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how to pay an Italian hospital bill?

Posted by (Seattle, WA) on

Hey gang, I have a real doozy of an problem: how do I pay an Italian hospital bill?

Long story short, I had to go to the hospital in Florence. At the time, I paid for the medical care I received. Yesterday, a bill for the same hospital arrived in the mail. The bill is in Italian, and Google translate can only puzzle out a few words, none of which are helpful. I have no idea how to pay this bill. There's no address, no website, no fax number. I've tried the following:

  1. Sending mail to the address on the bill via Gmail. No dice, the mail server is blocking email from Google.
  2. Calling the number on the bill. No dice, no one ever answers.
  3. Calling the Honorary Consulate in Seattle. No dice, no one ever answers and there's no voice mail.
  4. Emailing the Honorary Consulate in Seattle. No dice, their email box is full and won't take new mail.

I'm considering calling the Italian Embassy in San Francisco, 'tho I'm not sure what they can do for me.

So, apart from flying back to Florence, anyone have an idea of how I can pay this thing?

Thanks,

-- Mike Beebe

Posted by
6542 posts

Are you sure it’s a legit bill?
If you paid for your care at time of service why the additional bill?

Is this something you could forward to your medical insurance company for payment ( if you are covered?)

Wondering it it’s just a statement of services but not really a bill?

Posted by
470 posts

Hi @ChristineH:

It's legit. I actually paid in cash at the hospital. My insurance company says I can pay the bill with my HSA card, but doesn't cover out-of-country expenses (if that's what you were saying).

A mystery for sure!

-- Mike Beebe

Posted by
16007 posts

Could it be a sort of receipt for the bill you paid? Nothing translates to the equivalent of "This is not a bill"?

Posted by
470 posts

@Kathy; @ChristineH

Now that I take a closer look at it and run it through a different translator app, I think you're both right: it might an invoice. I don't see anything that says "bill" or "amount due".

Interesting souvenir, then!

-- Mike Beebe

Posted by
16745 posts

I am thinking the same as Kathy. It could be a receipt for what you paid. You need to get an authoritative translation by someone who speaks Italian, not just use a translation app. Sometimes the technical terms on a form are hard to get right.

We accompanied my sister to a hospital when we were traveling together in Italy. The number of forms she had to fill out to get treatment for a simple skin rash was impressive. Both my sister and my husband speak some Italian, and they had trouble figuring out the forms. Fortunately the doctor she saw spoke excellent English, so there was no barrier there. But we never knew if my sis filled out those forms correctly.

Edit; MIke posted while I was writing, so I did not see that. But I am glad to see he is satisfied with the explanation.

Posted by
3210 posts

Perhaps Robert from Firenze on this forum could help you if you pm’ed him?
It would be good to know for sure!

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