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FAIRFIELD, Calif. (KGO) — It’s a scenario no parent wants to imagine: rushing your newborn baby to the hospital. But after waiting 90 minutes, you leave with no answers.
Months later, a massive bill arrives.
Are you responsible? 7 On Your Side investigated.
“It’s crazy. It’s insane,” Fairfield mom Christina Ramirez told 7 On Your Side’s Stephanie Sierra. “What’s also scary is the bill that comes afterwards.”
Christina Ramirez was on a family trip in Vegas when her 9-month-old son, Noah, got sick.
They flew home, but his symptoms didn’t improve.
“I got really worried because it wouldn’t stop. He was having a hard time breathing,” Ramirez said.
She rushed him to the emergency room at NorthBay Health in Fairfield.
“We got checked in, and they took his weight, and they gave us an oxygen monitor on his finger,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez says they waited about 25 minutes.
“When we were seen by another nurse, she told us they were going to do some bloodwork to check if he had the flu or COVID,” Ramirez said.
She says no one came. Every minute was agonizing.
“We waited for about an hour and 30 minutes,” Ramirez said. “They did not do anything at all.”
Feeling helpless, they decided to leave.
Luckily, Ramirez says Noah’s symptoms did improve, and he wasn’t in pain.
That’s until Ramirez got the bill: $4,914 in billed charges, about $737 of which she owed.
“What was your reaction when you got the bill?” 7 On Your Side’s Stephanie Sierra said.
“I was shocked,” Ramirez said.
“I have no idea how I’m going to pay that, especially surviving on one income,” Ramirez said.
NorthBay Health told 7 On Your Side: “Emergency Department facility charges are calculated based on nursing time and hospital resources utilized to diagnose and treat the patient.”
NorthBay Health added that it uses the American College of Emergency Physicians guidelines, a standard widely used by hospitals throughout the country.
But Ramirez says the interaction between Noah and hospital staff was only about 10 minutes. She claims that in that time a nurse took Noah’s weight and vitals. The blood tests were never administered.
Ramirez said she requested an itemized bill, but the bill NorthBay provided didn’t list specific services.
“They said just checking in alone and filling out the forms and everything was that much,” Ramirez said. “I was definitely angry. I tried calling NorthBay billing to see what they could do for me.”
Ramirez said, at first, she was hopeful the hospital staff would work with her. But after repeated calls, she said they wouldn’t budge.
“They were very adamant about having that paid,” Ramirez said. “It’s crazy. It’s insane.”
So, she called 7 On Your Side.
“I got a response right away. Things happened very quickly,” Ramirez said.
NorthBay Health initially told 7 On Your Side: “Billing is based on services initiated during the encounter. If a patient or family chooses to leave prior to completing all planned services, the provided care up to that point is documented and billed accordingly.Our priority remains providing excellent care.”
We pushed back on that. Following our correspondence, Ramirez says NorthBay Health agreed to cut her bill by 20%.
NorthBay Health added: “This difference reflects NorthBay Health’s policy of providing an 85% discount off billed charges for all uninsured patients seen in our Emergency Department, a policy that applies regardless of individual circumstances.”
Ramirez paid the remainder of her reduced bill but worries if this could happen again.
“As a parent, you only want the best for your child. The amount it costs to figure this out is really sad,” Ramirez said.
In California, emergency room visit costs vary widely depending on the hospital, insurance coverage and severity of the condition. Hospitals in the Bay Area often have higher self-pay rates than lower-cost facilities in other parts of California. Generally, for non-emergencies, urgent care can be up to 10 times cheaper.
According to a CostKits analysis, a typical emergency room visit in California costs $301 to $693 for a commercially insured patient, including facility and physician fees. The median reported facility price across 118 hospitals is $296. This estimate is based on CMS fee schedules and hospital price transparency data published under federal law.
Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.
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