A hospital in Atlanta city charged a Georgian woman Rs 51,279.01, for waiting in the emergency room even though they did not provide her with treatment.
Taylor Davis had visited the Emory Decatur Hospital in July to get a head injury treated but had to return home without treatment, after waiting for seven hours.
She was shocked when she received the bill from the hospital weeks after she had visited them. She was convinced that it was a mistake and decided to call the hospital. “I didn’t get my vitals taken, nobody called my name. I wasn’t seen at all,” So I called them and she [an employee] said it’s hospital protocol even if you’re just walking in and you’re not seen. When you type in your social (social security number), that’s it. You’re going to get charged regardless,” Taylor told news channel Fox 5 Atlanta.
Upon dialing up the hospital she realized that a fee is charged when a patient visits the hospital’s emergency room regardless of whether they are treated. The visitation fee is added to a patient’s bills and usually goes unnoticed.
The hospital said that the bill was an emergency room visitation fee that is added to the total hospital bill and is not normally as noticeable as it was in Taylor’s case. She sent an email to the hospital expressing her concern and received a reply that said, “You get charged before you are seen. Not for being seen.”
Taylor said that she has been reluctant to visit a hospital for any emergency since then. “I’m very reluctant to go to the hospital now. That’s kind of like the last resort now. Seeing that they’re able to bill you for random things, it doesn’t make me want to go. So that’s not good,” she said.