Hospital Bills

We got our first bill yesterday from the only hospital in Summerville from when LA had Wyatt. You can figure it out and I won't call them by name until they make me mad because I don't have much to complain about.

I would like to make a few observations. We were in the hospital for less than 36 hours and boy is it expensive - in excess of 10K - about $300/hour (almost as much as a lawyer charges by the hour, ha!ha!). The "contractual adjustment" with our insurance carrier makes it more reasonable - 5.1K. The $1 million dollar question for the medical industry is that why does it appear to cost $10.8K for services provided but you are willing to accept 49% of those charges for the services you provided. What is the real cost to operate the hospital for labor and delivery - $10.8K or 5.1K? Are the real costs marked up, knowing that they will be discounted by the insurance company? I guess that is the system that has been created. My issue is if the hospital is going to "adjust" the bill for the insurance company by 51% why is there still an account balance of $240 due from patient. Evidently, writing off the additional 2% is going to send the hospital into bankruptcy. Writing off 5.5K was the breaking point, the line in the sand. So, $240 is all that stands between me being a delighted customer and a satisfied customer. The fixed cost to send the bill has got to be close that number. At what point is it more cost effective to write off the bill and have a delighted customer or send the bill - evidently less than $240. I am going to research this with the insurance company because I have heard that if your insurance carrier has a contract amount for services with the hospital they can not charge you anything additional. I might be wrong (I always seem to be wrong) but it will be worth one phone call. Probably not worth a big fight because our time is so valuable but it never hurt to ask. If we save the $240 we can go out and stimulate the economy some more.

Here's a breakdown on Labor and Delivery charges for one child:
Labor and Delivery Room - 5.9K
Post Delivery Room - 1.1K
Lab - 1.9k
Meds - .4k
Sterile Supplies/Med Surg Supplies - .95k
IV Solutions - .6k

I am glad we have insurance but even if we didn't I would pay 10.8K or 5.1K or whatever the amount because Wyatt and Aubrey are worth every penny even $240.