Arcadia Methodist Hospital's emergency department is a SCAM. It's headed by a so-called "doctor" few patients have apparently ever actually met in person, and who is out-of-network of most insurance companies so you may get a bill you don't recognize, or worse yet, be harassed by a collection agency and/or have your credit ruined, even if it was your own insurance company that sent you to Arcadia Methodist in the first place because the hospital is supposedly in-network, as ours did (see attached photos).
The doctor in question's name is MICHAEL S. AGRON.
On January 8, 2009, in case S142209, or Prospect Medical Group, Inc. v. Northridge Emergency Medical Group, et al., the Supreme Court of California ruled that it is ILLEGAL for non-contracting or out-of-network emergency physicians at in-network facilities to, without warning or consent, bill insurance beneficiaries for balances not covered by their insurance, a deceptive practice known as BALANCE BILLING.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-supreme-court/1001051.html
The obvious reason for this case having been brought before the Court in the first place is the reasonable expectation that being treated at an in-network facility should logically mean that services being rendered at that in-network facility are, in fact, in-network. So while the surprising and counter-intuitive reality is that in-network facilities may often employ out-of-network providers whose services are not covered by your insurance, the ruling requires them to disclose this fact and obtain your express consent before providing each and every out-of-network service, and if any such service is provided without your express consent, the onus is on the out-of-network provider to attempt to settle the balance owed with your insurance company, not you. This protects you, the consumer, from unexpected bills, and also protects incapacitated patients who are unable to give consent to pay for an out-of-network service.
Further, on September 26, 2016, Assembly Bill (AB) 72 was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown, which took the 2009 California Supreme Court precedent and extended it to cover NON-emergency care as well.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB72
So, if you were a patient at Arcadia Methodist Hospital and find yourself with a bill you don't recognize, especially if it is from Michael S. Agron, you may have been victimized in this manner. Contact your health insurance provider and the California Department of Managed Health Care to file a complaint, and strongly consider retaining the services of an attorney specializing in consumer protection law.
http://www.dmhc.ca.gov/
https://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/firm/consumer-protection/los-angeles/california
A rudimentary Google search for the phantom physician Michael S. Agron reveals that we are far from the first to be financially terrorized by him and Arcadia Methodist. Complaints specifically regarding their unethical (and, since 2009, officially illegal) practice of balance billing stretch back YEARS. Ours isn't an isolated case of a clerical or other innocent error. Instead, this is part of what appears to be an ongoing pattern of greedy and predatory behavior in willful and blatant disregard for the law.
https://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-michael-agron-36n88
https://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Michael_Agron.html
Given the apparent scope of this, we are now exploring the option of a class action lawsuit against Michael S. Agron, his company Emergency Medical Management Associates, and Arcadia Methodist Hospital. read more