I was referred to Epic for speech therapy for my almost 3 year old son. When the the office called me to discuss my benefits, I was told my insurance will cover the therapy 100% and the number of sessions per month covered was 9 home visits. That was it. It was a very short conversation and that's all I was told. We got setup with the therapist and she started coming to our home or his school 2-3 times per week for 30 minutes. We continued with therapy for about 4 months, all of this time thinking we don't owe anything out of pocket. Then all of the sudden we get a bill for a little over $1600! I was sure this had to be a mistake so I called and spoke with Erica who informed me that while they do have in their notes that I was told the therapy would be covered through insurance 100%, she also found a note or information that said I would have to pay $105 or something like that per session until I met my deductible. Now, that I would have remembered if it was discussed with me prior to starting therapy. That's more than $900 a month! We never would have booked sessions the way we did had we known we were going to have to pay that much out of pocket. If it was something that came to their attention after they filed for the treatment with our insurance, I should have been notified of the difference and I most definitely was not. And Erica even admitted that someone in their office dropped the ball and said that she would take it back to her director and see what we could do to resolve the issue. Soon after I get a call back from her saying they had offered a payment plan. To me that wasn't acceptable. I had been misled and why should I be on the hook for the entire amount? I asked her to take it back to her director and see about getting the amount due reduced, which she actually stated was on the table during that phone call. I never got a call back from her. Instead, I got a final bill. I just wanted to be done with it and not have it go to collections so I paid them. Then, a few months later in January I get another bill, a final bill (no first bill was ever sent out) and this time for $1056! So I call again and I talk to Nicole. She assures me that she will take it back to the director and get it resolved. She tells me not to pay it, that she believes they will honor what they told me in the very beginning and that I won't have to pay this bill. I waited a couple days and never received a call back so I called again and she told me not to worry, she would get an answer and even if she didn't she would call me back the next day. It's been almost two weeks and I'm still waiting for that call.
I've looked them up on the Better Business Bureau, where I will also be lodging my complaint, and while they are not accredited, they do have another dispute similar to mine. In a day where health care in our country is so expensive and uncertain, how can Epic believe it is ok to mislead people and then have them pay for the mistakes made by people in their office? They even admitted the mistake was made, but have done nothing to make it right.
I cannot recommend them which is sad because we really enjoyed our therapist, but you can't trust the people in the office who are responsible for billing you and are supposed to be there to help you understand what you will be responsible for financially. It doesn't matter how great the service is if the provider isn't being honest, thorough and willing to right their wrong, especially when it costs you $2600 or so more than you thought it would. And who knows, I may still get another bill... read more
