BookNut
08-21-2016, 05:13 AM
Well - it only took two years and our account being sent to not one, but TWO different collection agencies to get this resolved. I hope I NEVER have to go back to that abominable place!
They kept billing us and billing us and billing us for a CT scan that had been approved by and PAID by our insurance. Every time we talked to someone at the finance dept, they assured us it would be taken care of. And then the bill would show up like clockwork every single month. That is, every month until we stopped getting them, thought we were all set - and the collection agency letters started instead!
Fortunately, my husband's job was reseahrching and representing insurees of the insurance company he worked for in court cases. He knows all the lingo and how to get things done. When we got nowhere - he sent a certified letter full of all sorts of legal jargon to the president and CFO and others at Cleveland Clinic. Within a week, we received a "bill" showing zero balance due.
But honestly - what does the average person do? I am sure hospitals and other medical agencies manage to intimidate many people into paying....particularly if they are elderly and seriously ill. We had a similar outrageous situation with another company that provides my chemo shots (which have thankfully ended). If we had paid those two eroneous bills, we would have been out about $5000. Crazy!
Now that we have settled this finally, I am planning to contact both the doctor's office and the chief of customer relations to tell them exactly what I think. It was not just the financial department ineptitude. I found that, although I liked the doctor, the support staff there (with one exception) were uniformly inept and uncaring. I feel that the doctor should know how I was treated.
The doctor's secretary opens all his emails. i suspect she opens his snail mail as well. I am trying to figure out how to make sure my letter gets to him alone. His secretary was one of the worst offenders - but if she reads his mail, I doubt my letter will get to him. Maybe it is enough to contact the people who survey patients about their experiences. Do you think they will pass the message on to my doctor?
Anyway - we are relieved to be done with this at last!!
They kept billing us and billing us and billing us for a CT scan that had been approved by and PAID by our insurance. Every time we talked to someone at the finance dept, they assured us it would be taken care of. And then the bill would show up like clockwork every single month. That is, every month until we stopped getting them, thought we were all set - and the collection agency letters started instead!
Fortunately, my husband's job was reseahrching and representing insurees of the insurance company he worked for in court cases. He knows all the lingo and how to get things done. When we got nowhere - he sent a certified letter full of all sorts of legal jargon to the president and CFO and others at Cleveland Clinic. Within a week, we received a "bill" showing zero balance due.
But honestly - what does the average person do? I am sure hospitals and other medical agencies manage to intimidate many people into paying....particularly if they are elderly and seriously ill. We had a similar outrageous situation with another company that provides my chemo shots (which have thankfully ended). If we had paid those two eroneous bills, we would have been out about $5000. Crazy!
Now that we have settled this finally, I am planning to contact both the doctor's office and the chief of customer relations to tell them exactly what I think. It was not just the financial department ineptitude. I found that, although I liked the doctor, the support staff there (with one exception) were uniformly inept and uncaring. I feel that the doctor should know how I was treated.
The doctor's secretary opens all his emails. i suspect she opens his snail mail as well. I am trying to figure out how to make sure my letter gets to him alone. His secretary was one of the worst offenders - but if she reads his mail, I doubt my letter will get to him. Maybe it is enough to contact the people who survey patients about their experiences. Do you think they will pass the message on to my doctor?
Anyway - we are relieved to be done with this at last!!