I don’t know a good spot to put this, but maybe this would be a good spot to just vent…It adds to the mental strain that’s just absolutely bonkers…Plus, might be something for people to think about if they happen to go to the same hospital business a city over. Just 45 minutes away. Shown as an affiliate of the same business on their own website. 😶
Anyway, I saw a doctor a year ago, got x-rays and had an EKG. Fine. Will get a bill…Fine.
Got a bill in January, 6 months after from Centura…In Ohio…Not Colorado…What?
The statement says to send a payment or log in to their website. I log into their website, enter the account number…Nada…I do it again…Nada…Again, and again, and again…Nothing. So I call the number on the website (as I trust that over some odd bill from an address that I’ve never seen from this company before). The representative had no knowledge of it. The account didn’t exist.
I even checked mycentura account, and I owe nothing…What? What? What?
Well, just yesterday I got a call from this questionable Centura company…finally…And guess what? They don’t understand what I’m talking about…It’s never been that way…I would never pay to Centura in Denver. Their billing offices are in Cincinnati. How the heck can there be two completely separate entities of the same bloody business?
Holy fuck!
Sorry for the cursing, but unfortunately, this warrants it. It’s just so idiotic.
End rant.
[2nd attempt to post this. Removed some curse words and the h word as maybe the filters are a bit wonky or purposefully overly sensitive].
Most likely. Would explain why they stated I had to pay the full amount, but would accept a deduction (Which was still half the cost on top of the original bill), if I paid right then and there…Which by my dumb luck, I had just made enough to pay it off and have enough left over to try and get some stuff to try and make a little more money…But nope. Had to spend it all on that.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Hospitals used a simple billing firm so people could pay one bill, over multiple bills, a lot less hassle and trouble would crop up, and they wouldn’t have such a great need of bill collecting services (I mean, they’d still need them, of course, but not so extensively). Nor waste so much of people’s and their own time.
The hospital I worked at would send patient’s bills to a different company for collection, after a certain amount of time had passed without full payment or the patient applying for financial assistance through the hospital, and at that point it would be combined into one bill. It should still be accurate as far as what you still owe to them and what you’ve already paid off. Does this hospital have a financial assistance program? You could possibly get help with your bills.
I did get financial aid, but I still had 3 bills. So I paid off the smaller two bills in two or three months (imaging and the doctor, about $300 or more, paying with the allowance I get from my spouse), then the third I paid what I paid on those two bills per month. I had paid about $120 before it got sent to collections, and the $400 I still owed jumped up to $750 if I paid it off (which I just got lucky and had enough money to pay it off), and would have had to pay about $900 if I would have still been broke.
Oh, sorry, you did say that. I must have missed that part. I wish it had been enough to cover the whole bill. No one should have to struggle to pay for health care. It’s not fair.
Being fair is one thing, but being purposefully ignorant/dumb/mental is on a whole other level.
“We’re going to let you pay $25 a month since you can’t afford any more than that”.
Ok, that equals $75 a month.
“No! We did not say that. It’s $25 a month”.
Um! There’s three bills for this one thing, and I am paying $25 on each of those bills. Simple math, that’s $75. Not $25.
“That doesn’t concern us”…
What? That should concern your company. That should be very concerning to all three companies. Somebody won’t be getting paid in a timely manner.
“That doesn’t concern us”…
face palm.
I mean, just how is that not a cause for concern? The amount of time wasted. Hell, the sheer waste of money, for all three companies have to pay three times for data entry for financial purposes, that could be done by one group of data entry employees. Not to mention the people who need this kind of payment plans, are not going to be the most mentally/emotionally strong which can not be good for a great many people’s well being…They’re in healthcare for Crype’s sake. They should know this…“That doesn’t concern us”…Fair is one thing, but this. This…This is just bonkers, and completely nuts.
Sorry for the rant, but this really does get under my skin. If it was dealt with in a logical manner, I’d be fine. I wouldn’t have too much of an issue, but claiming I’m not paying when I’m obviously paying is just baffling.
It’s fine. This is the /mentalhealth community, where it is totally fine to rant, and I can see why you’re frustrated for sure. It sounds like they’re really not treating you like a human being with feelings and that is not okay. Unfortunately for those companies, you can only pay what you can pay. They will have to wait until you can get it taken care of.