Niamh Shackleton
A mom was hit with a huge ER bill, despite her daughter not making it past the waiting room.
In December 2023, Maggi Wettstein's daughter Ryan woke up crying.
Ryan, who was three years old at the time, was said to be inconsolable, and her mom feared she had a yeast infection or a UTI, so she took her to Carle Health Methodist Hospital at around 10:30pm.
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The ER wasn't very busy when they arrived, and Ryan was checked in.
Explaining the toddler's symptoms, Ryan was sent to triage and given a nasal swab test to check for COVID-19.
As time went on while Maggi and Ryan were in the waiting room, Maggi noticed her daughter had seemingly perked up a bit and had stopped crying.
Knowing it was late and Ryan had pre-school the next day, the mom decided to take Ryan home to bed.
According to Maggi, there was no one at the desk for them to check out upon leaving, so they just headed home.
Eight months on, the family had 'forgotten all about the ER trip' until they were met with a large medical bill from the hospital.
Despite Ryan simply having a nasal swab test, Maggi was charged an eye-watering $445, KFF Health News reports.
With an insurance discount, the bill came to just over $298, but Maggi still thought it was a particularly high price to pay as Ryan wasn't even seen by a doctor.
As well as this, Walgreens sells COVID and flu combination tests for as little as $30, so Maggi was left wondering what warranted such an expensive ER bill.
Maggi hailed the sum as 'mind-blowing' and called the hospital's billing department to query it.
While she hoped it was a mistake, the large amount has since been verified, and the mom has to pay it.
Speaking about the hefty bill Maggi was slapped with, Loren Adler, associate director of the Brookings Institution Center on Health Policy, said the hospital will have made a 'pretty healthy markup'.
She added that the hospital is 'utilizing their market power to make as much money as possible, and the insurance companies are not all that good at pushing back'.
When approached for comment by KFF Health News, a spokesperson for Carle Health said: "We follow policies that support the safety and wellbeing of our patients, which includes the initial triage of symptomatic patients to the Emergency Department."
UNILAD have also approached the company for comment.