In fact, some insurance companies claim hospitals are failing to submit requests to insurance companies on behalf of their patients who are then asked to pay in cash.
“I went to a private hospital for an appointment with a dermatologist when the receptionist told me that my insurance card had been rejected by my insurance company and that I now had to pay. I was naturally surprised because I have the best VIP health insurance coverage,” said Sahar Tariq, 25.
“I later called my insurance company to follow up on the rejection … I was informed that the hospital had not even sent the request … when I called the patients’ complaints department at the hospital to protest, I was told I had been asked to pay for a treatment that I had not even received. I was told that the receptionist had charged me SR375 by mistake,” she added.
In another case, a private hospital charged a patient who was kept at hospital for four days SR5,000.
“When I admitted my employee who was suffering from dehydration, they said they would keep him for four days and that it would cost SR200 a day. They said they would put him up in a third class room and promised to keep the costs at a minimum,” said Alan Barton, manager of the Al-Zawia decoration shop.
The employee had been admitted into hospital after suffering amoebic dysentery that led to dehydration.
“I was surprised by the size of the bill when I got it because it included the weirdest treatments and costs. They charged me SR200 a day for the doctor to visit him and SR100 for the nurse to visit him,” he said.
“They also charged me for unnecessary medical tests, supplies and medication that weren’t needed. I ended up owing the hospital almost SR6,000. After scanning the bill, they gave me a SR800 discount,” said Barton.
Housewife Taroob Badkoon said she was asked to pay for her son’s blood test after the hospital told her that it was not covered by her insurance policy.
“My child was suffering from fever when I took him to the doctor. He said he wanted to take more tests and a blood test was one of them,” she said.
“When we were done with it, the receptionist told me I had to pay SR200 because it’s not covered by my insurance. I then called my insurance company which informed me that the hospital hadn’t contacted them and that my insurance does cover the blood test,” she added.
“SR 200 is not much, but I wonder how many people are tricked into paying cash. There are many people who cannot afford to pay this and have to make ends meet to pay. It’s a fraud,” she said.
The CEO of an insurance company that provides medical coverage said his company has received many complaints from policyholders over the last few months.
“I have been informed that doctors order patients who have insurance policies to undergo unnecessary tests just to increase the bill. This can affect both the insurance company and the patient, because every patient has a limit that he or she cannot exceed in a year,” he said.
“When a hospital informs someone that his insurance is rejected, they should check with the insurance company because when they don’t we end up getting blamed by the hospital,” he added.
“What hospitals are doing is unprofessional and an abuse of both the patients and insurance companies that they deal with,” he added.