A hospital that billed a woman $83,046 for a visit that included administering two doses of scorpion antivenom said Wednesday that it plans to adjust the woman's bill and review its price for the specialty medication.
Marcie Edmonds provided a copy of her bill to The Arizona Republic last week that showed Chandler Regional Medical Center charged her $39,652 per dose of Anascorp, a scorpion antivenom approved by the Food and Drug Administration last summer. She received two doses to treat her symptoms during a three-hour stay in June after a bark scorpion sting.
Edmonds' insurer, Humana, paid Chandler Regional $57,509 for the bill. The hospital has asked Edmonds for the balance of $25,537. She also has received another bill from the hospital's emergency-room physician for $1,302.
It's unclear whether Chandler Regional will agree to drop the entire balance of Edmonds' bill, but the hospital apologized to Edmonds for any distress caused by the treatment cost.
"Our patient financial-services team is working directly with Ms. Edmonds to adjust the high out-of-network cost of the Anascorp antivenom she received," the hospital said in a statement Wednesday. "In addition, we are also currently reviewing our pricing of this expensive specialty medication."
TXT 24
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