Tourist's $2500 medical bill for broken nail

[Still Waters]

An Australian insurance company is warning travellers about sky-high medical bills in the United States after a Sydney woman was forced to pay $2500 and was hassled for months by a Hawaiian hospital after simply breaking a nail.

Rachael Minaway, 32, and a friend had just arrived in Honolulu and hadn’t even checked into their hotel when she accidentally got her finger caught while slamming shut the glovebox of her rented car, breaking her acrylic nail.

“We had a late check-in, so we headed straight for the beach, and we were so excited to run out of the car and get into the water,” Ms Minaway told news.com.au.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/travellers-stories/aussie-tourist-forced-to-fork-out-2500-after-breaking-a-nail-on-american-holiday/news-story/513292ca5fe39393de734dfd34117743

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?

[SHaYap]

Welcome to America... 

~

[Buzz_Light_Year]

First mistake was going to the emergency room for a broken nail.

Quote

“I had to pay it on the spot,” she said. “I told them we’d only just landed, I hadn’t even checked in my luggage at the hotel. But they wouldn’t let us leave without paying it.”

I don't think this is true. Might be if she was ignorant enough to go to a private hospital instead of a county hospital.

[Piney]

9 minutes ago, Buzz_Light_Year said:

I don't think this is true. Might be if she was ignorant enough to go to a private hospital instead of a county hospital.

They are all private now. 

[the13bats]

i didnt grasp did they remove the fake nail or her nail? i assume fake nail,

anyway around here a walk in nail salon might get really greedy and charge 10 perhaps 15 bucks to repair that.

['Walt' E. Kurtz]

Who seeks medical attention for a broken nail if you do it should cost you..

Edited June 24, 2019 by Impedancer

[freetoroam]

Is that picture of her on a hospital bed wearing her baseball cap? 

Call me old fashion, but ffs luv, at least take your cap off.

48 minutes ago, the13bats said:

i didnt grasp did they remove the fake nail or her nail? i assume fake nail,

anyway around here a walk in nail salon might get really greedy and charge 10 perhaps 15 bucks to repair that.

That is what i was wondering, if  fake then yes, she should have gone to a nail.salon.

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by freetoroam

[freetoroam]

Anyone going abroad should have medical insurance,  its not a new thing.

Shame young girls are wearing false nails, are their real nails that badly bitten or are they that lazy to manicure them that they have to stick on false ones? 

Saying that, it could have protected her real nail.from getting a real bash BUT if it split and went into her real nail anyway, it would probably have been best to leave the falsies off when going on an adventure. 

Anyway, hopefully this will be a lesson to her for the future, take out  medical insurance and learn how to manicure your own nails and take that ridiculous baseball cap off your head next time you are on a hospital bed.

 

[+OverSword]

She's an idiot.  First of all, go to the emergency room for a broken leg not a broken nail.  for a broken nail go to a care clinic and pay $150-$200, or better yet go to a nail salon.  Second look at the bills they are sending, they are probably billing you twice for the same thing and then the collection agency is billing you for their service.  Tell them you paid and are being double billed and to suck it.  Since she's in Australia they never would have been able to collect and would have written it off.  If an Australian company were trying to collect money from me for nothing I would laugh and laugh. 

[+OverSword]

1 hour ago, Piney said:

They are all private now. 

No they're not.

[Piney]

20 minutes ago, OverSword said:

No they're not.

Here in New Jersey they are, and I think P.A. too but I'd have to ask @susieice

[freetoroam]

18 minutes ago, OverSword said:

Since she's in Australia they never would have been able to collect and would have written it off.  

Do not encourage these idiots who have no medical insurance when travelling to rip off the hospitals and  payers of that country.

If everyone from abroad did what she did and did not pay because they could get away with it, then i would imagine the medical bills to rocket for those who do have to pay.

What i do not understand is why the hospital did not check first if she had any kind of insurance? It was not as if she was carted in on a stretcher and taken straight to the operating theatre.

[+OverSword]

2 minutes ago, freetoroam said:

Do not encourage these idiots who have no medical insurance when travelling to rip off the hospitals and  payers of that country.

If everyone from abroad did what she did and did not pay because they could get away with it, then i would imagine the medical bills to rocket for those who do have to pay.

What i do not understand is why the hospital did not check first if she had any kind of insurance? It was not as if she was carted in on a stretcher and taken straight to the operating theatre.

She paid and then filed a claim with her national insurance company which compensated her.  I'm saying don't let them rip you off after the fact like she did.

[freetoroam]

25 minutes ago, OverSword said:

No they're not.

Then she should have gone to one of them instead.

She knew how to get to Hawaii and knew how to hire a car, she could have looked for a free hospital too.

 

[+OverSword]

Just now, freetoroam said:

Then she should have gone to one of them instead.

She knew how to get to Hawaii and knew how to hire a car, she could have looked for a free hospital too.

 

Well they're not free and honestly the same thing could have happened but may have been slightly cheaper.  The likely reason they were double billing her is because they are used to people using their insurance so they probably whipped out paper work they're not used to using when she paid in cash and someone probably filled out the regular forms too and it looked like an unpaid insurance claim.  It's usually a sub-contractor like the ex-ray techs where the double bills come in (I'm in the health insurance industry and have dealt with this on behalf of clients more than once.)

[freetoroam]

2 minutes ago, OverSword said:

She paid and then filed a claim with her national insurance company which compensated her.  I'm saying don't let them rip you off after the fact like she did.

She paid the first part, i do not know how it works over there,  but how many times are people charged? 

You  said

Quote

Since she's in Australia they never would have been able to collect and would have written it off.

 

Appears they can:

Quote

But for months after returning home to Sydney, Ms Minaway said she was inundated with new bills from the hospital — which tallied up to a massive $2500, all for a broken nail.

“I was getting multiple invoices for months,” she said.

She paid one bill before leaving, what where the others for?

Surely she must have signed something when leaving the hospital detailing any further costs?

Had she removed her blooming cap, she may have been a bit more acute about what was going on, but i doubt it as she not only went with no insurance, she went to a private hospital when as you say, not all are.

[Farmer77]

Just now, freetoroam said:

Surely she must have signed something when leaving the hospital detailing any further costs?

Not in America. She  definitely however signed something saying she would be responsible for any other bills that may appear

1 minute ago, freetoroam said:

She paid one bill before leaving, what where the others for?

IDK her specific case but many hospitals here aren't ran as a single company. So you get a bill from the ER doc, a bill fromXray, a bill from the Phlebotomy tech etc etc.

[freetoroam]

7 minutes ago, OverSword said:

  It's usually a sub-contractor like the ex-ray techs where the double bills come in (I'm in the health insurance industry and have dealt with this on behalf of clients more than once)

If it is a double bill, then she would have the receipt for her payment.

I would not give anyone that about of money without getting one. 

So can't see how it got so messy, unless she threw it away.

[freetoroam]

1 minute ago, Farmer77 said:

Not in America. She  definitely however signed something saying she would be responsible for any other bills that may appear

.

Exactly what I said, hence - in America. 

[SHaYap]

Thank goodness she didn't break a finger... 

~

[+OverSword]

17 minutes ago, freetoroam said:

She paid the first part, i do not know how it works over there,  but how many times are people charged? 

You  said

 

Appears they can:

She paid one bill before leaving, what where the others for?

Surely she must have signed something when leaving the hospital detailing any further costs?

Had she removed her blooming cap, she may have been a bit more acute about what was going on, but i doubt it as she not only went with no insurance, she went to a private hospital when as you say, not all are.

The subsequent charges were billing errors.  Show that you have paid and they are generally dropped.  I was charged for physical therapy that was recommended but never had.  Charge dropped with one phone call.

They sent her a bill but have no mechanism to force collection in a foreign country unless they want to wrack up legal fees in the Australian court system and probably lose the case since their national insurance already paid the original bill.  I would have thrown those invoice directly into the shredder.

[+OverSword]

22 minutes ago, freetoroam said:

If it is a double bill, then she would have the receipt for her payment.

I would not give anyone that about of money without getting one. 

So can't see how it got so messy, unless she threw it away.

Yep.  She either didn't save the receipt or was to dense too argue with them about it.

Edited June 24, 2019 by OverSword

[+OverSword]

One thing this story illustrates is the ridiculousness of the American Healthcare system.  But on the other hand it shows that people that don't have to take responsibility for their own healthcare go to hospital for every little thing which is a huge waste of money and resources.  Any American would have just gone to a quick care clinic or a pharmacist who would have maybe given some antibiotic ointment and a small splint for $10

[freetoroam]

HOLD UP!!!

THIS IDIOT DID NOT HAVE TO PAY

Quote

Ms Minaway’s insurer 1Cover was able to cover her for all her charges.

Why the heck did this make news? 

Oh boy, more attention seeking fools going to the papers for  = attention.

[aztek]

1 hour ago, freetoroam said:

Do not encourage these idiots who have no medical insurance when travelling to rip off the hospitals and  payers of that country.

If everyone from abroad did what she did and did not pay because they could get away with it, then i would imagine the medical bills to rocket for those who do have to pay.

What i do not understand is why the hospital did not check first if she had any kind of insurance? It was not as if she was carted in on a stretcher and taken straight to the operating theatre.

now you understand why our medical bills are that high