Hospital Bills, rant ahead.....

[TinkandAriel]

Let's start in November, when I called the hospital billing, asking them to combine dh's, dd's and my accounts (there's three of us, they had 5 different accounts for us, what the heck?). I wanted to get set up on a payment plan for anything we might owe. So, two weeks later, nothing. I call back, only to be told "huh, I don't see where that was set up at all, but I can do that for you". Gee, thanks. So, here comes the bill for $851.00. Well, I figure, it might be right, we are self-employed, therefore no insurance, and we've gone to the er and dd's drs a few times...So, I sent a payment of $200, figuring I'll knock it down quicker. Then, I get a collections notice in the mail for the hospital account, to the tune of $664 dollars!!! WHAT THE HELLONI IS GOING ON HERE!!! I called the collection agency and told the agent what was going on, and guess what, he hasn't been able to reach anyone in billing since yesterday afternoon.
Today, I went through two years of paperwork (we keep everything, self-employed, remember?) and found two instances where we over paid, one to the tune of $220 dollars!!! So, I called the billing office at 4:15 only to get a voice mail saying the office closes at 4:30 and to call back in the am. Yeah, what??
Guess who's getting an earful tomorrow, and not receiving one penny more from me til they get this all straightened out.

Rant over (for now...)

 

[LisaL]

Are you in Cleveland?

I had set up an official payment plan for a $2,000 bill. Apparently that was never recorded on my account. I made the monthly payments. I got sent to collections. What a pain in the patootey.

In my case, the hospital would not withdraw it from the collection agency. Instead, I made (another) payment plan through the collection agency. No additional fees or interest were assessed. It was not reported to the credit agency.

Make sure it has not been reported to the credit reporting agencies.

 

[blue_eyes5212]

Good luck!! I work at a hospital (not in billing), but in a financial department and my advice is to keep working at it until it all gets straightened out! (I'm sure you will anyway)!! I know what a pain in the butt it is!! I take pride in my job and if I tell a patient I'm going to do something I do it. Unfortunatly, not everyone feels that way or cares about the quality of their work. Believe me, it bugs me also!! Keep us posted!!

 

[Cool-Beans]

Go to the Cleveland Clinic and then move! You'll never see another bill!

I can't get them to change my address to mail me a bill. Neither can the secretary at my doctor's office. We've been trying for over a year. No matter how many people I tell, or how many swear it is done, it doesn't get changed. DH won't pay them without copies that have the corrected address and dates, so they go unpaid. They've got me down as a deadbeat. And I flippin work for them!

We currently owe them around $2500. My doctor just laughs. He doesn't care, because he gets paid either way.

They are always yelling and screaming about nurses using supplies we shouldn't - they even have Supply Nazis who determine if your patient's insurance is good enough to get, say, lip balm that works.

Perhaps if they'd mail out bills, they'd have more money and we could afford to use decent lip balm (or buy a few more pillows so we don't have to go stealing them from other floors.)

Sorry to be so OT. Just a pet peeve of mine.

 

[LisaL]

Go to the Cleveland Clinic and then move! You'll never see another bill!

I can't get them to change my address to mail me a bill. Neither can the secretary at my doctor's office. We've been trying for over a year. No matter how many people I tell, or how many swear it is done, it doesn't get changed. DH won't pay them without copies that have the corrected address and dates, so they go unpaid. They've got me down as a deadbeat. And I flippin work for them!

We currently owe them around $2500. My doctor just laughs. He doesn't care, because he gets paid either way.

They are always yelling and screaming about nurses using supplies we shouldn't - they even have Supply Nazis who determine if your patient's insurance is good enough to get, say, lip balm that works.

Perhaps if they'd mail out bills, they'd have more money and we could afford to use decent lip balm (or buy a few more pillows so we don't have to go stealing them from other floors.)

Sorry to be so OT. Just a pet peeve of mine.

I DID go to Cleveland Clinic and I DID move!!! Maybe the'd have more money if they would let people pay their bills according to the plan and not send it to a collection agency that takes a big cut. Jerks. Took sooooo long to straighten out. About a year and a half.

BTW, I know a lot of people do a great job. In this case, they could not care less. Did I mention I'm back in Cali?

 

[TinkandAriel]

update...I called the collection agent, and he hasn't been able to locate anyone in billing either, he said he's got us on hold and it won't go further til they get it all straightened out.
I called the hospital, to be told that billing was in a meeting, call back later. Apparently, 1/2 of the billing office has quit within the last few weeks. So, I finally get hold of someone and told her I'm not paying one more penny til I receive itemized statements of all charges and all payments for the past 4 years. (I think that's the farthest back I've got records).
One bill was for $98 the day we were on a plane to Disney! Yeah, I don't think that happened. "Oh," she says, "that was for lab work, it looks like someone mixed up lab reports or something there". Great, now there's someone else who never received their labwork?? Holy cats, what's going on at that place???

Sigh...anyway, today I'm signing dd up for our state insurance "Mainecare" because we actually qualify by income standards (who knew, I always thought we made too much!). So, that'll be the end of most of our hospital worries, bc dh and I usually go to the health center in town. She's the one who winds up in the er more often than not, and I want her to still see her pediatrician at the hospital.

Thanks for letting me vent and I guess it happens more often than not, eh?