Eric Ferguson of Mooresville, NC was given a bill for $89,000
by Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, which treated him for a
venomous snake-bite last August. Included in the itemized bill from the
hospital was a $81,000 charge for four doses of anti-venom -- the same
anti-venom that can be had on Ebay for $750. The hospital and Ferguson's
insurer settled for $20,227, of which Ferguson paid $5,400.
Ferguson does not fault the standard of care at the hospital ("beyond phenomenal"), but he is understandably curious about the $80,000+ markup on the medicine with which he was treated. The hospital itself is already under investigation for overbilling.
Asked to comment on the snake bite billing, Lake Norman officials provided a written statement: “… Hospitals only collect a small percentage of our charges, or ‘list prices.’ We are required to give Medicare one level of discount from list price, Medicaid another, and private insurers negotiate for still others. … If we did not start with the list prices we have, we would not end up with enough revenue to remain in operation. … Our costs for providing uncompensated care are partially covered by higher bills for other patients.
“In some cases, Lake Norman Regional’s charge is considerably higher than other local hospitals,” the statement said. But the hospital said it offers discounts of 62 to 65 percent to “self-pay” patients without insurance.
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