Doctor Faces $64K Bill for Ankle Surgery and Hospital Stay
Physician Lauren Hughes was driving to a clinic about 20 miles from her Denver home in February when another driver T-boned her Subaru, completely destroying the car. She was transported by ambulance to Platte Valley Hospital.
In the emergency room, Hughes was diagnosed with bruising, a deep cut on her knee, and a broken ankle. Doctors recommended immediate surgery. She recalled,
“They said: ‘You have this fracture and a big gaping wound in your knee. We need to take you to the OR to wash it out and make sure there’s no infection.’ As a clinician, I thought, ‘Yes.’”
Hughes was taken to the operating room early in the evening and then admitted to the hospital overnight. Surgeons cleaned the cut on her right knee, caused by the car’s dashboard, and realigned the broken bone in her right ankle, stabilizing it with screws.
Surgery is usually advised when a fracture is unlikely to heal properly with just a cast.
Despite her insurance plan through work, the hospital was out-of-network. They charged $63,976.35 for the surgery and overnight stay. Her insurer stopped paying shortly after she left the emergency room.
Summary
This case highlights the surprising financial burden patients face from out-of-network hospital care, even with insurance coverage.