**Hermes Chat**

#15,931
colvcte, with all respect, what you are asking for is equivalent to a request for authentication. Which has to be handled on the appropriate authentication thread with the required information provided.
I'm sorry, I know it's frustrating, but there are good reasons for this rule and we have to abide by it.
I hope you're able to find the information you seek. There are good paid authentication services out there!
 
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#15,936
I have to say, the US health care system is so messed up. My father amassed close to $600K in medical bills from the time of his fall in late June till the time he passed. While we were going through his papers, we found a bill for $290K and change from June to August 1st. My brother just got another bill from the hospital for $299K. Said brother asked to have the bill itemized. The person on the other end said, "You have to be kidding me." Brother said, "Well actually, no. I want it itemized."

The hospital billing department did not know my father had actually passed. We are providing them a death certificate. He died at that hospital. You would think these kinds of details would be shared.
 
#15,937
^^^ Those bills are astounding EB. I assume his medicare and gap coverage will take care of them? Whenever I get an insurance statement showing the price "charged" by the provider, it is always exponentially higher than the payment made to the provider. IDK who actually pays the charged price -- I am hoping it is not people with no insurance.
 
#15,938
Yes, his medicare should take care of it. We need to jump through some hoops and take care of paperwork. But Geez, how are people supposed to figure out/analyze these bills to be sure they're correct?

ETA, The math guru in me just calculated if his medical bills were ≈ $590K, and He fell June 28 and passed August 23 (56 days), his medical expenses averaged $10,535.71 per day.

His fall resulted in him fracturing his spine and requiring 3 screws to be inserted to stabilize it. This was major surgery. We only had bad choices, either the surgery with which he would have a chance for some quality of life — or that my Dad would have been in terrible pain, bedridden with a neck brace for the rest of his life. So we decided the surgery was best. We did not want our Dad to suffer. I can understand the surgery being expensive, but close to $600K for that and his other associated costs?!!!
 
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#15,939
That is INSANE, EB, but so are all current healthcare costs. If you're comfortable with sharing, I'd love to know if/that Medicare takes care of this, because I can, sadly, see my own parents taking a similar path, and those numbers paralyze me with terror.
 
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#15,940
EB, ah yes, and now the real fun begins. Dealing with the financial aftermath of a loved one’s death. I’ve had horrible experiences with hospital and physician’s billing offices. They rarely wait to get correct information from the insurance company before sending out the bill or demanding payment. Honestly, for a bill that’s more than my deductible (especially from a hospital), I don’t even bother doing anything immediately because I want to hear from my insurance company first. I rarely look at the itemized cost before insurance (other than for shock factor) because I assume the numbers are inflated knowing that the insured won’t be be paying any or most of it. But kudos to your brother for demanding an itemized bill from the hospital. I would do that just to be vindictive [emoji48]

My dad had excellent insurance because he worked for the state, plus he had Medicaid, so we really had no issues with medical bills during or after, thank goodness. But his retirement and pension accounts were a nightmare for my mom to deal with. In short, his pension was dispersed to her in its entirety rather than being rolled over to an IRA account at a different financial institution as we’d requested (we’d been told it could be done that way). So the following year, she had an insanely high tax bill due to her income level. Then her social security was cut because of the spike in income. It truly was the gift that kept on giving. Even the banker with whom my parents had used for years messed up the simple process of taking my dad off the joint accounts, which led to minor annoyances a year later when we realized he was still on the accounts. There’s shockingly little sympathy for surviving family members from people who’s job it is to interact with them immediately after a death. You’d think at the very least, they could make the extra effort to ensure the job was done correctly the first time.

Good luck with the paperwork!
 
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#15,941
Mindi B said:
That is INSANE, EB, but so are all current healthcare costs. If you're comfortable with sharing, I'd love to know if/that Medicare takes care of this, because I can, sadly, see my own parents taking a similar path, and those numbers paralyze me with terror.
Click to expand...

My brother is taking care of this. But I will keep you posted.
I look back at what happened, and the only thing I'd change was to get down to Florida earlier to see my Dad one more time.

We just ran out of good options. My brother saw my Dad the week before he fell and he said he could barely lift himself from the couch. In hindsight, he wishes he insisted that Dad be moved to a place where he could be supervised more closely. But the facility had no beds to move him into that would provide greater care.

The lesson to be learned is that though this is a good facility, had we known there was so few beds in the assisted living and skilled nursing care sections, we might have found another one. Mindi, if you are ever in the market, look at how many beds there are in the more advanced care sections. It's where the financial burden of caring for the elderly falls on the facility. While people are in independent living, they cost far less. While my Dad was in the independent living section, his "beyond scope costs" i.e., having someone come in 4 hours a day to dress him, feed him, meds, etc. ran about $100 day extra. It's why my siblings and I had to put in 10 to 15K per year extra each. And when there were crises, his extra care ran $500 day. We told the facility when those cost occurred that it was unsustainable.

As it was, to get my Dad into this facility, one of my brothers ponied up an additional $35K, PLUS an UNLIMITED FINANCIAL GUARANTEE in order to get him into the place. And this was NOT a fancy place. We liken it to a Marriott, very nice, but not like the facility overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway with ocean views.

I just wonder what's going to happen to our and ensuing generations. I wonder how families will cope with aging relatives without significant financial resources. It's just daunting.
 
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#15,942
ouija board said:
EB, ah yes, and now the real fun begins. Dealing with the financial aftermath of a loved one’s death. I’ve had horrible experiences with hospital and physician’s billing offices. They rarely wait to get correct information from the insurance company before sending out the bill or demanding payment. Honestly, for a bill that’s more than my deductible (especially from a hospital), I don’t even bother doing anything immediately because I want to hear from my insurance company first. I rarely look at the itemized cost before insurance (other than for shock factor) because I assume the numbers are inflated knowing that the insured won’t be be paying any or most of it. But kudos to your brother for demanding an itemized bill from the hospital. I would do that just to be vindictive [emoji48]

My dad had excellent insurance because he worked for the state, plus he had Medicaid, so we really had no issues with medical bills during or after, thank goodness. But his retirement and pension accounts were a nightmare for my mom to deal with. In short, his pension was dispersed to her in its entirety rather than being rolled over to an IRA account at a different financial institution as we’d requested (we’d been told it could be done that way). So the following year, she had an insanely high tax bill due to her income level. Then her social security was cut because of the spike in income. It truly was the gift that kept on giving. Even the banker with whom my parents had used for years messed up the simple process of taking my dad off the joint accounts, which led to minor annoyances a year later when we realized he was still on the accounts. There’s shockingly little sympathy for surviving family members from people who’s job it is to interact with them immediately after a death. You’d think at the very least, they could make the extra effort to ensure the job was done correctly the first time.

Good luck with the paperwork!
Click to expand...

OB, my Dad has NO assets left. None. Nada. Nothing. You can't squeeze blood from a stone. My brothers and I paid for the funeral. All he had was his pension and his Social Security. We notified his pension and Social Security that he passed.
 
#15,944
etoupebirkin said:
OB, my Dad has NO assets left. None. Nada. Nothing. You can't squeeze blood from a stone. My brothers and I paid for the funeral. All he had was his pension and his Social Security. We notified his pension and Social Security that he passed.
Click to expand...
EB, it amazes me how much the facilities and medical costs add up. I just remember how much the bills were for my fil in the Alzheimer facility. It was thousands per week which astonished me. I hope you get things straightened out soon.
 
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