"My 62-year-old brother-in-law had suffered a massive heart attack in June 2025 after running a 5K, barely an effort for a lifelong triathlete on most days, but this day, the trigger for a life-ending coronary. Telling his wife he was having difficulty breathing, he was rushed first to urgent care and then to the ER at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, CA. Six weeks later, the bill for the hospital's four hours of failed effort trying to save him: $195,628."
"First, I had to learn a new language The first lesson in medical billing is that hospitals speak in tongues. That initial bill was too vague - categories rather than procedures. When I requested an itemized version, what arrived was a longer list of internal codes with prices - codes that existed only within the hospital's accounting system, opaque as an inside joke."
A family received a vague, high hospital bill totaling $195,628 after a 62-year-old triathlete died from a sudden heart attack following a 5K. He was rushed from urgent care to an ER where staff spent four hours attempting resuscitation. The widow initially planned to pay using life insurance, but a relative advised pausing to review documents. The deceased had allowed his health insurance to lapse while shopping for cheaper coverage. Initial billing used broad categories and opaque internal hospital codes. A negotiation strategy focused on determining what an insurer or Medicare would have paid for the same services.
Read at Business Insider
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