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adventures in American healthcare billing
2015-Jun-20, Saturday 01:34 amWe can't have nice things in the USA. I wish I lived somewhere civilized that had a single-payer health care system that "collects all medical fees, then pays for all services, through a 'single' government (or government-related) source." But, no. Instead, we have a convoluted bureaucratic nightmare that is ripe for exploitation.
I had sinus surgery back in January. It's public knowledge, since I blogged about it. Many bills arrived later. I paid all of them except for one curious letter that arrived from people I didn't know and a place I didn't know, wanting money. There was no privileged information in that letter, so I treated it like I do all spam email that I receive: I trashed it.
Months later, a bill collection agency tries to collect. Once again, they say a person I don't know wants money, but nobody can offer any definitive information to help me confirm their authenticity. Again, I refuse to pay, but at least this time I'm willing to put some effort into an investigation of the claim.
It required 2 calls to my surgeon's office, 2 calls to my insurance provider, and 2 visits to the hospital, but I finally got a claim number that I could verify. Here's the trail of shame for the rickety medical billing system currently in use:
On my first visit back to the hospital (their customer service was great!), I was able to get printouts for the anesthesiologist report and the billing report. At least I could verify the doctor's name, but nothing provided any trail to verify the claim against me. On my second visit back to the hospital (again, their customer service was great!) a billing person was able to connect me by phone to the doctor's billing person. Finally, at long last, I had a reliable trail of contact to someone with knowledge of this bill. I got a claim ticket number that they had filed with my insurance provider.
I called my insurance provider again, and this time they were able follow that claim number and give me confirmation of this bill. I called back the bill collector and gave them my bank routing information so they could file an electronic draft immediately. I still don't know anything about the bill collector other than the phone number (651-287-6137), but I'm tired of investigating and just want this mess to end. Afterwards, I was so stressed out and drained from this escapade that I went to bed and slept 6pm-1am.
This is the healthcare system that we have in the USA. It's awful. And I'm sick again, this time with something new that's affecting my throat. Happy, happy, joy, joy.
I had sinus surgery back in January. It's public knowledge, since I blogged about it. Many bills arrived later. I paid all of them except for one curious letter that arrived from people I didn't know and a place I didn't know, wanting money. There was no privileged information in that letter, so I treated it like I do all spam email that I receive: I trashed it.
Months later, a bill collection agency tries to collect. Once again, they say a person I don't know wants money, but nobody can offer any definitive information to help me confirm their authenticity. Again, I refuse to pay, but at least this time I'm willing to put some effort into an investigation of the claim.
It required 2 calls to my surgeon's office, 2 calls to my insurance provider, and 2 visits to the hospital, but I finally got a claim number that I could verify. Here's the trail of shame for the rickety medical billing system currently in use:
- My surgeon's office had no contact information for the anesthesiologist. How did they arrange for him to show up at my surgery? Who knows?
- My first call to my insurance provider (Aetna) offered only one name for anesthesiology, but it wasn't the doctor's name; it was a nurse's.
- My hospital does include a listing for the doctor (Mark Lantz), but the information is all wrong.
- The listed phone number (763-520-5370) is "disconnected or no longer in service".
- It includes a webpage (apanorth.com), but it's also useless. The webpage offers no contact information for the doctor.
- The webpage includes its own email contact (feedback@apanorth.com), but the email bounces.
- The webpage includes a brick-and-mortar address at the hospital itself, but the information desk at the hospital knows nothing about the group.
- somebody with no phone contact,
- somebody with no email contact, and
- somebody with no viable street address.
On my first visit back to the hospital (their customer service was great!), I was able to get printouts for the anesthesiologist report and the billing report. At least I could verify the doctor's name, but nothing provided any trail to verify the claim against me. On my second visit back to the hospital (again, their customer service was great!) a billing person was able to connect me by phone to the doctor's billing person. Finally, at long last, I had a reliable trail of contact to someone with knowledge of this bill. I got a claim ticket number that they had filed with my insurance provider.
I called my insurance provider again, and this time they were able follow that claim number and give me confirmation of this bill. I called back the bill collector and gave them my bank routing information so they could file an electronic draft immediately. I still don't know anything about the bill collector other than the phone number (651-287-6137), but I'm tired of investigating and just want this mess to end. Afterwards, I was so stressed out and drained from this escapade that I went to bed and slept 6pm-1am.
This is the healthcare system that we have in the USA. It's awful. And I'm sick again, this time with something new that's affecting my throat. Happy, happy, joy, joy.