Huge bill after prepaid TT???

I just dug out the surgery proposal, and it does say at the bottom that "Hospital and anesthesia fees are not guaranteed and are only estimates. Additional fees will apply for 23 hour observation and overnight stays. The surgeons fees, facility fees, and anesthesia fees included in this quote are for cosmetic pre-pay cases only and will not be covered or billed to your health insurance".

So...this does tell me that they should not charge me for extra recovery room time until I get to 23 hours, right? Not sure what to think about the "not guaanteed and only estimates" part except that they follow that with the part about an overnight stay costing extra.

It's got to be a mistake. I'm pretty confident that I'll come out alright one way or another. Surely, they don't do this to many patients, or they would not be in business. Overcharging for almost the entire cost of the surgery (doubling the price) is NOT a good thing for business for the surgeon or for the hospital.

 Also, I forgot to tell you that I like your new hairdo.  Very pretty!!!

Lol, thanks, Tess. I have not curled my hair in years, but decided to take a curling iron to it. No cut or anything, but it looks totally different curled. I have naturally curly hair that I normally straighten, so it holds a curl all day long. I've had lots of compliments, but sometimes feel like I've got "church hair" lol. If big hair ever comes back in style, I'll have it made.

 I know what you mean.  I iron my hair every other day.  When I let it go natural, I can give Shirley Temple a run for her money. :)

 Hi Just Looking Too:

My hospital was prepaid too for around $1085.  I know that I still will owe them for around $600 more if my insurance does not cover it.  My PS allotted 4 hours for his surgery which I prepaid and the hernia surgeon was an additional 2.5 hours that they were going to bill the insurance company.  I did pay the anesthestic another $325 for the additional 2.5 hours but that was all.  My pharmacy meds I took care of myself and they ran me about $800.00.  So right now with $6750 tied up with FDL TT and about $500 on hernia surgery and another $1200 on pretests and $675 for anesthestic, my figure is running me around $11,335.00.  I hope your bill is a mistake.  I know if I had not had the hernia to deal with, my cost of FDL TT would have been around $9,710.00.

I also stayed until 5:00 AM the next morning in recovery.  If I had stayed pass 7:00 AM, they would have to check me in and it would have cost another $1,200.00.  Good Luck to you.  I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

YIKES! That's a lot of numbers. It's totally worth is, as I'm sure enjoying my new tummy. I'm sure you are, too. The surgeon's office said the bill is a mistake, and seemed to see that type of mistake often, so I'm VERY relieved. I'm sort of a bargain shopper, and I was not going to be happy if the price that I was quoted ended up almost doubling AFTER the surgery was done.

Hope things are still going well for you with your recovery. My recovery has been flawless. No complications, thank Goodness.

Those kind of billing these happen from time to time at the hospital and I wouldn't worry about it. As most hospitals aren't doing high volumes fo cosmetic procedures, sometimes the billing particulars get confused in accounting and you get hit for "sticker price" charges like they might bill out for an insurance panniculectomy not understanding you've contracted at a cosmetic fee for service rate. You surgeon's office should be able to straighten that bill out for you.

Thanks a million for the reply, Dr. Oliver. The surgeon's office asked me to fax them a copy of the bill, saying "It's obviously a mistake", and "There's no telling what they did to mess it up this time", so it appears to be something that happens often (like you said). I'm still not sure exactly what went wrong with the billing, but I sure feel better now that I have been told that it is a mistake. Thanks again!