kdonnel
DVC-BCV
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2001
- Messages
- 7,244
My wife had surgery, all went well, on January 9th. I got a phone call on January 8th from the hospital pre admission department telling me it was an emergency they speak with my wife. I explained her phone does not work at work and they would not be able to speak with her until after 5pm. I asked if I could help and suddenly the emergency became well we just need some demographic information and a payment.
I paid the $4000 they demanded, the max out of pocket for her insurance, and the call ended, emergency solved.
On January 17th the EOBs from the surgery started dropping. Of course the surgeon had theirs approved first, then the hospital, and finally the anesthesiologist. That meant the hospital was only owed $2568.90 because the surgeon was owed $1431.10 of the max out of pocket and the anesthesiologist and any subsequent EOB just get the contracted insurance rate at no out of pocket cost to my wife.
I called the hospital on the 29th to see how long it would take to get the $1431.10 refunded.
While the billing department could see the credit, I was informed it would need to be investigated before refunded, a process that takes 2+ weeks(it had already been 13 days since they were aware of the credit), and then if a refund is really owed it would take another 7-10 days to generate a check, and then however long it takes for the USPS to deliver.
I explained I thought it was bordering on fraud that the hospital could take payment in 30 seconds over the phone when they were owed money but were telling me it would be 30+ days for them to refund money. There was nothing the phone agent could do so I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told it would be 24 to 48 hours to get a call back. Before the call could end I asked to make sure they had my number for the call back as they would never be able to reach my wife. At this point the agent shutdown and said that actually he was not allowed to speak to me, only my wife.
I pointed out that the hospital had called me on January 8th and was more than happy to take payment from me, why was the hospital suddenly worried about patient privacy now that they owed money? I got no answer and the call ended.
A few years ago I had a problem getting a deposit refunded by a car dealer that should have been applied during the purchase and the only thing that helped was a BBB complaint. The organization seems old and out of date with the times but is apparently still a way to get companies to act.
I filed a BBB complaint against the Hospital immediately after the call.
Less than 24 hours later I got a response to the BBB complaint. The $1431.10 was being refunded to the same credit card used to make the payment. The hospital included a receipt of the partial refund of the initial payment. I should expect to see it on the credit card in no more than 3 days.
Why was that not the outcome of my initial call? Why did it take intervention from the BBB to shorten a 30+ day process down to less than 24 hours?
I have seen this before with doctors and dentists. They demand payment upfront and then are very slow to refund when it turns out insurance pays more than estimated. Sometimes they don't refund at all unless I demand a refund. Usually the office will say something to the effect of, we thought it best for the credit to remain at the office so that if you ever return you won't have to pay for that visit.
Are they holding onto the money to make some interest? Are they just so ill prepared to properly handle billing? Is it incompetence or done with malicious intent?
I paid the $4000 they demanded, the max out of pocket for her insurance, and the call ended, emergency solved.
On January 17th the EOBs from the surgery started dropping. Of course the surgeon had theirs approved first, then the hospital, and finally the anesthesiologist. That meant the hospital was only owed $2568.90 because the surgeon was owed $1431.10 of the max out of pocket and the anesthesiologist and any subsequent EOB just get the contracted insurance rate at no out of pocket cost to my wife.
I called the hospital on the 29th to see how long it would take to get the $1431.10 refunded.
While the billing department could see the credit, I was informed it would need to be investigated before refunded, a process that takes 2+ weeks(it had already been 13 days since they were aware of the credit), and then if a refund is really owed it would take another 7-10 days to generate a check, and then however long it takes for the USPS to deliver.
I explained I thought it was bordering on fraud that the hospital could take payment in 30 seconds over the phone when they were owed money but were telling me it would be 30+ days for them to refund money. There was nothing the phone agent could do so I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told it would be 24 to 48 hours to get a call back. Before the call could end I asked to make sure they had my number for the call back as they would never be able to reach my wife. At this point the agent shutdown and said that actually he was not allowed to speak to me, only my wife.
I pointed out that the hospital had called me on January 8th and was more than happy to take payment from me, why was the hospital suddenly worried about patient privacy now that they owed money? I got no answer and the call ended.
A few years ago I had a problem getting a deposit refunded by a car dealer that should have been applied during the purchase and the only thing that helped was a BBB complaint. The organization seems old and out of date with the times but is apparently still a way to get companies to act.
I filed a BBB complaint against the Hospital immediately after the call.
Less than 24 hours later I got a response to the BBB complaint. The $1431.10 was being refunded to the same credit card used to make the payment. The hospital included a receipt of the partial refund of the initial payment. I should expect to see it on the credit card in no more than 3 days.
Why was that not the outcome of my initial call? Why did it take intervention from the BBB to shorten a 30+ day process down to less than 24 hours?
I have seen this before with doctors and dentists. They demand payment upfront and then are very slow to refund when it turns out insurance pays more than estimated. Sometimes they don't refund at all unless I demand a refund. Usually the office will say something to the effect of, we thought it best for the credit to remain at the office so that if you ever return you won't have to pay for that visit.
Are they holding onto the money to make some interest? Are they just so ill prepared to properly handle billing? Is it incompetence or done with malicious intent?
