Hospital Sends $29,000 Bill To Parents Of Murdered College Student

[Generic Other]

<SNIP> Not only did the UC Davis Medical Center send a $29,186.50 bill to the parents of college student who was beaten to death by his roommate, they also sent a letter letting them know that their son was considered indigent and was no longer welcome at the hospital if he needed further treatment. He doesn't, of course, because he is deceased....Apparently he also had insurance, and the hospital should have sent the bill to his insurer.

The bill in question was for "five minutes in emergency room...<SNIP>

http://consumerist.com/5398768/hospital-sends-29000-bill-to-parents-of-murdered-college-student?skyline=true&s=x

UNREAL!!!

[Deep13]

1. But we have the best health care in the world!

Some on FB actually had the gall to tell me that.

Anyway, unless the murdered student is still 17, why would they be billing the parents.

[underseasurveyor]

2. The hospital can go fuck themselves

As another astute DUer pointed out on this story a couple days ago, the guy was 22 or 23 years old and since he was an adult his parents have no legal responsibility to pay the hospital a fucking penny.

[Generic Other]

5. and they had insurance for him anyway

Even Death comes with a pricetag. Crazy. They want to take everything from us. Even our grief.

[underseasurveyor]

6. And that's why it was so wrong of them to send a bill to his parents

in the first place. Not to mention the tiny detail the hospital seemed to have overlooked he was an adult.

[Tim01]

3. People with sad stories shouldn't have to pay bills.

AND all people who process bills should be required to know the names of all people who have sad stories, and they should be required to cross-check that list against any bills they send out.
AND the person processing those bills down in the billing department should have the authority to forgive a $30,000.00 bill whenever they feel necessary.

[Generic Other]

7. He had insurance and, yes workers should know what they are doing

or their supervisors should be replaced with ones who are competent. The kid was murdered at their school! In Japan, the president of the university and the head of the medical school would personally visit the family to offer abject apologies including the deep bow of contrition. They would certainly be able to get the paperwork done without this kind screw-up.

I am sick of being abused by the corporat/military/medical community and then be told to suck it up. If they are too big and too inept to do their jobs without inflicting emotional trauma on the rest of us, they should close their doors and join other Americans in the unemployment lines.

[Cass]

11. Well said, I couldn't agree more. nt

[Garbo 2004]

16. He was living in a dorm so Sac State should have had emergency contact info that included

health coverage info to provide to the hospital.

This was a local story & I can't recall if it was mentioned at some point if UCD had his health coverage info and that also missed getting into his file or what. But this story was a shock in addition to the horrible event that took the student's life.

I am sure UCD not only cringed that they F'd up and sent a letter to the dead son of still grieving parents, but that they were horrified at the public revelation that they were billing 30K for 5 minutes of "treatment" in the ER. The parents had previously been told that their son, who had been beaten to death with a baseball bat, had died at the scene of the crime...which he may well have. So was the hospital billing for trying to revive a dead man who was beyond hope of resuscitation and recovery?

[Junkdrawer]

10. Worst.Post.Ever contender there, fella...

Might make the Top Ten.

Certainly in the Top 100.

[Garbo 2004]

12. The hospital said his death in the ER should have been flagged in the record

so they wouldn't be sending letters and bills to a person who had died in their ER. (As a practical matter, the dead are notoriously slack in reponding to correspondence and paying bills.)

But his death hadn't been noted in the system. UCDMC on the process that should have been followed: "The patient's death in the emergency department should have been flagged as a death in the outpatient record. The flag would have placed a hold on all billing activity and, after 10 days would have initiated a letter of sympathy. This letter also would have informed the family that we billed their insurance or let them know that we did not have insurance information and to contact us." http://www.kcra.com/news/21512396/detail.html

[Hansel]

13. No, they should hunt down people not responsible to pay the

bill and harass them after their son just died and ignore the fact that he's dead.

[Kansas Wyatt]

4. File a lawsuit for the emotional distress the hospital caused.

And let them eat their damn bill, if it was due to their failure to bill the son's insurance company.

These fuckers need to be knocked down.

[FightingIrish]

8. I've almost been in those parents' shoes

My son was almost beaten to death. He had five surgeries in another California university hospital. We had good insurance and the State of California has a program to compensate victims of violent crime. Even with that, we had large medical bills and the hospital could not have been more cooperative and compassionate. There has to be "care" in health care and in this family's case there was none.

[47of74]

9. I'd be getting a lawyer and having that lawyer send a letter back

Saying that;

A) I wouldn't trust any member of the staff at that hospital to remove a cyst from my behind.
B) The hospital is going to be sued for a hell of a lot more than $29,000, as in add four zeros on to the end of that dollar amount.
C) Go to hell.

[dd20045]

14. punitive damages

are coming that families way and are most certainly deserved.

[kath]

15. Sounds like the kid was DOA, but they gave his body $29K worth of "care" in 5 minutes anyway...