Charged €586 for unwanted/unused hospital bed...

Clove

I attended a local hospital for a routine procedure. As part of the visit, I filled an admission form, and sat beside an empty hospital bed for about 15 minutes before I went in for the procedure - the procedure took about 15 minutes too. Then I went home, with a successful procedure having being done. However, I was horrified to see the subsequent VHI docs charge €586 for the bed - the procedure was €136 and took some skill but the bed was unusued and unwanted. I rang the VHI but they are very passive about it and said that this is the rate for accommodation, and that if the bed was assigned to me by the hospital, then €586 was due. I said it was immoral, unethical, offends the priniciples of the sales of goods/services. Wow. I am stunned.

Miaireland

Yes no wonder we pay so much for the Health Insurance.

I Got a mole removed from my leg, at the end of the procedure I was brought to a ward because the person I was being picked up ny was running late. I asked just to wait in the waiting room ( as the news was on a d I wanted to see it). Was told no I must go to the ward. I did not get into the bed I sat on a chair in the ward and was picked up ten minutes later.

Got my VHI statement and they paid something ike £300 for the bed, it was pounds in those days. Rang the VHI and was told it wax the standard day rate for the bed, it didn't matter how long I was there.

I eventually wrote to the Director of the Hospital to express my disgust and they refunded the bed charge.

Clove

Thanks for sharing that - it makes me feel better - I was wondering is it just me that finds it all so unreasonable. You would think that the VHI would be well able to take a position that a bed should be offered rather than assigned, etc, etc. By the way, this was a hospital where the hospital's emergency services have been closed - and turned into what is termed an "urgent care centre". The irony of the urgent care centre is that they wont treat you for anything remotely serious - only suspected broken bones from knees to toes, or arms, sprains and strains, minor burns and scalds, etc. People are refused treatment for anything more serious and are sent to another hospital. So if anything had gone seriously wrong - they still wouldnt have put me in the bed, but would have sent me away in an ambulance.

mdebets

Could it be that the bed needed to be kept open for you, in case something went wrong with your procedure and you would have to be kept in overnight?

In this case, the charges are justified, as the bed couldn't be used by someone else while it was kept for you just in case.

byhookorbycrook

I rang VHI as they paid almost €3,000 for a treatment I didn't have. I was made to feel like an eejit and told I'd have to pay myself if I was wrong-over a 20 minute phone call. I was trying to save them money, now I think, feck it.

Clove

mdebets wrote: »

Could it be that the bed needed to be kept open for you, in case something went wrong with your procedure and you would have to be kept in overnight?

In this case, the charges are justified, as the bed couldn't be used by someone else while it was kept for you just in case.

Mdebets, i see your point. However, under any sort of risk assessment I think that it was clear that I could not possibly be at the level of risk that would warrant a bed. I can bet that with all the patients in all day needing that treatment, not one of them needed a bed. So a provision of a standby bed for the 1 in 100 that might need it might have suited the situation. Not a bed reserved for every individual at €586 per bed. By the way, the "urgent care centre"/hospital has loads of empty beds all the time, since the HSE closed off almost all procedures apart from minor items bordering on first aid.

Clove

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

I rang VHI as they paid almost €3,000 for a treatment I didn't have. I was made to feel like an eejit and told I'd have to pay myself if I was wrong-over a 20 minute phone call. I was trying to save them money, now I think, feck it.

I found that dealing with the VHI was most frustrating too. They kept explaining about the Day Rate and I understood that, and told them that I understood but disagreed. I wanted them to know that I was not concerned with an explanation, but was requesting them to come up with a more reasonable way for dealing with such situations for the future, a way that paid some respect to money and reasonableness in spending it. They just didnt seem able to have that conversation at all. I felt disrespected by them because they just didnt want to know - i ended up being horribly patronising. They dont seem to have any interest in saving money.

dudara

Posters - this is not really a Consumer Issue. This is the realm of hospital management and how that interacts with health insurance. Moving to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

Sarn

This type of thing has been going on forever. I remember after getting my wisdom teeth out I was feeling very unwell and in pain and couldn't stomach anything. One of the nurses insisted that I have something to eat, despite me turning it down several times. I eventually gave in, ate a spoonful and promptly got sick. I don't remember what the charge was, but it was exorbitant for that one spoonful. The charge for the bed use was also questionable. In this case, the hospitals are the ones ripping off the private health system knowing that it will be paid.

Maybe if the private health insurers verified what was being charged, premiums could come down.

Cedrus

I went in to the bone suckers for a minor procedure a few years back, it took about 10 minutes and there were lab tests afterwards. A couple of weeks later I got a bill from the hospital and a bill from the consultant. I expected the latter bill but not the hospitals one. I rang them and they said "that's for the bits that your insurance doesn't cover", I asked what bits are they? "the bits that your insurance doesn't cover", I understood what they said the first time but I asked again, what are the charges for, I did not expect charges that my insurance would not cover, I was not informed that unspecified charges would be added to my bill, I had money to pay but all I wanted to know was what was I being charged for, is it a charge that I might be able to avoid next time, again they said "that's for the bits that your insurance doesn't cover". If I ever need that procedure again I'll have to travel, because I will never go back to that consultant or that hospital.

Oral Surgeon

This is why my patients don't like going to the private hospitals. The costs are out of their and my hands and can escalate....

For the op, it is not the "bed" that you are paying for. It is the hospital service. The insurance companies pay the surgeon, anaesthetist and hospital separately. Most plans pay for the surgeon and anaesthetist but only partially pay the hospital. It was the use of the hospitals building, theaters and nursing, reception, administration, cleaning staff that you (your insurance) are paying for. While you may have not needed round the clock care for those few hours, the price is set.....

Minor procedures are best done on an outpatient basis in a surgeons own clinic/rooms to reduce costs imo... I get this all the time when people tell me that having wisdom teeth out costs €2-3K.... rubbish, the hospital and GA take the lions share of that......