Action 9

Action 9 helps local woman correct hospital bill

ORLANDO, Fla. — A local woman who's been winning her battle with cystic fibrosis claims a local hospital billed her thousands for a medication she can't even take.

Kasey Barger Orr has fought to stay alive. She's a cystic fibrosis survivor who had a liver transplant and faced many tough days in the hospital.

It was her latest two-week hospital recovery from the flu that triggered a new fight. “I'm frustrated, disappointed, confused to say the least,” said Orr.

Her treatment at Florida Hospital Winter Park cost $120,000. Her insurance will cover most of it.

But there’s an itemized bill she found really disturbing. She was charged $2,600 for a generic anti-rejection drug treatment she never got, and if she had, she claims it could be fatal. “It's not really a choice if I take a generic, I could go into rejection and essentially pass away,” said Orr.

Instead, she brought her own brand-name anti-rejection drug that she says the hospital coded and administered.

She thought the billing mistake was easy to fix with one call to the hospital. Orr said, “I didn't receive that drug. I brought my own, and they'll take care of it and take it off the bill,”

That's not what happened. Instead the hospital's billing resource center sent her a letter claiming it had reviewed her case and there was no mistake.

The letter listed the days she got the generic drug treatment that Orr had challenged. And she was asked to pay the bill as sent.

“It was like you got to be joking,” said Orr.

Kasey Barger Orr turned to Action 9 and Todd Ulrich took her case to Florida Hospital administrators.

That same week Orr says a manager called and said a second audit found an error, and those charges would be removed from her bill. “I love that hospital.  I want them to make it right,” said Orr.

Florida Hospital confirms her bill was reviewed again but can't comment beyond that because of medical privacy issues. She discovered the mistake by asking for an itemized bill.

According to the American Medical Association, 1 in 10 hospital bills has mistakes.