Serious Overdosing - will a trip to the ER be covered by health insurance? Nervous

And no, for anybody that’s listening, you can go to the ER and receive medical services, regardless of your ability to pay them back. They willlllllllllll try, but if you do not give them intent to pay. You do not have to pay back your ER visit. Period
Will you knock it off? If you want to wreck your credit, go right ahead, but don't give others the impression that they can rack up medical debt without consequence. It's not true and it's one of the most common reasons people end up having to file for bankruptcy protection.
 
Everything I said is correct. Do you work for the insurance companies?
You didn't say one damn thing that's correct. I hate insurance companies too but medical debt can and IS reported to credit bureaus once it goes to a collection agency.
Emergency room visits are there to treat all of us without reproach
Lol you're a special one. I'm done arguing with you. Enjoy your delusional thinking.
 
Reading this thread makes me both horrified that such a place could exist with this system in a modern first world country but also makes me appreciate how lucky I am to not live there.

Unfortunately I cant add any input as this whole medical attention costing money is very foreign to me.

Best of luck mate!
 
Last edited:
Everything I said is correct, because I know what things really are, and not what you are describing. I AM TALKING ABOUT EMERGENCY ROOM VISTS. Loud enough.
And you are still wrong. There is no difference between an emergency room visit and any other kind of medical debt when it comes to debt collection and reporting requirements. A simple Google search would tell you this but you just want to keep arguing instead. I find it very hard to believe that you have gone to the ER and not had it end up on your credit unless you are feeding them incorrect information as to your identity so they can't find you to try to collect.

I am a dude, not a lady btw, and you have taken up enough of my time. I hope that other people who come along don't take your horrible advice. I like my 788 credit score and I wouldn't have it if I went to the ER and didn't pay.
 
Reading this thread makes me both horrified that such a place could exist with this system in a modern first world country but also makes me appreciate how lucky I am to not live there.

Unfortunately I cant add any input as this whole medical attention costing money is very forum to me.

Best of luck mate!
I mean the places around the world that have no charge for medical care have a lot higher taxes than we do. It gets paid for one way or another, our way is just a lot less fair for those who don't have insurance or have an insurance plan that doesn't cover their personal needs. I have Medicaid and Medicare so I actually wouldn't have to worry about hospital bills most of the time but people who are just a bit above me in income get totally fucked.
 
Thanks for the advice, all. Tomorrow I will call them back and confirm I went to the ER, no other information will be forthcoming. Hopefully they'll just pay it and I won't have to deal with it any more. I do have insurance so they should be paying it, minus the $400 for my deductible. It's what it's for, after all.
 
Thanks for the advice, all. Tomorrow I will call them back and confirm I went to the ER, no other information will be forthcoming. Hopefully they'll just pay it and I won't have to deal with it any more. I do have insurance so they should be paying it, minus the $400 for my deductible. It's what it's for, after all.

Go ahead and call them back my friend.
I really don’t think they will be asking you any details about what happened.
They can get the medical record from the doctor.

They probably are trying to determine if this was an actual “emergency “ as defined by their new BS insurance regulations.
Just say you were unconscious and don’t know anything else and will have to check with your girlfriend.
Stick with that and just do NOT talk much or offer up any information.
See what they want and let me know if you need help.

It will all work out my friend.
Don’t stress over it.
Shit happens. To everyone!
 
I would't even respond to those
phone calls because they are ALL
just SCAMMING. More or less, but mostly more.

Just wait until you see your bill in
writing or font and then dispute it.

But I would NEVER ever talk on the phone
like that when they are catching you off guard.
They have your address and they can send it to you in writing. And they won't.

Point, you do not need ten random phone calls
to resolve.

But I cannot tell you directly what or what not
to do. But I do know that those phone calls are NO GOOD. And really I have always ignored them and the problem always took care of itself sort of thing.

But like in the posts everyone's case or situation is unique.

That is actually pretty good advice.
They will eventually end up sending you a form to fill out with whatever they need if they cannot get you on the phone.

My insurance company covered Liver failure by way of Tylenol poisoning.
I was afraid they wouldn’t cover it also.
But, it just showed up as Liver failure diagnosis codes.
No OD codes!

Don‘t stress it too bad.

You just do not want to volunteer information.
Your insurance rates could get jacked up.

I am thinking they probably want to know if you could have gone to an urgent care or participating hospital.
No, you couldn’t because you were unconscious!
due to “unknown” reasons.
Low blood sugar drop or something.
Stick with that brother.
 
Yeah, they didn't aggressively chase me down or sue me but my visit sure as hell went on my credit, and it took the usual 7 years to disappear.

yeah, it goes on your credit.
They just cannot put you in jail for unpaid medical bills.
(at least in my state)

I tell you though, that damn ambulance company has been calling me for 10 years over a $60 balance!
They are relentless!
It is like the TWO DOLLARS newspaper boy tracking you down while you are skiing and stuff! LMAO!
 
Hey all, well to make a long story short, a few weeks ago I "overdosed" on GHB and my girl found me unrespective but breathing. She didn't know what was going on and couldn't wake me after like 15 minutes and my pupil;s were tiny pins so she assueed, given my history, it could be an opiate OD and called 911. Paramedics and cops showed up, they gave me a shot of narcan, and I started to come to, I was super confused. I had no idea what happened or what day it was or my address or anything, so they said, despite my girl saying she thought I was making improvement and would be fine, that it was policy for them to take me into the ER.

So they did... gave me an IV, fluids, kept trying to get info out of me. At the hospital I kept saying I didn't remember taking any drugs (I didn't at that point) so they gave me a CT scan and blood work and a urine screen. I came to pretty quickly though as GHB is short-acting, and was coherent again. Called my girl, she had called some friends, and they told her probably GHB, and when she said that I rememebred. I had already talkeed to the first doctor and I got someone's attention andf said I know what happened, I feel better and I'm ready to leave. No one tried to tell me to stay, another doctor came in and lectured me a bit and I told him I remembered I had taken GHB, which he did not seem to write down or anything. Then I signed some discharge papers (no one was saying I left against medical advice or anything, at least not to my face). Then my friend picked me up and I went home and was fine.

Then a week later I saw in my health insurance that my insurance got charged $5000 for the ER visit (and only $90, separately, for the CT scan). So $5k for a narcan shot, 15 minute ambulance ride, blood test and urine screen, and 2 doctors lecturing me. Jesus christ wtf is wrong with America's health system? Anyway... fast forward to today, I got a voice mail from my health insurance company just saying to call them back. Clearly it's about the ER visit. I got nervous about it since it was an OD, and started looking things up and finding out that some health insurers are denying coverage for ER visits if, after the fact, the ER visit was deemed medically unnecessary. Now I think mine was absolutely medically unnecessary. But, they also gave me narcan and forced my girlfriend to let them take me to the hospital. I'm afraid of being on the hook for $5,000, whereas if they do cover it, I will only owe $400 (my deductible).

Does anyone have experience with this sort of dilemma? I want to be informed before I call the insurance company back. I'm not sure whether them knowing it's an OD would make them not cover me? Or would they consider it medically unnecessary based on certain factors? How much do they already know (I imagine not a lot due to patient confidentiality... so how I frame the story might determine whether they cover this or not)?

I just really don't want to get fucked and owe 5 grand for basically nothing. I'm grateful to them for responding, and my girl did the responsible thing. They were just doing their job, what I am sketched out about is the insurance company trying to screw me (and the fact that the hospital could somehow get away with charging 5 thousand dollars for this). I've never had to use my health insurance one time besides routine doctor visits in 15 years of having it, but I am going into this assuming they're going to try to weasel out of paying and I want to be prepared.

Thanks

Hey,

always when I hear or read something like that I'm getting aggressive.

EVERYBODY needs a medical insurance whatsoever - if i hear how people have to suffer in the US just because of this FUCKING MEDICAL SYSTEM I want to do something for you, I want to help, but I cannot!!! I'm luckily living in Austria where the health care system is really great (even if everybody complains about it, but this is typical for Austria).

Who murders Trump? I'm paying for it. No, okay, first his hairdresser has to be murdered.

JJ
 
Well, good news... I checked and my insurance company is covering the ER visit including the ambulance ride. I only owe $400, I should get a bill soon. I tried calling the guy back who called me and I got his voicemail but he's calling from the Cigna behavioral services division... so pretty sure the hospital reported it as an OD and they're going to try to link me up with substance abuse services. But they already approved the coverage so I don't have to worry anymore. :)
 
Well, good news... I checked and my insurance company is covering the ER visit including the ambulance ride. I only owe $400, I should get a bill soon. I tried calling the guy back who called me and I got his voicemail but he's calling from the Cigna behavioral services division... so pretty sure the hospital reported it as an OD and they're going to try to link me up with substance abuse services. But they already approved the coverage so I don't have to worry anymore. :)

That is good news!
I am really happy to hear this!!

You have it exactly right- they are calling to offer you “help”.
They cover “mental health“ , “substance use behavior disorder” (LOL!😁😎) at 50% usually.
Just an FYI.

Carry on.
❤️ Ya!
 
That is good news. I will say my wife has needed countless surgeries for hip, ankle, leg, wrist, finger,etc.. She was in a bad car accident at 18 (on her birthday) and crushed her pelvic wall amoung other things. Just last Aug she needed another hip surgery and in Oct fell at a department store and trying to save her hip broke BOTH wrists. One needed surgery of course. My wife made phone calls for 3 months. Now all we owe is about $2000 when all is said and done.

For some reason through all these medical issues even if we owed money and were paying they just went away. One of the hospitals we owed $6000 too so we started paying $100 a month and 12 months later the hospital said ok we are all paid.(wink wink, like what is that about?)

I can not even begin to understand how little I owe with all the issues. Yes we have good insurance but even so. I also found some of the people that submit the bills for doctors have no idea what they are doing. But once you find someone that does it seemed we owed nothing. No real logic to it that I can see.

My wife is from Canada. And the free medical care has its value. One time though living up there she was getting dizzy spells and fainting. So they scheduled an MRI, for 19 months later. By the time she was going to have it she forgot about her symptoms and said screw it. There are pros and cons to social medical care but I think it should be everywhere. But my wife also commented on how much quicker surgeries and things go here in the US. SHe also had to wait 6 months for a hip surgery in Canada waiting in a bed and didn't have to wait 6 days here.

Anyway, glad it worked out Xorkoth.
 
That is good news!
I am really happy to hear this!!

You have it exactly right- they are calling to offer you “help”.
They cover “mental health“ , “substance use behavior disorder” (LOL!😁😎) at 50% usually.
Just an FYI.

Carry on.
❤ Ya!

Mine's at 80%, but after deductible I would just be paying a copay (ie, I would just be paying a copay because my deductible is way more than met).
 
Well, good news... I checked and my insurance company is covering the ER visit including the ambulance ride. I only owe $400, I should get a bill soon. I tried calling the guy back who called me and I got his voicemail but he's calling from the Cigna behavioral services division... so pretty sure the hospital reported it as an OD and they're going to try to link me up with substance abuse services. But they already approved the coverage so I don't have to worry anymore. :)
Glad that everything worked out. $400 sucks but it's a lot better than $5K!
 
Hey all, well to make a long story short, a few weeks ago I "overdosed" on GHB and my girl found me unrespective but breathing. She didn't know what was going on and couldn't wake me after like 15 minutes and my pupil;s were tiny pins so she assueed, given my history, it could be an opiate OD and called 911. Paramedics and cops showed up, they gave me a shot of narcan, and I started to come to, I was super confused. I had no idea what happened or what day it was or my address or anything, so they said, despite my girl saying she thought I was making improvement and would be fine, that it was policy for them to take me into the ER.

So they did... gave me an IV, fluids, kept trying to get info out of me. At the hospital I kept saying I didn't remember taking any drugs (I didn't at that point) so they gave me a CT scan and blood work and a urine screen. I came to pretty quickly though as GHB is short-acting, and was coherent again. Called my girl, she had called some friends, and they told her probably GHB, and when she said that I rememebred. I had already talkeed to the first doctor and I got someone's attention andf said I know what happened, I feel better and I'm ready to leave. No one tried to tell me to stay, another doctor came in and lectured me a bit and I told him I remembered I had taken GHB, which he did not seem to write down or anything. Then I signed some discharge papers (no one was saying I left against medical advice or anything, at least not to my face). Then my friend picked me up and I went home and was fine.

Then a week later I saw in my health insurance that my insurance got charged $5000 for the ER visit (and only $90, separately, for the CT scan). So $5k for a narcan shot, 15 minute ambulance ride, blood test and urine screen, and 2 doctors lecturing me. Jesus christ wtf is wrong with America's health system? Anyway... fast forward to today, I got a voice mail from my health insurance company just saying to call them back. Clearly it's about the ER visit. I got nervous about it since it was an OD, and started looking things up and finding out that some health insurers are denying coverage for ER visits if, after the fact, the ER visit was deemed medically unnecessary. Now I think mine was absolutely medically unnecessary. But, they also gave me narcan and forced my girlfriend to let them take me to the hospital. I'm afraid of being on the hook for $5,000, whereas if they do cover it, I will only owe $400 (my deductible).

Does anyone have experience with this sort of dilemma? I want to be informed before I call the insurance company back. I'm not sure whether them knowing it's an OD would make them not cover me? Or would they consider it medically unnecessary based on certain factors? How much do they already know (I imagine not a lot due to patient confidentiality... so how I frame the story might determine whether they cover this or not)?

I just really don't want to get fucked and owe 5 grand for basically nothing. I'm grateful to them for responding, and my girl did the responsible thing. They were just doing their job, what I am sketched out about is the insurance company trying to screw me (and the fact that the hospital could somehow get away with charging 5 thousand dollars for this). I've never had to use my health insurance one time besides routine doctor visits in 15 years of having it, but I am going into this assuming they're going to try to weasel out of paying and I want to be prepared.

Thanks
Fuck That place ever since they sold it
 
I hate to be the elephant in the room. You did O.D. and were transported to the nearest hospital. Because of that, you are alive and typing here. People get pissed and demand money from you when you unnecessary waste their life saving skills on whatever combinations of drugs that you took, and led you their ER department unresponsive.

Hate to be that guy Wizard, but TDS probably isn't the place to tell posters that their life saving medical procedures were unnecessary or a waste of someone's time. There shouldn't be any judgement when someone is asking for info about these kind of things here. Xorkoth doesn't seem to be in crisis right now, but the principle should still stand.

Medical professionals do their job to save people, and helping with OD's is a standard, common, and necessary part of the job.

Also, just as a factual thing, ER's don't turn you away and you can certainly ignore medical bills, but they still go to collections and that's not good for your credit.
 
Last edited:
I've yet to make real sense of health insurance. It's nauseating and a ripoff.
 
Top