A Tale Of Two Deliveries, Or An Out-Of-Network Problem

As co-workers and first-time moms-to-be, we shared much of the pregnancy journey together — including the same employer-sponsored health insurance plan. We even delivered within weeks of each other at the same hospital. For both of us, the key to managing the pain of labor and delivery was the epidural delivered by our anesthesiologists. When it came to paying the bill, our hospital experiences diverged in one key way. Layla received an unexpected bill for $1,600 for anesthesiology services and warned Erin to expect the same. Yet Erin’s bill never came. Layla happened to deliver on a day when an out-of-network anesthesiologist was on call, while Erin was seen by an in-network anesthesiologist. Purely by chance, one of us received an expensive physician bill and the other did not have to pay a dime. In the fog of new motherhood, Layla paid the $1,600 without question. She later received another unexpected piece of mail — a check for $1,040 from the insurance company to partially reimburse her for the anesthesiologist’s charge. The absence of a charge for Erin, and the check for Layla from the insurance company led us to suspect that Layla had seen an out-of-network provider. A call to the insurance company confirmed it. Neither Layla’s statement of benefits nor the bill from her provider had stated that the $1,600 was an out-of-network charge. And she was still on the hook for the $560 difference, while Erin paid nothing for the same service. How was that pos...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Equity and Disparities Featured Insurance and Coverage Payment Policy Affordable Care Act anesthesiology Employer-Sponsored Insurance out-of-network billing pregnancy Source Type: blogs