From the April 16, 1991 EXAMINER tabloid.

Hospital Cost Ripoffs

A stay in  the hospital - even for just a few days - can put a giant
dent in your wallet.  But there ARE  ways you can beat the confusing
JARGON on INFLATED   BILLS   and   NAIL  HOSPITALS  for   outrageous
accounting practices.

"A disappointingly large   number   of   physicians   and  hospitals
overcharge for services or bill for  what  they DON'T do," warns Dr.
Laurens White, president of the California Medical Association.

"One oncologist (cancer specialist) charged $8,000  to  administer a
drug that costs  $120  -  and doesn't work well anyway.  I'd like to
wring his neck."

But most victims of brazen overbilling only wring their hands at the
thought of decoding questionable bills that demand :

  1)  $11.10 for a "soft foot cast" (elastic bandage)
  2)  $ 5.10 for a "urinal" (plastic cup)
  3)  $16.00 for a plastic baby pacifier
  4)  $15.00 for throwaway paper slippers
  5)  $ 8.85 for a paper "linen saver"
  6)  $ 6.00 for six aspirin tablets
  7)  $ 4.40 for toothpaste
  8)  $93.00 for simply cleaning an orthopedic bone saw
  9)  $13.98 for three Band-Aid strips  used  to attach wires from a
             monitor to the patient
 10)  $  4.98  for  a  clip used to connect an oxygen  tube  to  the
             patient's nose

Says one investigator;   "A  patient  was  even  charged  $1.81  for
drinking water."  And don't look for  protection from shocking bills
through your medical  insuror  or employer, much less  the  hospital
itself, researchers warn.

Profit-conscious insurance firms pay 85 percent of all U.S. hospital
bills, so their  auditors  usually look where the biggest overcharge
money is; client bills of $10,000 OR MORE.

And equally profit-oriented hospitals  often hire cutthroat revenue-
recovery firms to  pinpoint  undercharges  and  ignore   any   gross
overcharges, according to  a  U.S. Senate subcommittee investigation
last year.  But  remember,  the  American   Hospital   Association's
Patient's Bill of Rights insists;

    "The patient has the RIGHT to examine and receive an explanation
     of his bill, regardless of source of payment."

Experts say these  actions  are  your  first  line  of  medical-bill
defense:

   1)  Keep  a  DAILY  RECORD  of services,  medications  and  other
            supplies as you receive them in the hospital.
   2)  Don't assume that ANYTHING offered is FREE.   ALWAYS  ASK HOW
            MUCH.
   3)  Make  sure  you  get  an  ITEMIZED  BILL  FOR EACH DEPARTMENT
            involved.
   4)  Don't pay or sign a pay agreement  until  you  carefully look
            over the bill, at home if necessary.
   5)  Examine  EVERY  bill.   Some are amendments  with  additional
            charges.
   6)  Get the hospital to document any questionable charges.  If it
            refuses, or   threatens   legal  or  private  collection
            action, contact your  state  consumer  protection agency
            and/or attorney general's fraud division.
   7)  Ghost Services - Charges for standard services  normally used
            in a  case  like  yours,  but you didn't receive because
            they weren't necessary or were never performed.
   8)  Service Duplication - Mistakenly performed services which had
            already been completed.
   9)  Multiple Billing - Two departments  charge  you  for the same
            service, or one bills you twice for a single service.
  10)  Inflate  Service  -  Number juggling in which  the  facts  of
            treatment or a single charge for an operation are broken
            into a  series  of  charges  - all resulting in a higher
            fee.
  11)  Human  Error  -  Medical chart  information  is  inaccurately
            transferred to the bill or a keypunch mistake is made.