Hospital asking for out of pocket up front, but deductible met????

Hello everyone, I'm new here and find this site super helpful!  I'm scheduled for VSG on 05/01/14 at Emory Midtown in Atlanta.  When I called to register for the surgery the lady on the phone was really pressuring me to go ahead and pay the out of pocket amount over the phone.  At the time my deductible had not been met and I informed her that I would have the $500 deductible on the day of pre-op and she reluctantly agreed.  

Today I spoke with Aetna and was informed that my deductible has now been met and I have roughly $2700 left for out of pocket.  I told her that the hospital was asking for that and she advised me not to pay that to anyone upfront because I could end up overpaying someone.  I'm so confused now.  Why is the hospital asking for the out of pocket upfront???  I would appreciate any help with this.  Thanks in advance.

they are asking for the out of pocket upfront because they have been burned in the past buy patients not wanting to pay their portion after procedures have been done. It is not unusual for them to ask for it upfront,every time I have a procedure  for anything,they want my part that day. 

If you end up not owing that much,you will receive a refund check. 

GL

Oh I see, thank you for responding

Yes, I also had to pay my portion up front before surgery. I had lapband in 2008 and that hospital told me I would need my portion paid before I did my preops and now I'm scheduled for revision to sleeve at a different hospital and they too called me for my payment portion before I went for my preops. 

Wow, ok.  I suppose I should have done a whole lot more research on the insurance process of this whole thing.  I'm pretty clueless in that area.  Thank you for responding.

Jules, no...you were right to ask the question.  Not that I disagree with the other posts here but would like to tell you what happened the day I had my band surgery.

My insurance is a government/military insurance for survivors and they do not advise to pay upfront for anything.  They pay a percentage of "their allowable amount" and I pay the balance, IF they determine, after the fact, that I do owe it.

However, the morning I went for surgery, at check in, the lady there asked how I was going to pay the $2,000.00 that day.  I just about fell out of my chair!  She told me that if I didn't pay then the surgery would be postponed! I reminded her what insurance I had and that I was told do not pay anything upfront.  That's when she got real pissy!  I told her I was not paying a dime that morning and if she was going to postpone my surgery, she needed to call my surgeons office right then. She did and I could hear the billing woman, whom I had met, reaming her out.

Needless to say, I had my surgery.  The fact that I am now scheduled with another surgeon to have the band removed, my point to you is...always ask if you aren't sure!  And this is a great place to ask.

Thanks so much for sharing this. I basically was asked the same thing when I tried to register and was terrified that my surgery would be postponed. After informing her that I didn't have that kind of money upfront I too was also allowed to register and had my surgery the following week. 

Perhaps she was getting a percentage  of whatever she collected up front and that's why she got pissy.  (See my reply below; it's a racket!)

I had wondered about that same thing.

I work for a for-profit hospital chain.  They ask for money up front because they are greedy and want to have a cash flow while waiting for insurance to pay.  At my facility, the admission clerks get a percentage of that money and it often is more than their pay. I highly doubt they will refuse to operate on you if you decline to pay any up front.  If you overpay, you will get a refund, However, it probably won't be as immediate as the way you paid up front.  It could take a couple of months.

This same hospital turned me over to a collection agency less than two weeks after I received their services. Yes, they really turned one of their own employees over to a collection agency. When in doubt, follow the money and hold on to yours for as long as possible.  Believe me, I do and I have never been refused service.