Through the nearly yearlong fight over the bill, the Bennetts were also caring for Dorian, who left the hospital with lingering gastrointestinal issues, and managing Chris' treatment for stage 4 neuroendocrine cancer, which was diagnosed in April. "Even the one who does everything right." "It's indicative of all the ways the system fails the patient," Fuse Brown says. The deductible and out-of-pocket maximum did not change.Īlthough UMR is owned by UnitedHealthcare, the two companies did not communicate well about the case. In 2021, Bisi Bennett's employer switched its third-party administrator of its self-funded plan from UnitedHealthcare to UMR. In 2020, Dorian was covered under a UnitedHealthcare plan, which for in-network providers had a $6,000 deductible and $6,000 out-of-pocket maximum for the family. "A bill this large is a huge crisis for the family, but it's not a huge crisis for the insurance company or for the hospital," says Erin Fuse Brown, an associate professor of law at Georgia State University who studies health care policy. She informed AdventHealth about the change.Īs someone who works in the insurance industry, Bennett was pretty sure that she understood the mix-up and that the charge of more than half a million dollars was unjustified. The size of the Bennetts' bill stems from two overlapping issues: Baby Dorian was born in 2020 and needed hospital care into 2021, and Bisi Bennett's employer shifted its health plan to a different company in January 2021.
EASY POWER PLAN BOOK SOFTWARE
A spokesperson for the hospital, David Breen of AdventHealth, did not answer KHN's questions about its billing software or why a five-digit monthly payment was not flagged by the hospital as a problem that might need extra attention. The laughably unrealistic plan was apparently automatically generated by the hospital's billing system. The installment amount offered to the Bennetts - $45,843 - resembles an annual salary more than a reasonable monthly payment. But the Bennett family's experience shows the system is still far from friendly to patients. What Gives: Under the 2010 health law, nonprofit hospitals are required to provide financial assistance to help patients pay their bills, and payment plans can be part of that assistance. "They cut the cord, and the last thing I heard was, 'He has a pulse,' before they wheeled me away." "He was still connected to me with the umbilical cord when they rolled the two of us together into the hospital," Bisi says.
The EMS team escorted the family to the hospital. Chris Bennett turned on the SUV's flashers and flagged down a passing emergency vehicle. Her husband kept one hand on his newborn son's back and one hand on the wheel.īorn breech, meaning his head emerged last, Dorian wasn't crying at first, and the terrified new parents feared something was wrong. About halfway through the trip, Bennett gave birth to Dorian in her family's Mitsubishi Outlander. She shouted to her husband, Chris, and they ran to the car to start the 15-minute drive to AdventHealth hospital in Orlando, Fla. Then, she felt a contraction so strong it knocked her off the couch. She was about seven months pregnant with her first child, Dorian, and the thought that she could be in labor didn't even cross her mind. 12, 2020, Bisi Bennett was sitting on the couch in her pajamas and feeling uncomfortable. Despite having insurance, mom Bisi Bennett and her husband faced a bill of more than $550,000 and were offered an installment payment plan of $45,843 per month for 12 months.Ĭlose to midnight on Nov. Baby Dorian Bennett arrived two months early and needed neonatal intensive care.