I was at @sibleyonline for a bowel obstruction back in May. This means that I was on lots of pain meds, in a ton of pain, & hadn't slept. During this time, Dr. Thomas Zorc & Elizabeth Donovan came in, unsolicited, to talk to me about surgery. #CripTax #Healthcare 2/
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Dr. Zorc sat down & told me that I needed surgery immediately & spent several minutes trying to convince me that "this is what he would do if it was his daughter." He also preyed on the fact that I have trauma around NG tubes, and made it seem like...
@sibleyonline 3/Show this thread -
if I didn't get surgery right away, only other option was NG tube. Dr Zorc then informed me that he doesn't take my BCBS insurance because "it didn't pay him enough, don't let that bother me, & that if I couldn't pay we could "work out an equitable arrangement."
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Meanwhile, his nurse Elizabeth Donovan tried to convince me that Dr. Zorc was the ONLY surgeon I should use, he's the best, basically nobody else should touch me. I was starting to feel like I really did need surgery, but the pressure felt wrong.
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I wanted a second opinion, & it was incredibly hard to fight for one. The nurses weren't helping, but someone my GI works with checked on me & helped me, & my mom was there to advocate for me, too.
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I got a second opinion from another surgeon, who told me that getting emergency surgery was a bad idea. Getting surgery while inflamed would make it more complex & leave more possibility for complications (the blockage ended up clearing).
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I ended up getting surgery in August, following a round of steroids & tapering, & under the best possible circumstances. But what I experienced with Dr. Zorc & Donovan was unethical, unsolicited, & uncomfortable. I complained to my GI & on hospital survey.
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Now, those 10 uncomfortable minutes have brought me a $2,300 bill. I was NEVER warned that his consult was going to cost this much because he doesn't accept Blue Cross. There was no informed consent & no choice.
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I am going to raise hell about this. How many patients have this surgeon & nurse forced into paying thousands of dollars, only so he can try to get more money out of them on surgeries that aren't even in their best interest?
@sibleyonlineShow this thread -
This is the most insidious form of
#CripTax I have ever experienced. I'm furious and I WILL be raising hell. You don't want to piss off a chronically ill disability activist who gets joy out of fighting the patriarchy & medical industrial complex@sibleyonlineShow this thread -
Also as a follow up on this: I'm less worried for myself (because I have a good support network & know how to advocate) than I am for the countless other patients I'm guessing Dr. Zorc has pulled this on. Patients need protected from this manipulation
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From my mom: she was in the room while this consult happened, and said the entire time she felt that he was "like a slimy salesman." Luckily our BS monitors were both working & mom went on a mission to find out how to get a second opinion (couldn't get w/o her).
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Also to add: this didn't happen in the emergency room, this was when I was admitted. My mom says that the nurse came to us to tell us that he wanted to talk to us. We did NOT ask for him & in fact hadn't really discussed surgery before this.
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If
@sibleyonline is going to have a surgeon who doesn't believe in accepting common insurance because of his own greed, they shouldn't be allowed to call him in on emergency cases or without INFORMED CONSENT of the bill that comes with it.Show this thread -
I should add that this is the EOB for out of network, not the actual bill yet, but as it is out of network and I haven't met my out of network deductible (because I don't go out of network) this will be the cost.
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Update: I'm glad this thread is getting attention. I talked to my GI and she forwarded this on to the surgeon who did my resection in August. He's the head of
@sibleyonline surgery. I have a to-do list about a page long with what I'm planning on doing to fight this.Show this thread -
Update: for everyone saying we need legislation passed on this,
@SenBillCassidy has proposed S. 1531. There's also house legislation. Please, please, please call your Senators and Representatives to ask them to pass it.https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/stop-surprise-medical-bills-act-reaches-21-senate-cosponsors …Show this thread -
Also: yes. This is legal. It's unethical as hell, but Zorc and Donovan didn't break the law. We need to fix the law because my bill is only $2,300, but people are getting Bill's for $15,000, 20, 100k. End surprise medical billing now.
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I've had several people defend the surgeon and his right to get more than I take home in a month for 10 minutes of his time, & others defend his pressuring me into surgery. This whole thing is making my Crohn's flare & I'm not dealing with devil's advocates.
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The nurse I mention is actually a PA, and she wasn't a floor nurse, she works in Zorc's practice (clarifying because some were saying she was scouting for him but that isn't accurate)
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UPDATE: I got a call from the president of Sibley this morning, and will hopefully be talking to him this afternoon.
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UPDATE: I just talked to
@sibleyonline's president. Sibley (and many hospitals) have an internal "expectation and policy" that doctors in the on-call rotation will NOT balance bill patients when they are out of network. This policy is not stated to patients.Show this thread -
What I got, as I said before, was not a bill, it was an EOB. If Zorc balance billed me, he would be out of compliance with policy & taken off the on-call rotation...if
@sibleyonline found out about it.Show this thread -
But there's absolutely no communication of this policy to the patients, from what I can tell. And since these are private practices, if they balance bill, I don't think there would be transparency between the private practice and
@sibleyonline. That's a problem.Show this thread -
How could patients know if they get balance billed that this is against
@sibleyonline policy? I explained to Dr. Hasan Zia, interim president of Sibley, that this lack of transparency is a problem. He agrees, & wants to take action to fix it.Show this thread -
I will be staying in touch with Dr. Zia and
@sibleyonline because there needs to be information so that patients know about this policy. We need to know so that we don't panic when we receive an EOB & we can report it to Sibley if we receive a balance bill.Show this thread -
Unfortunately, policy alone probably won't fix this though. Many patients still may not know where to find that patient education if they receive a bill. The only way to fix it is to pass legislation like H.R. 861 & SB 1531 to outlaw surprise medical billing.
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I'm a disability advocate who does this for a living, and it took talking to the president of
@sibleyonline to resolve this issue. Most people don't have that level of privilege. I will keep fighting so that patients are informed, Sibley is transparent, & we get this legislation.Show this thread -
Also, another reminder that way we can truly end this practice is to outlaw surprise medical billing. Call your Congresspeople and ask them to pass HR 861 and SB 1531, bipartisan legislation to end surprise medical billing. Call the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
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Lengthy thread for those trying to rationalize the medical advice I received or the surgery sales pitch:https://twitter.com/Sblahov/status/1199213521394905088?s=19 …
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