I am extremely disappointed with the unprofessional treatment I received from a Spanish-speaking…read morereceptionist who identified herself as Jasmine.
Yesterday, my son had occupational and speech therapy. While I was there, I specifically spoke with the front desk because my son had recently been approved for ALTCS. I gave them his new insurance information and asked what the next steps would be for him to receive more than 30 minutes of therapy. Two staff members spent several minutes reviewing everything and eventually explained that I needed to contact his DDD coordinator and that his pediatrician would need to send a new referral before he could continue receiving additional therapy.
They returned the insurance information I had given them and specifically told me that they did not need to change anything in their system because his ID number was the same. At NO point did either employee tell me that there was an issue with his insurance coverage, that his therapies that day might not be covered, or that I could potentially be responsible for paying for them.
Today, Jasmine, who was not there during yesterday's conversation, called me and asked whether my son was with DDD. I told her yes and explained that I had already informed the office yesterday that he had been approved for ALTCS. Instead of trying to understand what had happened, she immediately began blaming me for not notifying them while his ALTCS application was still in process.
I explained that I was NEVER told I was required to notify the office while his application was pending. In fact, I had not brought my son to therapy for the previous weeks, and Jasmine herself was the person who called ME to schedule yesterday's appointment. When she scheduled it, she never told me there was an issue with his previous insurance, never asked if I had new insurance, and never asked whether I would be paying out of pocket.
Instead of acknowledging that there had clearly been a communication failure on their end as well, Jasmine repeatedly told me that I NEEDED TO BE A RESPONSIBLE MOM and that AS A RESPONSIBLE MOM I SHOULD HAVE NOTIFIED THEM.
Then, in a mocking and condescending manner, she asked me, "SO YOU JUST APPLIED FOR ALTCS YESTERDAY?" even though I had already explained that I informed their staff yesterday that my son had been APPROVED. When I corrected her and explained that obviously I could not have applied yesterday if I was telling them he was already approved, she responded that this meant I had been going through the process for a while and should have notified them sooner.
I found the entire interaction incredibly disrespectful and unprofessional.
My responsibility as a mother should NEVER be questioned by a receptionist over an insurance or administrative issue. I personally went to the front desk, provided my son's new insurance information, explained that he had been approved for ALTCS, asked what I needed to do next, and followed the information THEIR STAFF gave me.
Jasmine eventually told me to call the insurance company myself to find out whether they would cover the therapies from yesterday and that otherwise I would have to pay for them.
Insurance misunderstandings can happen, and I would have been completely willing to discuss the situation and find a solution. What I will NOT accept is being blamed, spoken down to, mocked, and repeatedly told that I NEEDED TO BE A RESPONSIBLE MOM, especially when their own staff had my son's insurance information in their hands the day before and never informed me there was a coverage issue.
There is a professional way to communicate with parents. Questioning my parenting because of an insurance issue was completely unnecessary and crossed a line.
I sincerely hope management addresses this situation with Jasmine and reviews how their front desk handles insurance changes and communicates with parents so another family does not have the same experience.