Hospital bill timing

Oh no, I hope she's doing okay! I have no help to give you but just wanted to commiserate and also bump your post up at the same time.

However one question did pop into my head. Has she called or talked to the hospital about bills and when she can expect to receive them?

Thanks, Mardee! She is ok and is home now. Yes, she can call the hospital but probably won’t for a week or so. She was just curious about timing - and if I happened to know. Which I don’t. :) So thought I would ask if anyone else had experience.

Notifying her insurance, especially any travel insurance coverage is time sensitive. Not necessarily filing all the paperwork/bills etc, but notifying them that an emergency occurred and that a claim will be coming is very important to do as soon as possible. It sounds like she notified medical insurance. Did she notify travel insurance as well? This could include coverage through credit cards.

Good points, Carol now retired. I will pass along your suggestion to check about travel insurance if it is not all one policy like mine is.

I would think the answer to her question would be for her to talk to her insurance company about it. The reality of it, is even in the US, you don't leave the hospital with a bill in your hand. So, this doesn't seem out of the norm or unreasonable that they didn't give her a bill upon checkout. (Realizing everything is different everywhere you go.)

My only experience with international travel and filing an insurance claim, was an urgent care/doctor visit type situation in France; and we did have our bill handed to us; and then I filed a claim a few weeks later with the medical insurance we purchased specifically for international travel.

My husband was treated and released from emergency in Quebec, Canada. the folks there were so helpful despite my halting French.
They took copies of our Medicare and secondary insurance cards but didn't bill - Canada is a one payer system.
When we received the bill a couple months later I billed both Medicare and our secondary and were were reimbursed by the secondary . (Medicare has a lot of rules abt international travel, etc. )
Bottom line- save all paperwork, hard copy if possible. Then wait for the bill and take it from there.
And keep on travelin' , as he says...

Thanks for the report, dffinch! I am glad it all worked out for you and your husband!