CBS
December 4, 2021, 8:53 am
Oklahoma man Jaden Janak went to take a rapid COVID-19 test at his local hospital in Tulsa. Janak believed he’d been exposed to the virus, as his 75-year-old grandmother had just passed away from coronavirus complications, CBS News reports. He believed the test would be free, but discovered he was wrong several months later after receiving a bill for over $4,000.
Featured Video Hide
“I felt very angry. I felt deceived,” Janak told CBS News’ consumer investigative correspondent Anna Werner. The issue of these fees are attached to additional facility, laboratory or emergency room fees that hospitals have been tacking onto the test itself.
Advertisement Hide
The two bills were around $2,700 for “use of an emergency room” then one for $1,300 for a doctor. Janak is insured, thankfully, by BlueCross BlueShield of Texas. The company told him they’d mail checks to cover the bill. He never received the second check, after changing his address. He has been unable to pay and after almost a year he stills receives debt collection calls.
“What if this happens to someone else and they do truly believe that they are personally liable for these charges? How are they going to be able to make ends meet given where the economy is?” Janak said.
The hospital told CBS, “Tulsa ER & Hospital […], along with all emergency rooms in America, are required by the U.S. Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) to provide a medical screening exam (MSE) on patients to determine if an emergency medical condition exists. If a condition is determined to exist, we are also required to treat and stabilize the patient.”
That’s a way of saying they will charge for medical care, whether it’s explicitly asked for or not.
Another couple, Barry and Jaime Constanzo of Myrtle Beach, told CBS News they received a bill for $500 for what they believed was a free COVID test as well. They went to Conway Medical Center in anticipation of a trip to see their grandkids. The center advertises its tests as free, but the couple accidentally went to the “emergency department triage tent” instead of the free drive-through testing area. Apparently, once you enter an emergency room, they legally have to evaluate and treat you—and then charge you for the privilege.
“They tell you you’re negative, then they ask you why you’re here, and then they look in your ears, nose, and mouth, and the next thing you know, you get a bill, non-COVID related,” Barry Constanzo said. “Why would I go to a hospital or to any testing site for COVID if I was there for allergies?”
The center told CBS, “If a patient comes to our Emergency Department requesting just COVID-19 testing, they are referred to the free drive-through testing. If the patient presents with symptoms requesting and/or requiring other care, as was the case for the Costanzos, we are legally bound to medically evaluate, treat, and discharge that patient in our Emergency Department.”
Advertisement Hide
Double and triple check where you’re headed, because the complicated healthcare system is doing everything it can to make a buck.
*First Published: December 4, 2021, 8:53 am
0 Comments