What happened to common sense? Vent

[daughtersrus]

Today I had to call the insurance department at the Union office to check on the status of a medical bills.

I give the girl our ID#, name of patient, date of service and the name of the provider. She then proceeds to tell me that the bill was paid. I told her that the provider is saying that they haven't received and if she could give me the specifics it would be helpful when I call the provider back.

She tells me the check# and the date it was issued. Here's the problem. The check was issued 10/14/08 and the date of service is 3/7/09. I double check with her that she's looking at the correct date since DD did see the provider in Sept 08. She gets very snotty with me and said "Mam! I'm looking at the claim right now. The date of service is 3/7/09 and it was paid on 10/14/08!" I try to explain to her that there appears to be a mistake as the bill couldn't possibly have been paid 5 months before the services were provided.

She kept repeating, "Mam! The provider cashed the check. There is nothing else that I can do for you! Since you're not listening to me, I'm going to transfer you to my supervisor".

I left a detailed message on the supervisor's voice mail explaining the situation. We'll see if she calls me back.

All of this could have been avoided if the rep had just said something like, "It appears that there must be a problem. The bill shows that it was paid 5 months before the date of service. I'm going to check with my supervisor about this problem and someone will get back to you".

Instead, she kept insisting that bill is paid and that I needed to call the provider and have them adjust the bill down to zero.

 

[glitterkittyy]

Wow, who knew that your insurance company was psychic and could pay bills five months ahead of time! Amazing!

Hope the supervisor is a bit brighter than the rep you talked to.

 

[Heidict]

I if I was you, I would call back and hope that I could get a rep that had a couple of brain cells left. Was she really that stupid to think that it was totally normal to issue a payment 5 months before the date of service?

You might want to also mention to the supervisor (if she ever calls) about the rudeness of the rep. Hopefully they tape the calls.

 

[darlak]

Wait, I think she must be married to the guy I keep getting when I call HughesNet!

 

[AlienBrain]

Poor thing. I hope it all gets worked out...

This is just another reason why I wish medical insurance could be what it used to be back in the 40s and 50s. It used to only me catastrophic care, so you only had to worry about claims when you were hospitalized. Going to the Dr. for a sore throat was cheap back then because everyone was paying out of pocket.

Now everything has been inflated (including our premiums) because insurance covers just about everything. Just think if car insurance began to cover your oil changes. Oil changes wouldn't cost $20 anymore. They would be more like $200 where you have to meet a $50 co-pay. Not to mention, the premiums would triple. It's rediculus. arggg. Best of luck with your problems.

 

[diznygirl]

Eh, it's all customer service and it's been going on awhile. At least 8 years ago I was trying to work something out with my car loan and the customer service rep actually saif to me, "I'm just a customer service rep, what do you want me to do?"



OP - I hope you get someone a little more on the ball.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Common sense is soooo 20th Century. Get with the program.