A $229,000 medical bill goes to court

An Arm and a Leg

Documentary, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Before her surgery, a hospital told Lisa French she would end up owing them $1,337. After insurance paid them — more than they’d expected to get — the hospital billed her $229,000. And sued her for it.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, Lisa French was a clerk for a trucking company in Denver.
0:04.2	She'd been in a car crash and her doctor told her that to keep her spine stable, she
0:08.4	had to get surgery.
0:10.4	She asked the folks at the hospital what it was going to cost her out of pocket.
0:13.6	They ran her insurance and they told her, you're in, it's going to be $1,336.90.
0:21.6	Then she and her husband sat down at their kitchen table and talked it over.
0:24.8	They had a rainy day fund, $1,000 they'd stocked away, they kept it at home in cash.
0:29.9	Were they ready to spend it all for this?
0:33.1	They decided they were, Lisa went to the hospital with a $1,000 cash.
0:36.4	She had the surgery, went fine.
0:39.2	The hospital had been expecting about $55,000 from Lisa's insurance.
0:43.1	They actually got more, like $74,000.
0:47.2	They decided that wasn't enough.
0:50.0	They decided they wanted their full sticker price, $303,000.
0:56.2	So they billed Lisa French for the rest, $229,000.
1:01.2	And when they didn't get it, they sued her.
1:04.8	Lisa French had her surgery in 2014.
1:07.3	The court case finally got resolved last year in 2022 by the Colorado Supreme Court.
1:13.4	If you've been listening to this show for a while, you probably remember, we have got
1:17.8	a very interested in understanding when we get a wild medical bill, what legal rights
1:23.0	do we have?
1:24.4	How can we use those rights to fight back, even on a small scale, like in small claims
	...

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