Mastodawn

Everyone who reads our toots know that we frequently use medical services.
Providence is our option for a doctor and hospital as well as any chance of seeing a specialist without going to San Francisco.
Much of our care flows through the VA.
A couple of months ago my husband went to his annual visit with the Providence primary care provider. They are old friends so they caught up for 15 minutes and said see you next year.
The $600 chat is usually covered between Medicare and our supplemental coverage so I was surprised to see a sort of threatening email and text saying that I have 20 days to give them my credit card for automatic payment for a seriously past due balance or they will proceed to next steps.
It took some digging but I finally got an itemized bill.
We owe a grand total of 79 cents.
I don't usually resort to profanity but WTF?
I hope people don't just hand them their card.
I put the change in a baggie and dropped it off.
A not happy customer.

@NorcalGma2
Good for you for beating the system!

MissConstrue Apr 1

@NorcalGma2 Just obscene at how extractive our medical system has become.

Norcal Gma 2 Apr 1

@MissConstrue
They don't have our credit card and I am keeping it that way.

@NorcalGma2 putting it in a baggie was generous of you, I would have been tempted to dump it across the desk of whoever in collections thought that was a good idea!

@NorcalGma2 Change in a baggie, love it! And really, it's costing them a lot less to collect it, so they should send you a thank you note.

WTF, indeed.

WTF also means "Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot" if it makes you feel better about using it. 😛

@NorcalGma2 When I took over my in-laws' finances (they had no clue about anything) one of my projects was to go through the larger medical bills they had PAID out of pocket, to get that refunded because they ought not to have been billed in the first place because yes, Medicare + supplemental usually covered everything with a $0 balance. My in-laws had no clue how any of it worked and if they received a bill they just paid it. I'm sure this is not uncommon! 0_o

@NorcalGma2 I recovered several thousands of dollars for them. Oh yes, say the hospitals and practices, Medicare + supplemental should have been billed. Sorry about that. Here's the refund. If I had not followed up and questioned why they were billed it would never have been corrected. GROWL GROWL GROWL.

@NorcalGma2 I don't doubt there was a lot more that I could have gotten refunded, but my time is valuable, so I just went after the larger bills. I warn lots of people to check on their aging family members who may be paying a lot more for medical care than they ought to be because of sloppy billing practices of hospitals and medical practices and occupational therapists and ambulance services, etc. etc. etc. :)

MissConstrue Apr 1

@nomdeb @NorcalGma2 I’m fighting a bill now like that. They charged at time of visit, I paid full (bcbs) price because deductible isn’t met, and they just send a bill for the discounted difference.

And I’m like, no…part of you being in their system is that you accept the blue book prices negotiated. You don’t get to bill me for the discounted difference. That’s not how it works, that’s not how any of this works.

And they argued and argued, and I finally said , Ok, send me a line itemized bill with every charge, every payment, and I’ll run it through BCBS dispute department, and see what they say.

Amazing how fast they said they’d made a mistake and there was no balance.

@MissConstrue @NorcalGma2 And we are the lucky ones because we are paying attention. Can you imagine how many people just pay and have no clue!!! I am still annoyed about finding all that out when I took over my in-laws finances except for one thing. It was an early learning lesson for ourselves. Now my husband and I are preparing for all the things we can see they didn't understand for our own old age.... :)

Jim Hubbell Apr 3

@nomdeb @MissConstrue @NorcalGma2
The more you can share with your executor the better. My parents had a will. Dad wrote out a detailed list of accounts before he died in 2010. After he died, mom created a trust and put almost all those accounts into various wells Fargo accounts. Fortunately, we put me on the trust as co trustee before her memory faded so I had a working relationship with the financial advisor. Even though we thought everything was in order, there were several annoying details that had to be dealt with. One good thing besides being co trustee was making me joint owner of the checking and savings accounts.

@Dougfir Thankfully I 100% manage all my MIL's stuff. My FIL died in 2024 and he left a MESS. We hauled up 8 boxes of papers and I figured out their accounts created logins, then sucked all the data into Quicken to figure out my MIL's income expenses, etc. For ourselves tho, we struggle, because no kids, and having to detail how funds are doled out to several beneficiaries by our corporate trustee if we die young. Our plan is die with zero if we can and donate and gift during our lifetime. :)

@Dougfir I had been begging him for YEARS to let me help, but he was private and stubborn. That he expected my MIL to take over handling their finances was absurd. She had not the first clue about anything, including whether she'd get a survivor's pension. Not a clue! But my FIL would NOT let me near their accounts, nor plan. :( I think he assumed family would bail them out - which we did of course. Sigh. Rewarding irresponsibility. But my MIL was of a generation where the man handled the money.

Annelies Kamran, Ph.D.Apr 1

@NorcalGma2 that is seriously f*ed up. Good on you for the baggie of change 😁

Common Sparrow Apr 1

@NorcalGma2
Pay up for a "seriously past due balance or they will proceed to next steps" - this big scary threatening tone - all for 79 cents?! The baggie of change was the best reply!

The Lady (La Donna)Apr 1

@NorcalGma2
Oh, I'm so glad you're good at digging into the itemized bills. The nerve of threatening someone over an amount they can probably dig out of some seat cushions.

Ian Malcolm Apr 1

Am Im misreading this, or is the cost that's subsidised actually $600... for a 15 minute consultation? 😰

Norcal Gma 2 Apr 2

ermo | Rune Morling Apr 2

@NorcalGma2 ... how is a doctor worth $2400/hr wages?

Here, a 15 minute physical consultation with my doctor (covered by my country's tax-payer-funded single-payer public healthcare system) is listed at roughly $27, for which I have to co-pay exactly $0.

Note that the doctor will earn more than that, as there are other approved line items such as a fixed income per month per patient they are taking care of. Last I checked there's an average of 254 patients per doctor in my country.

Ian Malcolm Apr 2

Oh my goodness. I have to admit that I am continually astounded by US health care charges.

I'm SO glad you're covered for it, but that's literally 10x what a similar appointment would cost here...

@imalcolm That's because you have universal health coverage. Everything here is private insurance, much of it tied to employment. Even a program like Medicare, which is for the over-65 population, isn't enough, and requires supplemental insurance.

I don't have health insurance because I can't afford it. It's always been out of my reach.

Ian Malcolm Apr 2

It just seems like such an insane and unfair setup... 😞

@imalcolm It is completely insane.

Norcal Gma 2 Apr 2

@j @imalcolm
Insurance is our largest expense.
I dropped my supplemental policy last November.
My husband's policy is very expensive but I would give up food before I would give up his policy.

@NorcalGma2 *sigh* You shouldn't have to make sacrifices like that. I'm so sorry.

Norcal Gma 2 Apr 2

@j @imalcolm
I thought it through. I have access to care because I am Native American. I have less provider choices but don't have to pay for care I receive through the Indian Health Services.
We are good.
Thank you for caring that we are ok.

@NorcalGma2 ❤️

the words are maps 🗺📚🏡🏳️‍🌈Apr 2

@NorcalGma2 WORST APRIL FOOLS DAY PRANK EVER

MxBikil is Spoopy🎃 and Gay!❄️Apr 2

@NorcalGma2 oh wow! That's so ridiculous!

Michael Horne Apr 2

@NorcalGma2 79 cents in a baggie. Love it. Damn shocking how they treat people, though.

Earthling Apr 2

@NorcalGma2 It cost them more to go after you for the 75 cents you owe than if they just wrote it off.