By KEN KLINGENMEIER
Guest Columnist
As I age (I will be 75 in October), I must deal more and more with doctors, clinics, hospitals and the like. I am lucky in that as a retired federal employee with four years in the Navy and 17 years working for the Postal Service (in Noblesville) I retired with very good health insurance. That and Medicare takes care of everything, and I literally never see a bill. Well, almost never.
So I have a mild shock when I do receive a bill in the mail, like the one I got last week – for over $1,500. This was for a procedure I had done last February, and the bill was dated May 28, 2023.
Now, when I get one of these – which I do from time to time – I know I don’t owe anything. As I say, my coverage is set in place, and I don’t have to worry about it. But the question is – why DO I get a bill? And, more importantly, what do other people do when they get one that they shouldn’t have to pay?
These bills always arrive with a good number of options to remit the full amount. Pay over the phone, pay online, send a check using the envelope provided. Interestingly, there is never a section that says – if you question this bill, please contact us at xxx-xxx-xxxx. There is a section on seeking help, but that is for seeking help to Pay The Bill.
My routine upon getting this type of mail is to call the payee and clear the ledger. This usually amounts to me questioning it and the rep on the phone saying, “Oh yes, Mr. Klingenmeier. That has been taken care of by your insurance.” Case closed. But it’s a minor hassle to have to do this every time – if for no other reason than to be sure it HAS been taken care of.
I will say that it is usually only one of the local hospital companies that creates this problem – by billing before they have received all insurance payments. In fact, I would say it is typical of the company. When I called in this time to straighten things out, I armed myself with a detailed accounting I had printed out from their website that showed the account in question had a balance of zero. When I brought this up to the rep who answered my call, he put me on hold while he accessed the account. He came back on and said I could disregard the bill, as my account had in fact been paid in full.
But this time I took it a step further and questioned why this happens – this billing for paid accounts. The spokesman said he understood my concern and that sometimes the bills go out before all the claims have been paid by insurance. “And you know that this is often the case?” I said. He said yes. Then I asked about what really concerns me. How often do people who receive a bill like this go ahead and pay the bill, not realizing or understanding that it may be in error. He didn’t have that information, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was put on hold.
A very nice gentleman soon came on the line, and I posed the same set of questions to him. He told me that there indeed are a few people who do remit a payment, and then it is discovered that insurance covers the bill or a portion of it. He went on to say that many people do as I did and call in to question the billing. When I asked about why their billing practice is set up that way – where so many bills are sent virtually in error, he could not say. Either he did not know – or literally could not tell me.
So, dear reader – when you receive a medical bill for something you have doubts about – maybe it would be a good idea to call the number on the statement and find out if you owe anything at all. I might add that I have a feeling that the folks who pay and then are covered soon after, may not get a repayment in quick order – but I don’t know that; it’s just a feeling.