31 Days ... Day Six!

Hi, I'm Michelle and I hate medical billing companies. They always seem to screw me over.

One of the biggest ways I've saved money is by keeping up on my medical bills and not being afraid to question bogus (in my opinion) charges.

For instance, two years ago when I was preggo I had a bill that I paid at the doctors office. It was a very specific amount, like $69.42 or something.

So imagine my surprise when, a couple weeks later, I get a call from the silly billing company up in Iowa telling me I owe that amount. I questioned it, and then was told "Oh, I see on your account where you have paid. Have a good day."

Seriously? I mean, come on. Clearly they saw that. I feel bad for the suckers who didn't question it and ended up being double billed.

More recently, my hubby had a surgery in January, that included sending polyps to a lab to be examined. We, naturally, asked they be sent to the lab in the hospital that his insurance is a carrier for. But when the bill came, there was no insurance reflected.

I immediately called to learn that they didn't have his insurance and would submit now that I had turned it in. A couple months later, we get another bill - showing insurance had paid nothing. What?

I call the insurance. Turns out the doctor was not in network. Y'all, I am not kidding - the lab is in network but the doctor who read it was not? I basically told the insurance company this was bull and that we had no power over the doctor who read the report and had done EVERYTHING we could to insure it went in network. They agreed and said they would reprocess as in network. The $295 bill would be adjusted to $160-something and we would be responsible for 20 percent.

Then the bill/EOB comes - showing the insurance paid to get the bill to $165 - and we were responsible for the rest. Um, no. Insurance told me, unfortunately, that's how our plan was set up. I called the silly billing company to see if they can pro-rate, they told me that healthcare offices don't do that (yeah, right!)

Finally, after three attempts, I get in touch with the local office and explain the situation - only to be told that they are honoring the 20 percent copay for individuals with this insurance carrier due to the odd situation.

So what was originally a $295 bill became $33.50. Now I will say that all the time and trouble I went through probably wasn't worth it but hey. A penny saved is a penny earned.

And yes, I am considering opening a part-time gig fighting with doctors offices and insurance companies for a commission :)


Pin It