I recently received treatment for a non-emergency procedure from the Urgent Care Unit of Harborview Medical Center. Prior to going to Harborview, I inquired at a few drop-in clinics around town, all of which quoted me at around $400 for the medical services I was likely to need. The last drop-in clinic I went to recommended that I go to Harborview as it is where people who are 'uninsured' go as they have a 'sliding-scale'.
I decided to go to Harborview and see if I could get some more information about costs. Before being admitted to the Emergency Room, I explained to the Triage Nurse that I did not have health insurance and I asked her for an estimate of how much my visit was going to cost me (for emergency room fee, doctor’s fee, X-ray). I did not expect a number set in stone, but the nurse was unable to provide me with any kind of approximation of costs. She told me to ask the lady at registration. I did so and the only cost the registrar was able to provide me with was the $130 fee I now owed for just having seen the Triage Nurse. Stunned that my two minute sit down had just cost me $130, I was in disbelief and was ready to leave. If that had cost me $130, I couldn’t even begin to think of what the end cost of my visit would be. The registrar encouraged me to proceed and said that more than likely I would be covered under the hospital’s Charity Care. I ended up staying and once admitted and inside the actual Emergency Room area, I continued to ask each staff member who treated me if they could give me some kind of estimation of what my visit was going to cost me. Every single person I spoke with continued to reassure me that my treatment would “probably be covered”.
It clearly states in the Harborview Financial Agreement that "At my request, clinic staff will provide me with an estimate of the billed charges for outpatient services I am likely to receive."
I now sit here anxiously awaiting a bill of an undetermined amount. I have been denied Charity Care because my monthly income is over the poverty level. I have been asked to apply for “Financial Hardship”. My question is, if I am unable to attain any kind of financial assistance from the hospital (as all of the staff reassured me I was likely to receive), do I have any sort of legal case for not being given any kind of upfront costs?
Health care in the United States is run like a business. That being the case, should I not (as a consumer) be given possible costs ahead of time so that I can make an informed and economically feasible decision?
Any advice or guidance would be most appreciated.
