Hospital charging almost $250 for annual physical
I recently went to Virigina Mason hospital in Seattle for my annual physical 3rd time in US and 2nd time to this hospital. 1st time it was Kaiser and I didn’t pay a penny. Switched to HSA and annual physical, all preventive care is covered. 2nd time I was billed $75 and I paid, didn’t want to waste my time talking to them. 3rd time, now, I’m billed for $250, received 2 statements 1st statement ———————— Preventive Med $310 Level 3 Exp Problem Focused $235 Insurance -$470.64 Balance $74.36 2nd statement ———————— Lab 4 units $223 Drugs code 2 units $25 Vaccine Admin $75 Insurance -$150.97 Balance $173.03 This is not normal right ? And what are these ? - Preventive Med - Level 3 Exp Problem Focused TC: $220k
Insurance did cover your full preventative. You may have opened your mouth about a problem 'level 3 exp problem focussed'. Example , if an annual physical you are asked , are you experiencing any other issues and you even list one. Or say things like my family has a history of xyz.they cant code it as preventative anymore. On statement one, the 470 which insurance paid is like the full 310 for preventative and part of the 235 (coinsurance). The labs were most likely not paid by insurance (you may not have met your deductible) since you had the level 3 problem focus. It does look right to me but for peace of mind you can ask your hospital for an itemized bill. Most likely the insurance covered the vaccine and drugs. Curious what drugs you took during an annual.
Lab was for cholesterol and glucose. Vaccines were flu shot and Covid Booster.
It also mentioned 2 units of drugs. Vaccines are different. Also, it doesn't matter what labs were..their coverage depends on reason they were coded. You could reach back out to Virginia mason and ask them why you were charged for a physical. Most of the times they'll either explain or rebill you so that your responsibility goes away
Not all labs are covered by the annuals for example vit D. Are they charging you for administering vaccines?
I only got labs done for glucose and cholesterol. Nothing else. And vaccines were for flu shot and booster vaccine.