Community Chat

[Katcat1]

@Jordan2   The hospital needs to train their admitting personnel.  Now you suffer for their mistake.  I have never had to pay a deductible.  Number one, your deductible is being deducted from various sources if you see other doctors.  I pay what I can afford and when I can but then I am retired.  What gets me if there is ever a mistake, it is funny how long you have to wait to be reimbursed yet they want their money NOW.   

[on the bay]

@Jordan2

I would call the insurance commissioner of your state.

[Jordan2]

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@on the bay wrote:

@Jordan2

I would call the insurance commissioner of your state.

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@on the bay, would they look into the way the hospital does business? This isn't the fault of the insurance company, they were very nice and went out of their way to help me. This is the fault of the hospital, or as they told me the billing office (third party).

[on the bay]

@Jordan2

Oh, I see, that wouldn't help.

Most hospitals have someone in charge of complaints, I forget what they are called- a hospitalist or something. I would try there (and I have before). It helps to have an advocate for you.

I have also resported to reporting to news stations and in the past, writing to our states senator or governor for help. Depending on the state, I have been helped enormously when something was just not fair or right or to move things along.

Though, it seems now it is hard to find a state politician who is too busy for individual problems anymore.

Sometimes calling every day and letting them know you will be calling news stations, etc will help.

It is maddening,don't give up, just keep at it. I know how hard it can be. 

[handygal2]

@Jordan2: l think you have a few options:

1. Call your state's Department of Consumer Affairs.

2. Contact your local politician. He/she can steer you in the right direction.

3. A local television station's consumer reporter could get results for you.

There's no excuse for you having been given the run-around for all these months. Good luck!

[Jordan2]

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@handygal2 wrote:

@Jordan2: l think you have a few options:

1. Call your state's Department of Consumer Affairs.

2. Contact your local politician. He/she can steer you in the right direction.

3. A local television station's consumer reporter could get results for you.

There's no excuse for you having been given the run-around for all these months. Good luck!

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@handygal2, thank you for your advice. I  will give the hospital another 2 weeks and see what happens. I live in NYC and there are local news stations that have a consumer reporter that tries to resolve situations for viewers. I thought my $400 wasn't really going to be worth the time for the news show. I just don't understand how the hospital gets payment for the services but is still holding on to my money. I got some excuse that it has to go up the chain of command  to get approval to release the funds to me. I can't see why it should take 6-8 weeks. Maybe they think I'll forget about it, I won't! 

[Jordan2]

I'm the OP and believe it or not I still haven't received my refund from the hospital! The hospital was paid by my insurance company on 11/22/2016, and a request was made on 12/6/2016 for my check. I was originally told it would take 4-6 weeks to receive the check, then I was told 6-8 weeks. Well here it is 8 weeks later  and no check! I called the billing office for about the 100 time, and was told a second request was made and it will be an additional 2 weeks! I am so disgusted with the treatment by this hospital.I am sure if I owed them money, by now they would have turned my account over to a collection agency. I don't know what I can do at this point, I'm not hiring a lawyer to get $400 back.

[chiclet]

Whenever a mistake has been made it is always a nightmare to straighten it out.  The office always seems to cop an attitude like it is your fault and maybe they will do you a favor and straighten it out.

[Cookie2025]

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@Stray wrote:

I may be an outlier but have never encountered a problem with a hospital nor have ever been asked to pay upfront for a procedure or admission except for plastic surgery which was done in a private ambulatory care center.  And, that was explained well before the dates.. I live in the NYC metro area and basically go to the same hospital all of the time. 

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Good Grief Woman - now you have jinxed yourself !

[JustJazzmom]

I do exactly what IAmMrsG does when dealing with any company. It makes it a lot easier to reference back at a later date.