https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/28/ [login to see] /pay-up-kid-an-ers-error-sends-a-4-year-old-to-collections
Dr. Sara McLin thought she made the right choice by going to an in-network emergency room near her Florida home after her 4-year-old burned his hand on a stove last Memorial Day weekend.
Her family is insured through her husband's employer, HCA Healthcare, a Nashville-based health system that operates more hospitals than any other system in the nation. So McLin knew that a nearby stand-alone emergency room, HCA Florida Lutz Emergency, would be in their plan's provider network.
But McLin said a doctor there told her she couldn't treat her son, Keeling, because he had second- and third-degree burns that needed a higher level of care. The doctor referred them to the burn center at HCA Florida Blake Hospital, about a 90-minute drive away.
McLin, who is a dentist, said the doctor told her the stand-alone ER would not charge for the visit because they did not provide treatment.
"I don't remember exactly how she phrased it, but something along the lines of, 'well, we won't even call this a visit, because we can't do anything,'" McLin said.