I moved to the area in July 2014, and did a lot of research on the local doctors before deciding on this office. I called and asked if they were accepting new patients, and stated I would like a check-up, which is covered 100% in my plan. Physical was great, I was healthy, just fat (shocking), I asked a few questions about some symptoms I had been having and he decided that I needed screened for adult ADHD, I never would have guessed. ADD maybe, but I've never been the hyper type.
He sends me to a therapist friend of his to get a screening. We talk for 25 minutes, he tells me the doc was right, sends me on my way, and sends me a bill for $400. Great. Insurance covered half of that, but still! If only I made over $800 an hour...
I call Doc, tell him the good (?) news, and he was actually free to see me the next day. I go in, we talk, and he prescribes me a month's worth of meds, and has me donate some urine. Turns out they send the urine to the most expensive laboratory on earth, because a week later I get a bill for $789!! Once again, insurance bites off most of it, leaving me with $175 less in my pocket. A month passes, I call for a refill, and he says he'd like to see me again to see how things are going, fine. When I show up, I wait about a half hour and he hands me a sheet of paper with 10 questions on it. "How often do you misplace things?" "Do you often find yourself sluggish?" - That sort of questionnaire. *eye roll*
This goes on for another 2 months, and finally I'm given a little slack, and instructed to see him every 3 months. At the last visit in January I find out that I switched insurance at work unbeknownst to me, but I say that's fine, I'll pay out of pocket for this one. While I'm waiting, the receptionist hands me a bill (my first time seeing ANY bills from them by the way), and I owe almost a thousand dollars?! I tell her I have insurance, and that they need to send the bill their way, turns out this is AFTER insurance was billed. They charged me almost $300 for my first visit, which was supposed to be a check-up (yearly free preventative). But since I was a new patient that's apparently standard. Would have been great to know.
They charged me $155-$209 for each visit, which is very strange because each visit was exactly the same. 30 minutes in the waiting room, 10 minutes waiting for the doctor, 5 minutes talking to the doctor, gone. My new doctor has the same regimen, only when I asked if he wanted to see me in a month, he laughed and said "Why would you need to come back in a month? Call me if anything changes, you're an adult." Good answer, Dr. Refreshing.
The crazy part about those charges... When I had different insurance for my last visit, and paid out of pocket? $97. $97 dollars to pay out of pocket, cash discount. If I would have known that I would have paid cash every single time!
So I wait for my official bill, since they were in the middle of switching to a company that handles payments. The first bill shows, its one price. Two weeks later another shows, it's a different (higher) price. Another two weeks passes and a third bill shows, it's the original price again. This continues happening for about 6-8 weeks until I get two bills in a row that match. I decided to pay it, get it over with, and be done with the company.
...That is until last week. I get a bill from them wanting another $175. Mind you at this point I haven't heard from, or visit the office since January 2015. They waited 18 months to send me another bill. They claim it's from my second to last visit, which happened to be the first week of January. The last visit was on one of the last few days of January, as he was full the following weeks. It makes sense to me that the insurance company rejected it, since I had new insurance on the 1st of the year. But did this bill just sit on someone's desk for 18 months? Was it being used to sturdy the break room table? I just don't understand how that amount of time could pass, while hearing absolutely nothing, then they have the cojones to tell me I owe them additional money.
So long story long, I was a patient for less than 7 months and they managed to get about $2,200 out of me. 18 months later they decide that wasn't enough, and want another $175. I've been with the new doc for roughly 18 months and my out of pocket cost has been... I don't know, maybe $30? Poorly played, Hoff. Poorly played.
*Edit*
I forgot to mention that Dr. PH really was a friendly guy. Hes sincerely nice, gives you 100% of his attention, and was always nothing but smiles. I have no hard feelings towards him, just the way he runs his business. read more
