My friend just sent me this. Don't know what to make of it.

[monmouth4]

Have health insurance and went to walk in clinic was told they don't take my insurance I say fine I will pay out of pocket, was told no we know u have insurance, we can't do that and was turned away WTF

[elleng]

1. 'Weird.'

Not much of a 'walk in clinic,' imo.

[randr]

2. A wealthy friend of mine settled a $4500 emergency bill

for $1800 cash. Hospitals do this all the time.

[Ms. Toad]

6. It usually goes the opposite direction.

The last time we were stuck with being unable to access insurance because of a communication snafu, the bill for the visit required a $600 + payment, in cash. (The same visit, paid through insurance was around $250).

Labs paid for by cash are typicically 5-9 times what they accept as payment in full from insurance.

[randr]

8. My wife is a nurse at this particular hospital

There may be exceptions, but people who negotiate with cash always get a cheaper bill.
The admin says the costs of billing are reflected in higher costs.

[Ms. Toad]

10. That's never been my experience

And I've got way more experience than I can shake a stick at - our family consumes $60-$120,000 in medical care, each and every year.

Insurance costs extremely heavily discounted, so self-payers are charged more to cover what can't be charged to insurance. The cost of billing is a pittance compared to the average insurance discount.

You may get a small discount from the self-pay price if you can pay cash - but the self-pay price is already considerably higher than the insurance contract price. Office visits are the closest - they typically have a 10-25% discount for insurance. Labs are the farthest - the insurance discount for most labs is around 90%.

[HoosierDebbie]

3. I think that this may have something to do with...

a "concern" that a person might be shopping clinics for a prescription.

[jberryhill]

4. How is your friend feeling now?

[monmouth4]

9. I don't know, I'm in Florida and she's in Jersey. I think she resolved it though, she's from

Ireland and has fought this US systems before..LOL..

[jberryhill]

11. I was referring to her illnesss

Is she sick or injured?

[monmouth4]

12. She did not say. It was the non-acceptance of her insurance we very briefly discussed..n/t

[jberryhill]

13. Just an observation

But I'm trying to imagine a friend telling me a story about going to seek medical care, and then relating her troubles with administrative details, without mentioning why she was seeking medical care of what, if any, alternative she obtained for treatment.

Like, "You wouldn't believe what happened to me today. I went to the ER, and while I was bleeding out on the gurney, I saw this woman who was wearing a fabulous pair of shoes. I asked her where she got the shoes and she told me about a really good sale going on at a nearby boutique. It took SO long to get out of surgery, that by the time they had finished with the orthopedic implants and sutured me up, the store had already closed."

And the response being, "Really, what color were the shoes?"

[pirateshipdude]

5. There are doctors, clinics ect. that only takes insurance.

If your insurance isn't one of them, I can see them saying no.

[bresue]

7. College student in a different state....

A national plan would help with this. I am in one state, my daughter is in another. I could get health insurance on both of us in my state, but no doctors would accept her insurance in the state she went to college in. And if I purchased separate insurance plans, the cost would skyrocket.