Medi-cal and the ER

Medical bill does not make sense

Hey guys. Not sure if I’m on the right subreddit.

I went to the ER towards the end of September after I had karate chop a table in two (don’t ask). By that time I was under Medi-Cal (Cal Optima in Orange County, CA). I did get some letters from the hospital which I didn’t really care about because they weren’t bills or didn’t contain pertaining infos. I did call at some point because I had a question and the lady pretty much said my out of pocket COULD be 180$ something out of the 3k$ for the ER visit.

Now the part where it doesn’t make sense :

A month later I got a bill from the hospital totaling $1012. Automated text. I go in the statement to understand what’s the reason behind the amount and I see “Non-Payment AMVI CARE MEDI-CAL

Coverage not in effect on the day service was provided.”

I immediately called the billing department and explained my situation. By the time I was done giving my Medi-cal ID he asked “Medi-Cal?” Which I said yes to. The dude on the line advised me to wait 30 days because they needed to bill the other party (which I assumed is Medi-cal itself). It’s gonna be 30 days in two days but I want to call tomorrow. My question being, will my bill be waived?

Point is I was covered the day I went to the ER and this was my first time ever. So I don’t understand why the part about the coverage not in effect part. I even called medi-cal because I was moving away at the time and they even assured me that if not with CalOptima, I would still be under straight Medi-cal. I obviously had a lot of medical stuff done such as blood taken out, physicals, dentists and what not and never got billed. Is this those things where the hospital bills you because they think you’re stupid and will pay out of pressure? Because I am definitely not paying a cent.

Thanks

submitted by /u/dnng_
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