Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
אַרְיֵה |
During a routine follow-up visit to the clinic that did my cataract removal several years ago, they noticed a spot on my retina and referred me to a retina specialist here in Florida (astute readers will be able to infer the name of the specialist practice). The retina specialist schedules me for yearly visits, every January, to make sure that the spot is not changing. Current year, I was seen on January 7. Total bill was $189.54. Insurance paid $188.95 fairly promptly (January 27), all except fifty-nine cents. No explanation for the fifty-nine cent that was not paid, but that's not the problem here. I received a billing statement from the retina specialist this month, billing me for the entire amount. I double-checked the insurance record and verified that payment had been made. Three emails to the retina specialist have been ignored (I am hearing impaired, so telephone is not an option). I am pondering my next step. Maybe notify the insurance company's fraud department? I'm pretty sure that this is a clerical error, not fraud, but the medical practice has ignored not one, not two, but three emails, and I need to do something to get their attention before they send this to a collection agency and create a problem for me. If they were closer, I would stop in at their office, but it's a schlep to get there and once a year is enough of that for me. הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | ||
|
thin skin can't win |
Medical debt doesn't get reported and you seem just ornery enough to let this go to your grave at your age. Wait for them to call you. Oops - write you? Fraud department - nice. How about writing the state insurance commissioner and medical licensing board? They should know. You only have integrity once. - imprezaguy02 | |||
|
Don't Panic |
I guess I'd email the insurer, CC the medical office, and forget about it. | |||
|
| Gone but Together Again. Dad & Uncle  |
Personally, I’d mail a letter with a copy of their bill, a copy of your insurance carriers EOB, and a copy of all 3 of your emails to them. Circle the billed amount, the carrier paid amount, and state if this continues you’ll be forced to take other action. | |||
|
| Member |
^^^^^^^^^^^^ As above with a brief letter explaining the problem. Address it to the Billing Department. I doubt it is fraud Retina guys make close to a million per year. | |||
|
His Royal Hiney |
I would just call the billing department and stay on top of it periodically until it's fixed. I also had to go for an eye procedure (YAG). It was outpatient at a clinic. I get there and the receptionist said, "we'll need to take your deductible for $189." I said okay. I download my EOBs every month. I see that the clinic's bill for the facilities was declined. More importantly, I see that my deductible was satisfied before that procedure so I should not have paid any deductible. I called and they say, they have to resubmit the bill then they'll refund me. I said my deductible was already satisfied but okay. I asked for a date when it was going to be fixed. I followed up. I had to follow up several times and each month, I would ask for a date when it's supposed to be fixed. It took five months for them to send me a check for my deductible. Yes, I think these medical office people try to get away with extra charges because most people have a hard time following their insurance benefits. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
|
| Member |
^^^^^^^^^^^^ I doubt that. Hospitals maybe. Sometimes it is because the billing is contracted out. It costs more money to deal with a disgruntled patient. | |||
|
| אַרְיֵה |
Phone call is a terrible option because hearing aids. The only reasonable way for me to call is via an internet connection to a relay operator who speaks and listens to the other party, and types back and forth with me. I'll give this a try and report back. הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | |||
|
Member |
Certified return receipt so they sign for it and you get a receipt with that signature on it. _____________________ Be careful what you tolerate. You are teaching people how to treat you. | |||
|
| His Royal Hiney |
They're only be disgruntled if they know they're being overcharged. As I said, most people don't follow their insurance benefits and what they're actually liable for. It's hard to question billing if you aren't able to follow the charges, payments, deductibles, etc. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
|
| His Royal Hiney |
Sorry I forgot about your hearing issue. In that case, it's going to be an issue of whether you can stand being more annoyed with the intermediary or the person on the other side. I'm pulling for you. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
|
| אַרְיֵה |
The "intermediary" (relay operators) are great. They do a wonderful job. UPDATE: I finally discovered the direct number to the billing department of the chain of eye clinics. Made a call via the internet relay service and got somebody to admit that all of the bill except for fifty-nine cents had been paid promptly by insurance (less than three weeks from the date of the office visit, January 7, 2022). She told me to forget about the incorrect bill. I replied that they had billed me incorrectly in writing, and I wanted a corrected bill, in writing, showing that the total amount still open is fifty-nine cents. She said that they would send a zero balance bill, writing off the fifty-nine cents (I think I'm going to send a check for that anyway). I stated that an incorrect bill was an error, but refusing to reply to multiple emails that I had sent was not an error, it was arrogant behavior, absolutely not acceptable. I did obtain the contact information for the HMFIC of the chain of eye clinics, and I will send a letter with the history of this cluster fuck. I will probably seek a different retina specialist practice -- with Florida's large geriatric population, there are a number of these specialized ophthalmology practices; when I contact the current practice to have them send the records to the new one, I will let them know why I am firing them. הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | |||
|
| Eye on the Silver Lining |
Sounds like that lady was in agreement that they made an error and was willing to correct it; also willing to write off the difference, small that it was. It may be that she never saw your emails, and as such was not being arrogant, just uninformed. In this recent time frame of people job jumping so fast we can hardly keep up, maybe consider that it had nothing to do with the specialist themselves, and just the billing service? I understand your frustration, but someone on here put it quite well recently: we all have a base level of frustration and anger right now due to all the bs we’ve put up with over the last couple years. Try to be forgiving. Iirc, your wife is a practioner of some sort as well, so you probably know her end of the stick, too. I don’t know if she farms out the billing or does it herself, but we can’t all be everywhere at once. Your practitioner may have no knowledge of this error. __________________________ "Trust, but verify." | |||
|
| His Royal Hiney |
I'm glad that was resolved relatively fast and didn't require months of several follow-ups. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
|
| On the wrong side of the Mobius strip  |
As long you are not flagged as a "difficult patient."  | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
© SIGforum 2024