Just When You Think You Have Heard It All!

I had to share this with you ladies, because I know we have all had our share of red tape and hassels with insurance and doctors' office staff. My daughter is still undergoing testing to diagnose chronic pain that has not resolved since April 13th. I had taken her to a gynecologist that I had no choice but to use as he was the only one who could see her on short notice. He insinuated from the moment he saw her that her problems are psychological. His entire staff was aloof and odd to say the least.

She had an ultrasound and I was asked to pay 30% up front for the procedure. I had called my insurance company and they said I was only responsible for my $25 office co-pay for this procedure. His staff assured me their information was correct so I paid what they asked. Insurance processed it as I anticipated and my only responsibility was the $25. I wrote a nice note explaining that insurance had paid differently than they expected and asked that I be mailed a refund check for the difference. I enclosed a copy of my receipt and EOB from insurance.

Today in the mail I received my note and copies back with a hand written Post It Note attached. Here is what it says:

"Per BCBS we got benefits for Taylor. We have to go by what they say. Sorry for the inconvenience. The credit does not go anywhere until she uses it up. If you want a check mailed please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to us - Thanks and sorry again. Have a Great Day!"

They had to attached EXTRA postage to send this to me. Is anyone surprised we won't be going back to use that credit up? I am truly amazed by what I see more and more of these days. I don't know if the stupid people are attracted to the bad doctors or if they all just gravitate to each other somehow.

I am laughing about this, but truly disgusted on many levels. I will send in my self-addressed stamped envelope to get my refund and then I will be reporting this doctor and his staff to the insurance company!

Dianna

By dubtrubl
Posted May 28, 2009 at 11:32 pm
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Gracie62,
I know what you mean, I really like my doctor and her nurses but the front desk staff are driving me crazy. You have to wait behind a line until you are summoned up to the desk. Now more times than I can count, I stood there with others while the employees chatted it up with each other and looking up once every so often, giving all the people in line a look of "geez here we go more sick people to deal with". The last time this happened, I was not in the best of moods and waited a minute and just walked up. Poor ladies had to stop talking about lunch and actually had to work, the others in line followed suit and walked up also.
Now the good part, our clinic has internet access where you can make appts., keep track of meds etc...I had an appt for June 4th scheduled and for some reason I went to the site to check on something and noticed my appt. was changed to June 8th, without even a phone call to notify me. I guess they showed me!! haha Won't they be surprised when I show up on the right day. If my doctor leaves the clinic, so will I. Until then, I'll just have some fun with the desk jockeys....
If you don't find the humor in some of this stuff you'll go crazy.
Hope you get your full check, sounds like they might just deduct the cost of that post-it-note!

By grace5
Posted May 29, 2009 at 3:07 am
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Dianna, how frustrating for you, you're right, stupid people are definitely magnetically attracted to each other, a friend of mine calls them sheeple, all herded into a pen and none of them knowing what they're doing, they just mill around bumping into each other or stand in a huddle baaaing. There are many sheeple behind the counter in my surgery too.
Lidia xx

By Annie7
Posted May 29, 2009 at 7:31 am
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Houston is full of Sheeple. I am amazed that so many idiots work in the medical field. I too am going through testing with my daughter. She is diabetic and we both are Hashimoto's with goiter and thyroid nodules. Her insurance wanted not a dime for office visits or blood work but hospital wanted 800.00 for her ultrasound. She gave them 200.00 as she knew they were wrong. We plan on hearing more Baaaaaing in the next few weeks. These Baaaa'ers need to be put out to pasture permanently.

By gracie62
Posted May 29, 2009 at 9:37 am
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Annie:
My daughter has Hashimoto's and a thyroid nodule too. Her goiter has gone down thanks to daily low dose of Levothyroxine. She also has Raynaud's, Sjogren's, RA, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease and the list goes on and on. She had an MRI done yesterday locally and we have to wait until June 15th to go back to Texas Children's Hospital to get the results. They think whatever is going on with her has to do with all her autoimmune and inflammatory issues - possibly sacroiliitis. Since she is "stable", meaning not in danger of death at this time, we have to wait for each and every test and appointment. If she wasn't on Tylenol 3 and an antiinflammatory patch, she would be out of her mind with pain they can't find the cause of. She is not a priority since her pain is being managed, if you can call it that. I thought going 2 hours to Houston to her established Rheumatologist would get her help. It has, but it is all hurry up and wait. Very frustrating! We are lucky (haha). We have reached our $2500 maxmimum out of pocket for the year with her. All we have to pay for the rest of the year is $25 co-pays for office visits. All testing and even hospitlizations are 100% from here on out. Of course, this is $40,000 later in medical bills with no answer yet. Gotta love the system! Best of luck with your daughter. I hope that ya'll have better luck than we have had.

Dianna

By Annie7
Posted May 29, 2009 at 10:45 am
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My daughter has Aetna PPO and it is good insurance but I know how things can get mixed up with gals behind the desk. I also have Aetna and one gal insisted I have Beech Street insurance (never heard of it) and I had to get in her face and get rude before she called her supervisor crying that I was threatening her in getting the information right. They ended up firing that yo yo. People know what insurance they have. Yes, there are so many Idiots in the Medical field and I wonder how they got their jobs. One gal called me a month ago and told me all my Endocrine blood work was normal. I was elated. I asked her to read me the numbers for various endocrine testing and lo and behold every single test was abnormal with very high readings. I heard she no longer works with this group of endocrinologists. We all have to be our own advocates to survive and I stress this every single day with my kids and husband as they believe that a person with M.D. after their name's, are God. NOT TRUE! I wish you and your daughter the very best.
Annie

By Ecksunbeam
Posted May 29, 2009 at 10:48 am
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Dear Dianna,

Unreal! I'd like to see this doctor's mortgage and the car he drives.

Talk about CHEAP! (And this is their office correspondence.)

I'll be shaking my head all day. . . .

May the Blessings Be!

Sherrie

By MMaslek
Posted May 29, 2009 at 11:59 am
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When you send the envelop tell them that while you appreciate their concerns, you'd like the refund before hell freezes over seeing as how that's the next time you would allow your daughter to be treated in their office.

My 14 year old has had 8 ovarian cysts now. They found swollen lymph nodes in her stomach on a cat scan. She was hospitalized for 5 days last summer with intense stomach pain. You know what they did for her. An enema!!! Kept saying she was constpated. She has a dianosis of IBS but the IBS & the stomach pains were totally unrelated.

All I asked for was a laproscopy of her uterus & stomach so we could see if she had early onset endometriosis. They gave her an enema instead. Said the anesthesia isn't good for children. Her gyn wouldn't override the stomach dr who insisted it was IBS. The enema ended up flaring up the IBS along with the stomach pains. The the stomach doc was like, "See I told you it was IBS." What a mess it was!!! My pediatrician kept requesting a lap but the GYN didn't work out of the childrens hospital she was in & the stomach doc said no.

Now I have a 100 pound, 4'11", 14 year old on continual birth control to stop her periods because even with the pill her periods were unbelieveably heavy & painful. She gets cysts every time she gets her period. Besides the occasional painful breakthrough bleeding, the pill helps quite a bit.

I feel really bad for your daughter. I can't imagine needing to deal with those multiple conditions at such a young age. Poor kid. A decent doctor will make all the difference in the world.

By spasmjan
Posted May 29, 2009 at 1:18 pm
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I think good Dr.'s are slowly being poisoned by insurance companies and hospital controlled medical groups, but some are just downright greedy. Things have changed so much over the last 20 years and it's downright outrageous the way some patients are treated! My GP left a large medical group and went into private practice because everything he did was dictated by the large hospital group he was associated with, including the hiring of HIS employees...nurses, receptionists, etc. Of course his prices increased to cover the consequential costs of going it alone.

The most unbelievable thing I've encountered so far was with a new GP in Kansas where I lived from 2002 until 2007. He was one of several young Drs. practicing as a group, and although I had insurance at the time and only had to pay a $30 co-pay, when I received the insurance SOB I noticed how high his prices were. I had taken Phentermine (prescription diet pill) for 10 years in Illinois and had to be weighed at the Dr.'s office each month before he would prescribe another 30 day's worth. (Was told it was just to make sure it was working and still necessary). I never had to see the Dr., just got weighed by a nurse, then handed my written prescription, absolutely NEVER charged just to be weighed! This new Dr. agreed to continue with the same medication and monthly weigh-in's. The first time I went to get weighed I was floored when they wanted a co-pay and said it was considered a regular office visit, (even though I wasn't even going to see the Dr.)! I tried the "nice way" with the receptionist but got nowhere and finally stood at the counter and threw such a fit that they took me back in an office and had the Dr. talk to me. (No, I'm not looney, I just believe in the squeaky wheel getting the grease!) Case in point: after a long and frustrating conversation, the Dr. agreed to make a note on my chart NOT to charge me for the weigh-in's that HE said were required by LAW. (Still don't know if that's true!!)

On another regular visit they forgot to ask for my co-pay and I didn't think about it because they handed me a long form and asked me to fill it out. It was a survey as to what patients thought of their waiting room...lighting, music, comfort of furniture, etc,!! This waiting room looked like a millionaire's living room! Three full size REAL leather couches and large slate topped coffee table, a huge armoire with a TV, various antique looking pieces of furniture and to top it off... a floor to ceiling waterfall in the corner!!! When I got a bill for the forgotten co-pay the following month, it was sent in an envelope with a pre-pasted flap. (much more expensive than the regular lick-it-yourself kind!) I was so mad I blew it off for a month and got another bill. A few days later I called to make an appointment and was nastily told I couldn't even be connected to the scheduling desk until the past due bill was paid!! I wrote the Dr. a not-so-cordial letter, included a $30 check and told him what I thought of his practice and that I would be seeking medical care elsewhere. Already steaming, I just had to get in one final dig and P.S.'d him: NICE WAITING ROOM THOUGH!!!!

I truly believe you have to trust and like a Dr.'s ENTIRE staff to feel comfortable. I don't have insurance now, and only have to see my GP once a year to keep my meds refilled each month, and even though I owe them a little money, they never refuse to take my calls if I have a problem. I don't think Dr's have a clue about what's going on with their "front desk" staff, so if and when you get really ****ed off, write the Dr. a letter (write "personal and confidential" on the outside of the envelope.....may or may not keep the staff from opening and reading!), or make an appointment to see the Dr. personally. Recession or not, I think it's sad that Dr's are putting values on people's health and lives!! I know all of us are scattered everywhere across the country (and out of the country too!), but I really wish there was a site where we could all go and give nothing but recommendations for and/or against Dr.'s (by city and name) **according to our experiences with them**. Does anyone know of any such site for heart patients?

I hope your daughter gets all the help she needs to feel better...in a more non-complicated way!!!!
Take care,
Jan

By dubtrubl
Posted May 29, 2009 at 10:31 pm
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spasmjan,
I, 100% agree with you....at our clinic we have huge fish tanks on every floor. Just last month they had a huge layoff of PA's, nurses, and other staff members. One nurse was even pulled out of a surgery to be given her pink slip and walked out the door.
But the company that cleans those expensive fish tanks still work for the clinic. Gives me the impression that the fish are more important than the employees and patients..mixed up system for sure.
Lori

By MARYCORINNE
Posted May 29, 2009 at 10:38 pm
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Great stories everyone. I work a front desk for a Dentist and have for 10 years. Talk about a place(Dentist) no one wants to be right !?? I try to be understanding and thoughtfull to all, but you need to realize we deal with multiple people each day and each person sucks a little more life out of you with each encounter. Mistakes happen cause we are human. Also realize the front desk might have an ejection fraction of 30, with an ICD and is doing all she can to fight through the blood pressure brain fuzz of medication she took at the beginning of the day !! And yes if I did'nt have to work, hell no would'nt . But there it is. Sorry I am playing devels advocate here, but there are always to sides to the story. Our healthcare system is badly broken and we are trying to navage our way through it. The front desk can be your friend !!

Mary Corinne

By gracie62
Posted May 29, 2009 at 11:21 pm
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Mary:
I shared this story only because I had a bad experience from day one with this doctor. His staff using postage to tell me to send in a self-addressed stamped envelope to get my refund was just too over the top not to share. I did not mean to generalize or offend. Sometimes we need to laugh and while truly aggravated, this made me laugh and will continue to make me laugh. I learned after my bypass and heart attack that things don't always show on the outside. I keep that in mind every day when I deal with people.

I recently sent a note to our GP complimenting their referral clerk. She has been an angel through my daughter's illness, treating us like her most important patient. I appreciate people who work with the public. Thank you for doing what you do and putting up with all of us.

Dianna

By lvfrogs
Posted May 31, 2009 at 9:30 am
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There are always two sides to every story. I appreciate the nurses and office workers though that are so kind and nice. When you are sick and/or in pain, it makes the world of difference. I have been blessed with doctors who have very caring staff - and also some that don't. I do understand that some people also might not feel that good that day, but in an ongoing basis, you know the ones that are just not so nice. I too, had a doctors office (gyn) that wanted me to use up my credit there. I was extremely unhappy with them, so I asked for the refund instead and they gave me a hard time, but eventually coughed it up (I think it was $11). Nice caring nurses and staff make a world of difference!

By NewAllie
Posted May 31, 2009 at 1:59 pm
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Dianna, As frustrating as it is to be treated poorly or thoughtlessly, or to not be given respect, or to not find the answer, or to not find relief from the pain is on a personal level, it must be a million times more difficult to experience all that through your daughter. You must just want to shake them and make them really see her. I cannot imagine. Bless you both. Love, Allie

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