Help with a Norwegian Hospital Bill
October 15, 2014 4:03 PM   Subscribe

An American friend became ill while in Norway last year while on vacation, and had to spend a day in hospital. The hospital now wants >$5,000, despite the bill supposedly being paid by insurance in January (the American insurance company is supposed to have covered it all except for a nominal copayment). They keep on sending him letters from Norway. What should he do?

The way I see it, he has three options:
1) Contact the Norwegian hospital, and tell them that they need to contact the insurance company for any further payment
2) Pay
3) Don't pay (and presumably never return to Norway?)

Frankly, this hospital has been very unhelpful, and option 3) is looking more and more attractive. His American insurance company claim that they have paid.

Anyone have experience about visiting a hospital while in Norway, and dealing with billing? Any recommendations?
posted by troytroy to Health & Fitness (8 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
He should get a copy of the payment from the insurer and send it to the Norwegian hospital.

And no, an unpaid hospital bill (valid or mistaken) doesn't bar him from travel to Norway in future.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:17 PM on October 15, 2014 [3 favorites]


When you say "Claim that they have paid", do you mean that he has proof of such on a document from his insurance company called an Explanation of Benefits? (This is a document that insurance companies send every time you make a claim that shows how much the insurance company paid to the hospital and for what. He would either get this in the mail or on his insurance company's website.) If he doesn't have this, he needs to get his insurance company to send it to him. If he does have it, then he'll have proof of what the insurance company paid or didn't pay. That will tell him if he actually owes money to the hospital or if they're just confused.
posted by bleep at 4:17 PM on October 15, 2014 [3 favorites]


Agree with bleep. The insurance company will be able to tell your friend clearly what his responsibility is. If the hospital was out of network, your friend could be liable for the difference between what the hospital charged and what the insurance company paid. The EOB should break it all down clearly.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:33 PM on October 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


His American insurance company claim that they have paid.

Why do you say they "claim" they paid? Why this choice of words? You have no papers showing that they received and paid the bills? Check copies, transmittal letters?

Phone the insurance company and get the papers. Send the copies to the hospital and ignore all future mail.
posted by JimN2TAW at 6:23 PM on October 15, 2014


Has he contacted the American Embassy for help? That's what I would do at this point.
posted by something something at 6:35 PM on October 15, 2014


A family member from Canada went to the U.S. and had to go to the hospital. The insurance company was contacted and everything was supposedly taken care of. A few months later, the hospital contacted the family member asking for payment. They contacted the insurance company again who told them to forward a copy of the letter and that everything was taken care of. The same thing happened a few months later. Then, about a year after the visit to the hospital, a letter from lawyers of the hospital was received, asking for payments. After contacting the insurance company yet again, the truth was found: the insurance company had been negotiating for lower payment as, apparently is the practice in the U.S. That time, it seemed that the matter was finally resolved.

So, my advice would be the same as a few others have already mentioned: contact the insurance company and *insist* for proof of payment. They might still be trying to pay less to the hospital in Norway than the cost claimed, while telling your friend that they have paid...
posted by aroberge at 6:56 PM on October 15, 2014


Travel Insurance companies drag out payments. My Australian mother that got sick in the US got hassled for almost 12 months from the US hospital before the insurance company got around to paying the bill & even then she got hassled for things they claimed the insurance didn't cover.

They may also have not paid the full amount, has he received an invoice, that invoice should show payment from the insurance company and how much they paid, if they have paid. There may still be an amount the hospital & the insurance company are arguing over. The hospital will try & get the money from the patient because it is easier than trying to get money from an insurance company. The insurance company will insist they don't owe it & that the hospital should write it off. If the invoice shows no payment of any amount then get proof of payment from the insurance company & send that to the hospital.
posted by wwax at 8:08 PM on October 15, 2014


Hi Norway here checking in! The easiest way to resolve this is actually get a receipt from the insurance company and forward to the hospital. Provide an explanation in English (it's our second language) and ask they confirm payment.

Norwegian health care really doesn't want to chase anyone down for money - nor is it profitable. One caveat though - previously hospitals and otherr state agencies would use their own internal collections agencies meaning limited reach for out of country collections however it is now being farmed out to larger, international companies.

If they do send a collections demand to one of the larger agencies they will be able to harrass you in the USA and threaten your credit, but ultimately will not be able to execute as soon as you dispute the case. It will however, be the start of a hellish collections cycle - as debt collection in the USA is a ruthless sport.

tldr: Get copy of payment from carrier, scan and email or fax to hospital with nice cover letter asking for confirmation the debt has been discharged. Should do the trick....
posted by Funmonkey1 at 2:34 AM on October 16, 2014


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