fees

[sanger727]

x2 - Some rude comments, but that is how some people get their jollies.

 

 

 

To me, $1600 for a BP test and a few hours of monitoring is excessive. It really doesn't matter if emergency rooms charge the same or more. It is still excessive.

 

 

 

Our daughter was involved in an auto accident. We took her to the emergency room. She was put on a guerney and given a neck collar. She was in a hallway - never put in a room. Doctor checked her pupils once. Nurse said she could go home a couple hours later. No other tests and we know this because we were there the entire time. Total bill was in excess of $12,000. Why? Because we had insurance and the ER thought they could get away with it.

 

 

 

Was $12,000 the bill you actually were asked to pay? IF you have insurance, then no, they know they can't get away with that. Unless you went to some crazy out of network place - they have to charge the contracted rates the insurance company works out. That's why the bill has a line for insurance adjustments - money they are writing off because it's above the contracted price. $12,000 is the bill they send someone without insurance. And yes, that is outrageous.

 

 

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[sail7seas]

Was $12,000 the bill you actually were asked to pay? IF you have insurance, then no, they know they can't get away with that. Unless you went to some crazy out of network place - they have to charge the contracted rates the insurance company works out. That's why the bill has a line for insurance adjustments - money they are writing off because it's above the contracted price. $12,000 is the bill they send someone without insurance. And yes, that is outrageous.

 

 

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Outrageouus,, yes, for someone without insurNce, as has been mentioned which is why most of us buy insurranc.e. W all were youung once and new to travel on our own but we learned from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. These young folks likely will also learn.

[taram999]

Earlier this year my wife had an accident on an NCL ship (not her fault).She was taken by wheel chair to the infirmary for a charge of $371.00 for an exam and an xray.

I broke my arm in two places on a carnival ship. They didn't charge me a dime.

[Jade13]

 

 

 

Any advice for private insurance filing follow up??? Questioning NCLs overinflated ships charges???

 

 

 

Please take this as a reminder... those medical emergency bags we overstuff have never been more important- always carry some form of insurance- and beware of added charges you might not anticipate...

 

 

 

We never travel without travel insurance, however, he should submit to his regular medical policy. It will depend on how they cover on how much gets reimbursed. If considered out of network he would have to first pay that deductible, which with some policies could be $1,000 per person per year or more. In the past we have surprisingly had our policy in the US cover medical on board our ship as in network, but we currently have a PPO and not an HMO.

 

They will want to see a diagnosis code.

 

 

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Edited October 1, 2017 by Jade13

[Jade13]

Cruise lines do not hire and pay physicians and nurses, etc. They contract with a company to provide those services, and the company sets the fees. So don't blame NCL for the bill. EM

 

 

 

HAL no longer does that and has a full time staff. At least they did on Koningsdam TA last fall. I asked and they said they can't ensure the quality of services without a full time doctor.

 

 

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[Jade13]

Deleted

[Grandma Dazzles]

I broke my arm in two places on a carnival ship. They didn't charge me a dime.

 

Depends on how you broke it. Many cruise lines do not charge for accidents - can vary widely, but often the cruise line does not want to be in a position where the passenger might sue for something.

[sail7seas]

I broke my arm in two places on a carnival ship. They didn't charge me a dime.

 

 

Were they worrried yuur break was due to some deficiency on their ship suuch as awet floor, debris, you tirpped on? food on floor in buffet, etc? ....They didn't charge yo bt did they have reawson to worry how much they mmight be charged? ?? or something which might have meant they had liabililtiy ?

[taram999]

Depends on how you broke it. Many cruise lines do not charge for accidents - can vary widely, but often the cruise line does not want to be in a position where the passenger might sue for something.

And sometimes they do ANYWAY [emoji5]

[sail7seas]

And sometimes they do ANYWAY [emoji5]

 

 

And sometimes that are not at fault :eek:. Though sometimes they are. :loudcry:

[AmazedByCruising]

Depends on how you broke it. Many cruise lines do not charge for accidents - can vary widely, but often the cruise line does not want to be in a position where the passenger might sue for something.

 

IANAL, but I can totally see this in court: "I broke my arm thanks to your stupid pool design" "But.. we gave you a free $800 X-ray!" "Yes, of course it was free, it's never free but now all of a sudden it was, and the only reason is that you knew right away it was all your fault! Now I lost my $80 million actor job. "

[taram999]

And sometimes that are not at fault :eek:. Though sometimes they are. :loudcry:

That is true. I know several people hurt and it WAS their fault. Sometimes handled right, sometimes not. I'm in risk management. IMO they aren't doing their best. When I broke my arm there were three other people there with the same issues.

[lenquixote66]

So, lets look at this from the perspective of my 35+ years in the Medical Insurance (government) industry :). I cannot even begin to deal with "overinflated" without seeing the details of the treatment. Did they do an ECG, blood work, etc? Just having him lay in a bed for two hours of observation should not cost $1600, but if they ran tests....then that is a different story. They should make sure to get a detailed invoice which itemizes every charge. Assuming they have medical insurance, the question (which should have been asked/answered before their cruise is whether they have coverage for emergency/urgent treatment performed outside the USA....and by a foreign licensed physician. They should contact their own medical insurance provider and request guidance on how to submit their claim (there will be a form...plus they will need all the back-up documents from the cruise ship medical provider). In a few weeks they should hear whether they are covered and receive payment (which will likely be a fraction of the cost).

 

Meanwhile, yes, they will have to settle their onboard bill (including the medical charge, before leaving the ship. In fact,if you have any major medical bills from a foreign country...the norm is you have to pay the full amount before discharge...and later try to collect from your insurance.

 

Hank

 

I too have 35+ years in the Health Insurance industry and I cannot see any basis for a $1600.00 charge.

[sail7seas]

I too have 35+ years in the Health Insurance industry and I cannot see any basis for a $1600.00 charge.

Basis is lack of competit ion. Ship's doctor, nurse, infirmary is only 'game' in town. One is sick, they want help and that is the only place to get that help . THAT costs :D: Many (most?) cruisers have insuurance for medical and if they do not, many are willing and able to pay whatever is charged.

[CruiserBruce]

Basis is lack of competit ion. Ship's doctor, nurse, infirmary is only 'game' in town. One is sick, they want help and that is the only place to get that help . THAT costs :D: Many (most?) cruisers have insuurance for medical and if they do not, many are willing and able to pay whatever is charged.

 

Plus our source on exactly what was done here is at best, third hand. Not a really solid source of info. Heck, on this thread we have one person in an unrelated case saying a doctor only checked their daughter's pupils, that's it, when their daughter was in the ER after a vehicle accident. That is so absurd it is totally unbelievable. No doctor would only check pupils in that situation.

 

And that is from a household with over 80 years of ER experience between us.

[alexspepa]

true story...not sure if it is even relevant so please don't flame me - a few years ago I got bit by a copperhead snake in my driveway. My fault not the snake's but that is another story.

Went to the emergency room where they gave me good drugs and watched my arm swell up...really all they did was watch to make sure my arm did not burst open. 12 hours later I was discharged with a couple of prescriptions and my insurance provider was billed for $15000. It was a ridiculous amount in my opinion - but at the time I had no choice.

[PROCRUISE]

true story...not sure if it is even relevant so please don't flame me - a few years ago I got bit by a copperhead snake in my driveway. My fault not the snake's but that is another story.

Went to the emergency room where they gave me good drugs and watched my arm swell up...really all they did was watch to make sure my arm did not burst open. 12 hours later I was discharged with a couple of prescriptions and my insurance provider was billed for $15000. It was a ridiculous amount in my opinion - but at the time I had no choice.

 

Having retired from a Level One Trauma Center after many years of nursing, I can assure you more was done than just watching your snake bite site, if indeed there was fang injection. If you were given anti-venom, there is where a lot of the cost came from. The good thing is, you're still alive to tell the story and you had insurance! :)

[CruiserBruce]

true story...not sure if it is even relevant so please don't flame me - a few years ago I got bit by a copperhead snake in my driveway. My fault not the snake's but that is another story.

Went to the emergency room where they gave me good drugs and watched my arm swell up...really all they did was watch to make sure my arm did not burst open. 12 hours later I was discharged with a couple of prescriptions and my insurance provider was billed for $15000. It was a ridiculous amount in my opinion - but at the time I had no choice.

 

Having retired from a Level One Trauma Center after many years of nursing, I can assure you more was done than just watching your snake bite site, if indeed there was fang injection. If you were given anti-venom, there is where a lot of the cost came from. The good thing is, you're still alive to tell the story and you had insurance! :)

 

Agree. The poster must think owning that hospital bed for 12 hours is free, the staff donate their time, and as you most importantly noted, anti-venom is a very commonly used, generic drug. Come on!!

[alexspepa]

Agree. The poster must think owning that hospital bed for 12 hours is free, the staff donate their time, and as you most importantly noted, anti-venom is a very commonly used, generic drug. Come on!!

trust me no anti-venom was used - they said unless it was a life-threatening bite that the drug was more harmful than beneficial; and nothing else was done except for administering pain-killers and glucose.

 

so Come on yourself - I still say it was a ridiculous amount of money for 12 hours of me pretty much just laying their getting doped up.

[navybankerteacher]

Posters do not seem to recognize that there are fixed costs involved in the very existence of a trauma center: amortizing the costs of the physical structure, the cost of the equipment and medications kept immediately on hand, as well as the cost of having the professional staff and clerical support on hand 24/7.

 

Even if no one came into such a center during a given day, the cost would still have been incurred and needs to be covered. So, when it is used, the cost needs to be allocated somehow - perhaps everybody should be assessed an annual fee for the maintenance of such facilities to ensure that they will be there when and if needed ---_ which, by the way, seems to be the way we are going: towards single payer medical insurance domestically --- but to have that coverage in international waters would entail an across-the-board fare increase.

[whogo]

Barring other information, I think that $1600 is too much for a ship's doctor to charge a cruiser who is displaying symptoms of sea sickness and I think that two hours of observation was unnecessary.

[sail7seas]

Plus our source on exactly what was done here is at best, third hand. Not a really solid source of info. Heck, on this thread we have one person in an unrelated case saying a doctor only checked their daughter's pupils, that's it, when their daughter was in the ER after a vehicle accident. That is so absurd it is totally unbelievable. No doctor would only check pupils in that situation.

 

And that is from a household with over 80 years of ER experience between us.

 

Yes, .Bruuce, no argment from me.

[OCruisers]

Not all visits to the doctor on Princess ships are horribly expensive.

My husband got sunscreen in one of his eyes. The white part was blood red as was the eyelid and the surrounding area -- very painful!

The visit plus eyedrops was about $60. He had to go back to be checked daily until it cleared up and there was no charge for those visits.

[zqvol]

. . .

 

And now the reality of it all: $1600 charge for medical care!

(Hopefully- some charges can be submitted to health insurance & find some reimbursement.)

ALL ship charges must be paid before disembarkation.

. . . Questioning NCLs overinflated ships charges???

 

 

It is a big chunk of change out of pocket for a lot of people but that is a really small bill for what amounts to 3 hours in an ER. If you were at home it would run double or triple that, but you wouldn't notice it because you would only pay the insurance deductible.

[bsjcb2000]

Op - this may or may not be helpful - my first cruise ever (RCCL) I developed Strep Throat - didn't know what it was at the time, but with high fever, dizzy, vomiting etc, I ended up visiting the ships infirmary- was tested, observed for a few hours, given antibiotics and "released to my room". My final bill had charges around $1800. Which EVEN THOUGH I had purchased the cruise insurance, I had to pay before we got off the ship. Then I had to submit to my insurance and anything not covered by my insurance (I want to say it was about $600) was then reimbursed to me. Y the cruise insurance. So cruise insurance and my health insurance eventually reimbursed me for 100% of the cost, however, I still had to pay with my $ before I could get off the ship. My lesson learned (for me) #1. I refuse to travel without at least $5,000 available on my emergency use only credit card #2 buy the travel insurance.

I will say, submitting the bill to my insurance company and then the bill and copy of insurance response to the cruise insurance was easy and I had my $ from both of them within 2 weeks

 

 

 

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