Medical Billing Errors - WTHELLO

[Bravo 4]

I really hate hearing these stories, kinda scary for most folks.

I'm lucky my wife is a medical billing manager, She checks every bill we get they don't get a penny more than they have coming

Same here, when she gets home and on weekends she gets phone calls from friends/family on a regular basis about these matters. Hearing about others' medical insurance issues is one reason why I'm staying military till retirement. I know some folks that Tricare for Life has really taken care of them, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars with basically no expense on their end.

 

[Hairtrigger]

My wife had a cancer scare and I had kidney stones
My wife is a pittbull and when,not if, she finds a billing error she makes phone calls. The calls are never easy or short. She is willing to spend a couple hours to get to the right person
I have no respect for the American medical system. There are good people at the local level.

 

[Muddyboots]

The real question is why are there do many errors in the medical system? Can you imagine a billing error being submitted to Ford? GM? DC? Why does the medical industry get a pass?

 

[xsn10s]

Is it me or what? The past year I have received multiple billings that contained billing errors that I was charged for services that were covered by Medicare and my supplemental insurance. It was ONLY after I provided evidence they were paid or have not submitted correct billing information to either Medicare or my supplemental insurance that I was able to remove the billing. Within the past month alone, the total billing errors is about $450! Dang! That's a nice chunk toward a new build! I had similar billing issues in past year that I had to correct as well.

My reason to post up is to give heads up to make sure you review EVERY line item in EVERY billing in comparison to your Explanation of Benefits to VERIFY the billing is 100% correct!

So how many elderly folks just pay the bill "trusting" the bill is correct? So is this just another layer of incompetence? Or worse? Since it is so prevalent you start to wonder.....

I've spent countless hours on the phone with Medicare, supplemental insurance, social security, pharmacies, hospitals, and so on for my elderly Mother. I can't tell you the years of my life that have been taken off due to the stress. Sometimes I wonder if it's built into the system.

 

[338 dude]

Got pneumonia from covid and spent three days in the hospital after the ER trip. 24K later, I'm waiting to see what insurance pays. So far about 2K and I'm thinnking I'm stuck with the other 22K.

The wife says it should be completely paid for that we are under a public health emergency don't let them screw with you! You should contact your insurance commissioner they will get it straight

 

[BillLarson]

My wife passed away in 2015.She had applied for disability ins., and we had a supplemental policy which cost 1200.00$/mo. Because she was uninsurable with fibromyalgia and later found out LUPUS......Dealt with at least 20 different DRs... at 5 different hospitals.... she was properly diagnosed 8 months before her demise, suffered for 5 years....
It took me 5 years to pay off the hospitals for what our ins. didn't cover....I was in a state of SHOCK.... after 49 yrs.11 months and 15 days... of marriage.....
Right now ins.cos.are controlling and dictating to DRs. and hospitals what goes.....
Terrible display of the Hippocratic oath and the greed of ins.co.... as it is ....
if possible I can get out in the woods to die... I,ll do it..... if not I,ll sit on the steps of the VA hospital..... til they roll me in...

Till then..... I,m limp n to the gun range.....

 

[338 dude]

My wife passed away in 2015.She had applied for disability ins., and we had a supplemental policy which cost 1200.00$/mo. Because she was uninsurable with LUPUS......Dealt with at least 20 different DRs... at 5 different hospitals.... she was properly diagnosed 8 months before her demise, suffered for 5 years....
It took me 5 years to pay off the hospitals for what our ins. didn't cover....I was in a state of SHOCK.... after 49 yrs.11 months and 15 days... of marriage.....
Right now ins.cos.are controlling and dictating to DRs. and hospitals what goes.....
Terrible display of the Hippocratic oath and the greed of ins.co.... as it is ....
if possible I can get out in the woods to die... I,ll do it..... if not I,ll sit on the steps of the VA hospital.....
Till then..... I,m limp n to the gun range.....

My condolences for your loss I'm very sorry

 

[762x51]

it's not you. the US government is in charge, why would you expect it to be properly run? if you think it's bad now, just wait until medicare for all passes and you're competing with 350 million people. going to the doctor will be like going to the DMV

 

[xsn10s]

My wife passed away in 2015.She had applied for disability ins., and we had a supplemental policy which cost 1200.00$/mo. Because she was uninsurable with fibromyalgia and later found out LUPUS......Dealt with at least 20 different DRs... at 5 different hospitals.... she was properly diagnosed 8 months before her demise, suffered for 5 years....
It took me 5 years to pay off the hospitals for what our ins. didn't cover....I was in a state of SHOCK.... after 49 yrs.11 months and 15 days... of marriage.....
Right now ins.cos.are controlling and dictating to DRs. and hospitals what goes.....
Terrible display of the Hippocratic oath and the greed of ins.co.... as it is ....
if possible I can get out in the woods to die... I,ll do it..... if not I,ll sit on the steps of the VA hospital..... til they roll me in...

Till then..... I,m limp n to the gun range.....

My condolences for your loss I'm very sorry

Yes my condolences also.

 

[JimFromTN]

it's not you. the US government is in charge, why would you expect it to be properly run? if you think it's bad now, just wait until medicare for all passes and you're competing with 350 million people. going to the doctor will be like going to the DMV

The government is lazy and incompetent. Private insurance is evil. Their sole purpose is to maximize profits. Which is better? My brother is an ER doctor. He has had people coming in needing a procedure to save their lives but require pre-authorization from their insurance. He says that on several occasions, the insurance company has put them on hold until they can't wait any longer and perform the procedure at the patient's expense. Do you think that was on purpose? He says the great thing about medicare is that as long as you code it properly, they pay. Perhaps thats the real issue here. Allot of times the people responsible for coding and submitting claims make mistakes. These people are not making more money from their mistakes. A new coder or a new policy can explain the "all of a sudden in the last year" situation.

 

[Muddyboots]

FYI I have been on phone for close to 2 hours so far with latest billing fiasco. I am really starting to think of charging them my consulting billable rate for my time on phone dealing with their mistake. File the claim in small claims court.

 

[Muddyboots]

My wife passed away in 2015.

Bill, deepest condolences, I have had close call with my wife of 42 years and I know how much it hurts.

 

[xsn10s]

FYI I have been on phone for close to 2 hours so far with latest billing fiasco. I am really starting to think of charging them my consulting billable rate for my time on phone dealing with their mistake. File the claim in small claims court.

You could, but I wonder if it would benefit your health.

 

[Muddyboots]

Heck retired so my time is my time but there would be some satisfaction if somehow I could get some retribution for their incompetence.