AW/WWYD: Insurance drama

[Deleted]

Ughhh I'm sorry you're dealing with that shit! I have my own healthcare bill troubles that I haven't figured out yet, but is your doctor's office really not willing to work with you to fix this? If you have a specific place the claims need to be sent to be processed properly I think I would lean more on the doctor's office to try to get them to fix what they're doing to avoid this confusion. I wouldn't pay it if it were me-- do you have a nurse or someone in the office that can advocate for you? Maybe my office is different but I have a specific nurse I deal with (she's like the head OB nurse) and even when it's a billing or claim issue she helps me and tries to remedy my issues as best as she can, plus she knows how to get around a lot of stuff so that's helpful as well.

Letter-writing might work, but annoying phone calls might also be more persuasive. Also it would be in your doctor's interest to fix this on their end since they will actually get paid by the insurance company if they process the bill the right way.

Sorry you're dealing with this, I know this was probably not helpful at all. FX that this gets resolved soon!

[Deleted]

Wait it out. They are being rididulous! We switched from H's insurance to mine 2 years ago and the hospital still bills the wrong one ocassionally. I call them and TELL THEM to fix it. They screwed it up, not me.

[shopgirl]

I'm the Benefits Manager at my company, and stuff like this happens sometimes. Try not to worry about it - it WILL get worked out. Can you talk to your Benefits person at work? They may be able to get involved and get things sorted out quicker for you.

[mischiefmama]

It's a scary gamble, but I doubt in 60 days they'll be messing with sending you to collections at that point. Insurance is a long stupid process and I know I"ve had bills MUCH older that didn't affect our credit.

Also, like shopgirl said get your benefits person at your employer involved, they usually know someone personally at the company who can help with things.

[Deleted]

Wait it out. Call your company benefits person for help as PP suggested. If you're really worried and want this dealt with immediately, get a copy of the invoice with DX and claim codes, and a copy of the claim form, and send it to who it needs to go to yourself. (I do a lot of out of network docs, so I'm responsible for my own claim forms. It's not too terrible.)

For example, this looks like it might be the form you need. member.carefirst.com/carefirst-resources/pdf/health-benefits-claim-form-in-service-area-cut0165-i.pdf

[errsbear11]

That really stinks. Although I really don't think that you'll be in too much trouble with collections in just 60 days. If you are really worried just pay $5/month or some menial amount, to ensure it won't hurt your credit. Medical bills don't hurt credit as long as you are actively paying SOMETHING on them, or so I was told by one of my doctors.

BCBS is very frustrating. I am dealing with two situations with them right now where the doctors codes don't match the insurance codes or something. It's all mumbo jumbo to me, but I now have two bills in collections for services BCBS specifically confirmed I am covered for. The doctors have called insurance and adjusted the codes as per their request, and everything still gets denied, even though both "sides" agree I should not be billed. When asking how I personally get get this shit resolved they always tell me to appeal it - which didn't work on the first one, so I don't want to stall any actions to resolve the second. I hate insurance

[lindslew91011]

Like PP have said call your doctors office and ask them to look into how they are filing claims and explain your situation. I would think that these offices SHOULD have compassion for their patients. I would also call your HR department at work and maybe have them put you into contact with your BCBS rep. I know my job has one specific guy from BCBS who is in charge of all our insurance stuff. I would also keep calling BCBS and maybe ask for a manager of some sort. I purposefully get upset/angry/emotional if people are not taking my situation seriously and that seems to help! Good luck!

[trebletrouble13]

I work in a medical office, and we have to watch for these sorts of variations in insurance. The doctor's office needs to correct their billing/get the payer added to their system so that they can process your claim correctly. You provided the correct insurance with all necessary info, you are not responsible for their error (as much as they may try to say you are). I would recommend a letter to the doc and insurance if this takes much longer.

[gw3nny]

Insurance drama suuuuuckkksssss. That is all.

[lindslew91011]

Jan 17, 2015 7:36:44 GMT -5 @wafflesfriendswork said:

As I sit here at my OB trying to drink enough water for a urine sample, I mentioned the issue to the nurse. She went through all my charts and information and in ONE place it says I have Anthem. Wtf. Tiny human error causing so much of an issue. I don't know why no one I spoke to in billing said "oh, they have you marked down as Anthem, let's change that" when Carefirst and I both called them multiple times stating that I do not participate in Anthem.

Hopefully this is the secret to getting everything resolved!! I had them check everything, make another copy of my card (front and back) and asked that they contact the other office to let them know. I'll follow up on everything later next week after a few business days.

Thanks everyone for your help! I'm so glad it finally seems to be on the right track. PLEASE PLEASE look at every bill you receive and be persistent. I never thought my OB could be the problem, but it was. There's no way you should have to paying $$$$$ for some one else's mistake.

Well hopefully this has been figured out for the last time and you won't have any more issues!!