ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
Outside of an Emergency Trauma Center. (Credit: WINK News) A ride to work on his bike, turned into an eight and a half month fight that could have bankrupted him. “It turned my life upside down,” said Brian Gerke, who had recently relocated to Cape Coral from New York when he was hit by a car in September 2018. Gerke was also uninsured at the time, and Lee Health billed him $93,000 for trauma response and surgeries after the accident. He said none of it made sense, and he didn’t know if he was being charged too much. The affordable care act required hospitals to make public their charge information in 2010, but the rule was not enforced until years later. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services reminded hospitals of this rule, and asked them to post a machine readable format of their charge master price lists by January 2019. In Southwest Florida, most hospitals have their charge master price list available online, albeit some are difficult to locate. WINK News was able to download price information for Lee Health, NCH Healthcare System, Physicians Regional Healthcare System, Bayfront Health and Fawcett Memorial Hospital. “The chargemaster rate can be particularly helpful for consumers to use to better understand and compare charges from hospital to hospital or other care settings that offer similar services,” wrote April Washington, a spokesperson for CMS. At first blush, it seemed impossible to locate charges on Lee Health’s charge master list for Gerke’s medical bill. For example, his bill summary included “CT Scan”, and the list had dozens of charges for “computerized temography”. In order to make any use of the pricing spreadsheets, an itemized bill is necessary. The prices on Lee Health’s current chargemaster were actually slightly higher than Gerke’s itemized bill. A hospital spokesperson explained that prices are adjusted every year after October, and Gerke was billed prior to this adjustment. Locating the same charge descriptions on his bill between hospital groups was virtually impossible. For instance, when trying to compare the charge for semi-private room, there was nothing with that description on one hospital list but nearly twenty items on another. “Some of these charge master (price lists) don’t even list by service. It’s listed by maybe your billing code so it’s really not useful to people,” said Caitlin Donovan of the National Patient Advocate Foundation. Of the charges on Gerke’s bill that could be located across multiple hospitals, Lee Health had less expensive pricing. But Donovan said the prices posted online are actually meaningless. “It means nothing to patients because it also means nothing to the people who are charging it. Most of those prices are just made up and they are a lot higher than your insurers negotiated rate,” said Donovan. Lee Health agreed. Mary Briggs, spokeswoman for Lee Health, declined WINK News request for an interview but emailed the following statement: “Lee Health supports transparency and giving patients access to information they need to make informed decisions about their treatment options. We’ve been posting average charges for common procedures on our website for more than 10 years. The federal government’s requirement for hospitals to post their Charge Description Masters is admirable in its intent of transparency, but the machine-readable format they require is not consumer-friendly and does not inform people of what they may actually pay for a health care service. Lee Health has a team of people who provide cost estimates and help people understand their medical bills. We encourage patients to give us a call anytime they have a question about health care costs.” Gerke’s bill was actually paid at a negotiated rate much lower than the initial $93,000 charge. He had to move back to New York to get on New York Medicaid to cover the bill, but once he did the price was discounted by $71,000. Washington explained that the charge master requirement is a step towards transparency, and CMS also encourages hospitals to communicate with patients to understand their bills. WINK news could not locate a chargemaster list for Lehigh Regional Medical Center and several calls to the media relations phone number at the hospital were not returned. _____ Have you ever had medical bill sticker shock? Email investigations@winknews.com and show us your bill.