ER physicians are not employed by the hospital and have no first hand knowledge on whether the patient paid or not so their medical care and treatment is not based on whether you pay your copayment.

St. Mary's Hospital, Clayton, MO, demanded my co-pay in the ER exam room albeit after I'd received treatment. I had been there a few years ago, and the co-pay was billed to me by my insurance co. ER staff told me the hospital had changed their policy after having problems with reimbursement by insurance companies and now, payment was expected at the time of service. Of course, how would I have known that? They just stared at me when I asked what would they have done had I come in by ambulance, was unconscious, etc.?! I did have a credit card that had enough room to accommodate the co-pay ... but what if I hadn't?, would they have refused to let me leave until I found someone to come there with the $75?!?

This is not new! In 2006, this happened to me! For a pre-planned surgery at the Boulder Surgery Center, prepped with an IV sedative and just before being wheeled in to the OR. an office worker demanded $250 more from me (check or cc) before they would BEGIN the surgery. I was floored and almost decked the worker. Needless to say, a 'verbal exchange' ensued by me as I was told if I didn't pay then and there, the surgery would be cancelled and I would be responsible for charges incurred up to that point. I found this highly unethical and felt I had been doped and duped. There should be recourse for the patient and sanctions against the surgery center and/or surgeon involved. I couldn't believe this happened to me and is still happening now! The horror!

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Also happened to me several years ago at the St. Francis Hospital in Topeka, KS. I went in for chest pains and was hooked up to a heart monitor when she came in with her little mobile cart and asked me for a check or credit card. I had already showed them my UHC card. Still makes you wonder how they would have treated you if you didn't pay something up front. Most of it was taken care of by my insurance and I personally don't think you should have that extra worry at that time. Enough to worry about w/o anything extra!

Hosptials started having to collect the "patient responsibilty" if the patient's being discharged or before a scheduled exam because of the massive volume of people that do not pay thier medical bills and once the medical services have been provided, there is nothing that can be done- you can't repo treatment. On the front of most insurance cards it will list a "copay" amount. Copays are due at time of service- not after being billed to the insurance. When you go to a primary care doctor you are expected to pay your copay either upon check in or at check out. In an emergency room, collections should never proceed treatment and if admitted, not collected at all. It is illegal to not treat someone due to inability to pay, so if someone is not able to pay their portion at that time-they could not be turned away. However, if a doctor asses the patient and finds that thier condition is "non emergent" and the patient is using the emergency room as a doctors office, then the hosptial can require a "deposit" before treating. Again, hosptials having to due this because so many people think they can go to the ER and just get free healthcare and will never pay their bill. Healthcare is the only place you can get away with saying, "bill me...." and not have to have a credit check, make payment arrangements, put down collateral, etc. and even if you say, "well you HAVE to have medical treatment" Well you have to have food to live too but try telling the grocery store clerk to just bill you. It woundn't be a problem to just bill the patient if so many people hadn't abused the system. Just like everything else, it's the people that do the right thing that end up paying the price for those that don't.

Alta Bates ER in Oakland. this happened to me on June 1, 2012!
I went to the ER at Alta Bates on Hawthorne St in Oakland with a head concussion.
I was brought back to the ER. Before the physician assistant even came in, the receptionist came in, moved back the privacy curtain, and asked for my co-payment and credit card!
I had a head concussion and was disoriented and they were having me get up, bend down to get my purse, dig out my credit card, and pay the copay right then and there.
They were sure in a rush to get my credit card. Yet I sat there alone for another 30 minutes before any medical professional came in to see me.

OMG this was shocking. I worked in a hospital before retiring, and I have never heard of this before now. I can't imagine how these people felt. I know if I had of done this I would have been fired. Thank God I worked in Nursing. If I had been any one of those people I would have started yelling help as loud as I could and got those people throwed out. The ER is no place to ask people to pay for services. I understand they want their money, but I thought thats what insurance was for, and I know there is ways to help those who don't have insurance. These people were wrong and should have been fired in my opinion. But then who's asking, right? great story, I really enjoyed it, and as usual Mike Taibbi did a wonderful job with it.. thanks Mike nice job....

One of the most one sided news stories I've seen in years, nowhere near the usual high standards of NBC news. Where is the hospital side of the story, the side where such a large majority of the pt population thinks they are entitled to FREE care. How are hospitals or any business supposed to survive with that business model. Pt's without insurance just assume that they are entitled to use an Emergency Department for every little minor complaint and those with it just assume that the the co-pay doesn't apply. News flash Emergency care Just like everything else costs money. I've been an ED nurse for over 30 years and NEVER have I or any my fellow Drs. or nurses asked someone what type of insurance they had before we cared for them. However after we care for them the business can and should collect their co-pay.

This happened to me at Fountain Valley Hospital in California. My Mother was in the ICU and we were deciding if and when to remove life support. Someone from accounting came into her ICU room asked me how we were going to pay. I told her to leave the room and she would not leave until I told her to try and collect from my Mother or see if she could kick her out. This was horrible and I couldn't believe it was happening. After she left the room she called one of my brothers asking the same questions and he gave her the same response of trying to collect from our Mother. She did not bother us after she received the same response and knew she was not going to get anywhere with us.

My daughter was stopped and had $1200 demanded from her before Childrens' Hospital in OKC, OK would put our 6 yr. old grandson in an ambulance and take him to the airport to be placed on a air ambulance for emergency care in Cincinnati, Ohio. Even though the family informed them that their deductable (would have only taken a phone call as done by finance offices) was completely paid for the year, they were under the impression that if they didn't pay then they wouldn't get to the air ambulance so they paid. If was all refunded back to my daughter but that took several calls.

You will find that Banner Health Hospitals do just this.

In 2008 I was going through Chemo for a very aggressive form of Lymphoma. All my treatments were in the hospital. 5 days in, 3 weeks out then 5 (on average) days in. This went on for 8 months. On about my 5th stay in the hospital, right when things were starting to be very tough, I was hooked up to about 5 bags of Chemo & rescue drugs and in walks a person asking me for an amount of money SHE figured I needed to turn over to her right then.

I told her I was an insured patient and I had no outstanding bills with this hospital and then told her to leave my room!! She did.....Well the next treatment, a different person came in asking once again for money. I told her the same thing.

I felt like a captive person and very vulnerable. This is a horrible practice. This happened to me at St. John (main) in Detroit/Grosse Pointe. From the looks of the prior posts, I would say this strong arm practices are happening everywhere. I agree that the hospitals should be paid for the servics they provide but this practice is inhumane.

Time has change. And yes hospitals are changing their polices to collect up front and although a hospital is in the healing business. It's still "Business". If people don't pay their medical bills it effects all of us. The insured, the uninsured, those that are struggling financially, the healthcare system, every employee at that hospital clinical and non-clinical. Some people (patients/consumers) will tell you that their not going to pay their copay or deductibles at all so go ahead and bill me... Sadly after some time the hospital cannot collect on old debt. While the consumer/patient dodge their bill. It's a viscous system. Unfortunately the economy has effected every business and yes the Healing business is no exception. That's why so many people avoid getting elective or even serious treatment to avoid the expense, but only to risk their very own health. Lord help us all...

My husband and I live north of Austin Texas. Last month, at the end of May 2012, my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer and the doctor informed us he would need a prostatectomy. In shock, we attempted to schedule surgery, but were asked how we wanted to pay. They would not even SCHEDULE surgery until we paid his fee up front. His fee was $250 over our deductible! It took us 2 weeks to refinance our truck, and then we decided to switch doctors. We STILL don't have a surgery date yet, but are seeing the new doctor the 2nd week of July.

My husband and I live north of Austin, Texas. In May, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and told that he needed it removed. In shock, we attempted to schedule his surgery, but were told we had to pay the doctor's ENTIRE fee up front before they would even SCHEDULE the surgery! Panicked and devastated, we ended up refinancing our truck (which took two weeks). After all the despair, we decided to change doctors. Our appointment with the new doctor isn't until the middle of July, 2 MONTHS after his diagnosis!!!!

My husband and I live north of Austin, Texas. In May, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and told that he needed it removed. In shock, we attempted to schedule his surgery, but were told we had to pay the doctor's ENTIRE fee up front before they would even SCHEDULE the surgery! Panicked and devastated, we ended up refinancing our truck (which took two weeks). After all the despair, we decided to change doctors. Our appointment with the new doctor isn't until the middle of July, 2 MONTHS after his diagnosis!!!!

Some big dental companies are doing the same thing. They will give you the estimate of what insurance will pay + what you will pay. Told them I could not pay anything insurance did not pay. Told not to worry and sign the agreement. Dentist did the procedures, but when leaving---I was told I would have to pay my part (hundreds)! I said I couldn't pay and the police came to take me to jail for theft of services. Relative came and paid with credit card. We knew this was against federal debt collection laws,so we had Tx Health & Human Services, and Attorney General assist us. The remaining balance was written off, and were told there had been an error???? People need to know what their rights are, and tell providers you do know about consumer rights and demand them. They will get by with whatever you allow them to. There is a time and place to pay, so do pay what is owed---but not under duress.

Big dental offices are also demanding payment for anything insurance doesn't cover before you are allowed to leave, or they accuse you of theft of services and calling the police to take you to jail if you can't pay. Know your rights and do whatever to see they are complied with. The attorney general, Health & Human Services, FTC should be called upon to help. My expected coinsurance was written off with their intervention as an error??. Know your rights (federal-state debt collection laws/Fair Debt Collections Act) and seek help when they are violated!!!!

This is just one of the reasons why the American for-profit health care system needs to be scrapped and go to universal, one payer health care! The US is the only major country in the world that does not insure that its citizens have equal access to health care! Disgraceful!!

Time to send the Teabaggers on their way, modernize health care, ban the insurance companies, nationalize the hospitals and cover everyone with Medicare!

Any politician that opposes this cares as little for his/her constituents as Idi Amin, Kim Jun Il, or any of the other tyrants in history who murdered their own people for personal profit!

The healthcare system I worked for had disciplinary measures in place for those employees who did not collect co-pays. An employee could lose their job for not getting patients to pay. It doesn't matter if they are in the ER or having surgery will are told to ask for the money. A patient can say no several times but we will keep asking. Some days we will take a patients last dollar they have. There is pressure on the employees from management to get the money and keep in mind if they are not successful collecting from patients they could lose their job. All this coming from a non-profit hospital system, unbelievable. This system targets commercial, Medicare and Medicare hmo patients. Really horrible that's one of the reasons I left the organization. I know what they are doing is wrong and I was glad to see someone exposing this racket!

What an incredibly poor job of holding the collection company and the hospital accountable. Please buy your staff copies of "Elements of Journalism" by Bill Kovach.

Of course the hospital could have discussed individual cases. The patients interviewed would have gladly given your reporters and the hospital releases necessary to allow them to do that.

Consistently, your show does a weak job of holding anyone accountable. Given the resources of NBC, that's truly a disappointment.

Thank you for this story. I had a recent similar experience at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, where I spent 21 days inpatient. Although I never had any collectors visit the room, I had calls to my room from the business office beginning my first day there, asking me how I was going to pay the $2000.00 for uninsured patients. They sent a collection notice in the mail to my home 2 days later, when that could have been walked up to my room. My total charges for the 21 days inpatient, excluding doctors' fees, lab fees, etc. that are billed separately totaled $170,886.35.

This illness has left me disabled, and I required further daily outpatient treatment for further 12 days following my inpatient treatment, because I could not afford the approximately $5400 for a month's supply of the life-saving medications I required. NO ONE, least of all, the social worker assigned to the floor prepared me for these expenses or offered any assistance in finding resources to supply the medication, knowing I was uninsured and indigent.

I now owe a total of $257,079.25 to the hospital, doctors, labs, etc. who helped save my life. However, this is an amount I will never be able repay, certainly not in the short term, and to harass me even by phone for money, when I needed as little additional stress on my mind and body as possible, is in my opinion unconscionable. It is for these reasons that I strongly advocate for the Affordable Care Act and universal healthcare in this country.

Even further, after my discharge, I learned that a hospital administrator had violated my rights under HIPAA by forging my signature on an authorization to release my personal information. Again this was in an attempt to collect for treatment; the administrator was submitting an application on my behalf to a foundation which replaces medications used by hospitals in treating the uninsured and underinsured at no cost to either the patient or the hospital. However, there was no reason to forge my signature. Why not discuss with me the attempt to lower my bill and ask for my signature.

"Is he almost under?"

"OK, ask him so sign the papers, please".

Ministry of Information Retrieval, anyone? (Brazil ref)

People, read the HIPAA law. It doesn't protect you as well as you think. Your employer, or whoever is paying for your health insurance, has a right to know certain things about your medical conditions. The insurance companies, themselves, get a fairly detailed report of your medical records. They have to in order to know if they should pay the bill. I was appalled when I found out how little the law protects my privacy.