It's well known that Sanford Health offers some of the most sophisticated, breaking medical treatments in the region. But that doesn't mean it comes without paying the price first. We received this story on our whistle blower hotline from a woman in Grand Forks. She says she was worried the medicare system was being taken advantage of by a Fargo hospital. Valley News Live shares her story of being charged substantially more from one hospital to the next.
Not everyone we chat with wants to go on camera, but that doesn't mean they don't think they have something worth while to say.
"Something's gotta change or Medicare is gonna be wiped off the face of this earth. They can't keep going like this."
This woman who wants to remain anonymous is retired now from Grand Forks, says she's spent months adding up her medical bills from a set of shots for back pain. The thing is she went to Sanford Health first then decided she'd try out her local clinic, Aurora Clinic in Grand Forks... Same medication, different price tag.
"Each time I went I had three injections in my back muscles and then I got one from the Aurora Clinic that was four injections of the same stuff and so much less... there's got to be something wrong."
So your probably wondering how much different the bills were, it's pretty substantial.
"I got the bills at about the same time in the mail and I had two clinicals at Sanford and the bill was over $2,700 and I only had one at Aurora Clinic and that came to $216.00. There's something wrong with my bill?"
While her Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance took care of the mass majority of her bill. She's worried about the others who aren't set up as well as she is and the Medicare system in general.
"It's gotta be straightened out cause this is just going down the hill fast and elderly people need this."
She's more concerned about the health care system that she says has seen better days.
"I'm not looking for any money out of this. what I want is I got an abnormal price and there's so many old people who don't know what they're paying and they're just getting took and Sanford is the one benefiting."
Sanford Health says it cannot comment on this specific situation because of patient confidentiality. But late this afternoon its Chief Financial Officer sent us a written statement saying:
"The cost of services depends on a variety of factors,,, including types of treatment, medications, etc. Pricing can also vary based on the level of care in a hospital or clinic setting."
You have questions about your bill at Sanford Health you can contact Sanford patient financial services at 701-234-2119. You can also contact the Senior Medicare Patrol with any questions you have pertaining to fraud or inaccurate bills at 1-800-233-1737.
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