I had yet another unpleasant visit with my Dr. on the beach today. The have made three billing errors on my account since my last visit in August. When I came for my follow-up in Sept., their office manager insisted that I owed them a deductible of $190 and I couldn't see the doctor until that was satisfied. Funny thing is, My plan does not call for any deductible for in-network office visits at all. I called the insurance from the Dr.'s office and asked the rep to speak with the office manager to corroborate the information and also confirm with her what my benefits were. The office manager refused and they refused to see me that date, even though I was sick and needed care.
Shortly thereafter, their second billing mistake. I receive a bill for "balance due" on services (including an EKG) provided in-office on that August visit of $37.15. I checked it against my insurance Explanation of Benefits (EOB) for that date, and it shows that I'm all paid up-- my co-payment (which was paid on that date) was only $20, nothing else was owed. I called the insurance who after three attempts spoke with the office and confirmed that nothing else was owed, except for the co-payment of the visit of August, which they showed as unpaid.
Of course the unpaid co-payment is not true, they wouldn't let you walk in to see the doctor without payment, that's the first order of business at that office. Still they said for me to bring my receipt of payment as evidence. Of course I have that, and I brought it with me today for my (finally) follow-up to my August exam.
My appointment today was for 8:30 AM the first one of their working day. It's workday for me also and I was hoping to finish my visit at 9:30 latest, since this was just a follow up so the doctor could review my lab and physical reports reviewed with me from my August visit. They kept me waiting until 9:30 and called in other patients before me, including one with a 9:00 appointment, and kept me waiting without any acknowledgement of my status (even the 9AM patient was surprised by this.)
Finally around 9:45 am, the Dr. brought me in to a consultation room, all stressed out, and told me "she was not going to haggle over $20-$30 dollars (balance)..." but that she couldn't see me (today) if I didn't pay the $37.15" that they insist I owe.
I showed her all the EOB and other correspondence from the insurance company as supporting evidence that's been paid and that I have no obligations outstanding. She said she had no time for that, that this was an insult to her, and that if the billing doesn't jive, she just expects me to "eat it" because of the time that she takes with her patients she believes that is fair and doesn't expect to have to argue about it, and that I wouldn't get that with any other doctor who takes insurance. She wouldn't listen to any reasoning or even review the documentation while I was there.
I could almost respect it if the Dr. would advise patients from the start that, "listen I'll take your insurance, but I also charge extra for my services above and beyond that," and be upfront about it. The part that gets me is that they try to hide whatever extra charges they feel they are entitled to behind this pretext of insurance non-payment, and by saying that the insurance didn't pay and that I owe them because of insurance non-payment, which is wholly inaccurate. The fact that they have tried to do this more than once, raises flag about their practice as a whole for me. I don't "owe" when they decide they want to tag on an extra charge and not be transparent about that, from the start.
I can't imagine how many patients from that office get over-billed and are not thoroughly checking against their insurance and paying extra. I would imagine that a good number do this, to this practice's benefit. I might have also paid extra unwittingly, had they not made the big mistake and raised the red flag by confusing my insurance (or misfiling my claim) and then requesting money for this deductible that had to be paid right then and there, before services are rendered, when I know that my health insurance plan does not work that way.
I see that she (the DR) is not THAT much different than that office manager (who was denigrating and verbally abusive to me, last time,) and that none of them would ever admit to their billing errors. At least this visit, the doctor has now admitted that they don't care about any of their billing errors, as they expect their patients to "eat [them]"--which is to say that they acknowledge that errors are made, and that it's the patients that are financially responsible for them. So then, maybe these errors are possibly not being made by mistake, after all? I have to trust that there is better health (and patient) care to be had in Miami-Dade County. These type of experiences are totally not worth it. read more