Predatory facility - I went into urgent care for a respiratory infection. It was my 4th respiratory…read moreinfection of the year. I am over 60, have multiple autoimmune disorders, and a 30 year historyof asthma. I am fully vaccinated and I simply needed anti-virals. My primary is booking out 2.5 months and just says to go to urgent care. So I did. They literally told me I didn't belong there and should see my primary. At which point I started to cry because I was running a fever approaching 103, and anti-virals only help if you start them as early as possible. I felt completely helpless and as if there was no where to turn. They became patronizing "now now dear, we'll do what we can to help you feel better".... When my Covid test (which I was charged $447 for) came back positive, I was told that I couldn't be prescribed Paxlovid for it because "it's contraindicated in patients on statins". I'm not on statins, never have been. I was then told it's only for older patients with comorbidities.... Had she even read my chart? I gave her my age and comorbidities and she said she would prescribe Paxlovid.
I just got the bill. I was billed for an Emergency room visit NOT an urgent care visit..... I had a rather heated conversation with their billing department where I was told that Urgent Care and Emergency Care are in the same place and which one they bill for is determined by what treatment they decide you need. NOT by what you ask for when you walk in the door. At no point in time was I told that my visit, which I was told already was unnecessary, was an ER visit. Apparently that decision is left up to the doctors who don't want to treat you, haven't even bothered to read you chart, and attempt to send you away while refusing to provide even minimal standard CDC recommended treatment.
Not the first time I've had issues with this facility plumping up their bill. I was in there when I first moved to the area for a simple surgery that is usually done under a local but they drugged me to the hilt then allowed a student to do the surgery without my permission or my knowledge. They then lied to me about it.
In addition - be aware that this facility is a "rurally certified healthcare facility" which sounds all nice but what it means is that if you are on Medicare, they are allowed to bill Medicare, Medicare takes their discount and pays their 80%. The patient however, is then billed 20% of the original, undiscounted, bill which is often more than the amount that Medicare paid. Their billing department will NOT explain why and just repeats "I don't know why your bill is so high, we just bill what Medicare tells us to". Medicare also will not explain it to you even though you have a legal right to this information as it falls under the right to have understandable information so you can make reasonable healthcare decisions.... like, would you like to save $10,000 by driving 45 minutes to an urban facility? I learned this after months of trying to understand and I finally found a company that assists medical facilities in becoming rurally certified. They spelled it out plain and simple in one easy to under sentence. States that saw Medicaid expansion also saw a massive rise in new rurally certified facilities being built because the excess was billed to Medicaid and the state pays it vs billing patients on Medicare who are either seniors or the disabled, which resulted in unpaid bills or bankruptcy.
Beware - This facility has predatory billing practices, especially if you are on Medicare or Medicaid. Now that Medicaid is being defunded, anyone with Medicare will be seeing massive bills. You can request an Urgent Care visit but even if they tell you to your face that they think that's unnecessary, they'll charge you as an Emergency Room visit AND attempt to provide no treatment at all.
