Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Non Bike Rant

I had to go to court today.
Remember 2 years ago when I broke my hand?
I'm being sued over it.

The emergency room took my insurance and referred me to an orthopedist.
When I checked in I gave them my insurance card, filled out 2 pages worth of forms (with a broken hand!)  saw an assistant, and had a cast put on.
They then scheduled a MRI for me in about 2 weeks.

The day before the MRI they called me to tell me they were cancelling my MRI as they made a mistake and don't take my insurance and it would be too expensive for a person to pay out of pocket.

At that point I called my insurance and found an orthopedist who did take my insurance.

A month later I get a bill.  They are charging me $485 for their mistake.

In my eyes this is wrong.  They never told me I'd be paying out of pocket or gave me the opportunity to seek alternate care.

So today was the hearing.  10:00 AM in the opposite direction from work.

After a wrong turn based on the court's printed directions, removing my belt and any other metal from my person to get in the court house, my case will finally be heard.

After the judge read a statement about procedures the clerk calls attendance for all the cases.
The plaintiff's attorney in my case is absent!  I win!!!

Ah, no.
After the role call is done the judge says she needs to make an announcement.  The plaintiff's attorney called in sick and the case will be rescheduled.

Really?

If I was sick would they reschedule for me?

So now I get to miss another day of work.

3 comments:

ThirdGear said...

Been there. I dealt with a $500 billing error for about 3 years. I never even had the procedure! Good luck!

Cervelo Girl said...

I'm sorry you are having to deal with that. What a pain in the rear. I am really surprised that they didn't ask for your ins info over the phone when you called to make your appointment... All of that stiff should have been pre-screened by the scheduler. I would mention that when you go back to court. They might say that you should have checked with your ins co prior to your appt to see if they were a "preferred provider," though... I hate insurance... That's why I stick to the back office and just work with patients, and leave the ins and paper pushing to ladies on xanax in the cubes! Good luck!

Brendan said...

You couldn't fight it with letters?

I think I have gotten pretty close to beating the collection's agent for hospital, a firm in Bloomfield, through letters. Although, considering what law school is costing me, I'd hope I'd win.