doc's quote vs final bill

demIMo SG

hi...my dad went for a day surgery this morning. During the consultation before the ops, the doctor told us the operation fee will be $2k plus and also his doctor fees abt $2k..so the total bill will be $4k plus...

however to when i went to pay the bill it come up till 8k...with the doctor fee being charged for 4.5k..

What can i do if he insist i have to buy the 8k bill instead of wat he quote mi...as watever he told mi was verbally..there was no black and white..

Please help the bill is really too high for my family

Ferret SG

have u spoken to him directly ?

FireIce SG

go to the hospital's patient social service dept
u have to go through some interviews to make sure tt your family finances is relli not enough or unable to afford.... they will give you some subsidy or waiver

FireIce SG

by the way, neber believe 100% in wat the doctor quote
they oni let u know as reference oni
the final bill will not be the same

BangHong SG

You need to prepare your statement for tax...etc...

they will check your family income and check throughly before they give subsidy's.

demIMo SG

thx for all the reply in such a short time..

To Ferret, i havent spoken to him personally yet...coz he still doing another operation.

To FireIce, for ur second post..i agree that we cant trust the quotation 100%..but twice the amount wat he quote mi is too much..

To BangHong, we are not looking for subsidy...coz we can afford the bill based on wat he had quote($2000+++) us earlier but due to debts..we couldnt pay this 8k lump sum at 1 go..and we are not sure how much the insurance will cover...

angel7030 SG

Wha! so much different, when u talk to the doc before the ops, are there any other peoples around. Bring them along and talk to the doctor again. Tell him that if he wanted to charge high, at least be reasonable, inform you and your family members first. Or worst to worst, it can be another few hundreds more, how can it be more than half of what he said, u all got hear wrongly or not??

Since now operated liao, take your time to find out before paying, slow slow also can. One thing good in singapore under the medical law of their association is cure first before pay.

Ferret SG

thx for all the reply in such a short time..

To Ferret, i havent spoken to him personally yet...coz he still doing another operation.

To FireIce, for ur second post..i agree that we cant trust the quotation 100%..but twice the amount wat he quote mi is too much..

talk to him first, ask him why so much more than originally quoted. Ask what were the "extras" ?

demIMo SG

tml he will call mi..coz today he got ops till night..

my father and mi was the onli 1 when the doc told us abt the cost..and i'm sure we did not heard wrong...

i jus afraid he insist us paying the 8k...then die liao lo...

FireIce SG

To FireIce, for ur second post..i agree that we cant trust the quotation 100%..but twice the amount wat he quote mi is too much..

why dun u heed my 1st post instead?

Ponders SG

why dun u heed my 1st post instead?

Actually, before any operations you have to find out how much is the doctor charging for his/her operation.

Because many others are quite fixed.

i had an 11k operation before that end up to be 13.5k, turn out the 2.5 k extra is from anesthesiologist charge, and some medical supplies that were used during the operations.

but the doctor's fees were as quoted, and so are the hospital stays and ops room charge.

so for a doctor to change his price.. like quite unprofessional.

maurizio13 SG

Most professionals behave very unprofessionally these days, a few years ago I went to a law firm regarding initiating a claim that would ultimately lead to a bankruptcy order, the initial quote was under $8,000. After 2 legal letters (haven't even proceeded to writ of summons), the cost ran up to thousand plus. I ask about the cost again to get some reassurance that the cost will not exceed $8,000, they told me it will cost at least $15,000 to proceed to bankruptcy order. Geez! The person owes me slightly more than the cost of the legal fees, I was very sure I can't get back a cent and it will inevitably lead to a bankruptcy order. In the end, I just paid my dues to the law firm and kiss them good bye.

These days most professional and firms behave more like sharks, they are only in it for the $$$ nothing else.

CreativeMaggot SG

As a doctor, he have no idea how much it cost.

What a doctor can quote you is the rough fee for surgery and his own consultation fee. Complications might vary and doses of medicines and other treatments might change in the course of the operation itself increasing the price of the surgery.

And also, there might be hospitalization fees as well as other misc. fees that is not under direct control of the doctor.