Second year Day 286 - Wednesday September 25, 2013

Today I spent the morning on the phone hassling about some of the original bills from the accident 12.14.11.  I know!  Hard to believe, right!  This one doctors office had many bills; they were the pulmonary doctors who were in charge of her care during the coma.  Anyway, there was originally over $5,000 in bills just to them, and the majority of the bills were sent correctly to our insurance company and paid just fine.  Then there were two doctors in the group, whose bills were not submitted correctly and therefore not paid, totalling about $1,300.  Our old agent, Jennifer, tried to contact them directly to tell them what needed to be done, but the billing gal was very curt and rude to her.  I tried several times but she was also rude to me.  Her attitude seemed to be that we were deadbeats for not paying and that it was not their fault and we just needed to bite the bullet.  Well, I know that our insurance company has been just great and has paid things so well.  I tried again to talk to the office and this is what I found out.  Jennifer has quit and gone to nursing school.  We have been assigned another agent, Kathy, who has been trying to help out.  She had actually talked to the billing gal in July and we haven't had a bill since then.  But, I keep getting a generic bill from IHC in Provo for like $20, and they say it's for only service charges, no bill attached.  Today I found out that the bill is service charges from the pulmonary doctors.  They say the insurance may be responsible, but I am responsible for service charges.  WHAT!  Because they can't bill right, and won't talk to anyone to find out what the problem is, I am liable for service charges??  The gal that told me this was sympathetic to my case, but said only the pulmonary doctors office can remove the late charges.  So I talked to Kathy at the insurance company and she told me what specifically needed to be changed and asked that I talk to billing because they wouldn't talk to her.  I called Ray Lynn at the pulmonary doctors and told her the news, which I thought she'd be glad to hear.   Instead, she was still difficult, insisting that she had resubmitted the claim in July and that it was correct in every way.  I said, what does it hurt to find out?  I actually had the things that needed to be changed, but she wouldn't listen to me.  One doctor bill had no tax ID number.  Two had no diagnosis code on them.   Anyway, she did agree to call my agent.  She called Kathy, and told her that she couldn't discuss anything until Bridgett signed a release form.  Kathy called me and I said fax it over to my house on our dedicated fax line.  Then, of course, it took Ray Lynn over 24 hours to actually fax anything over to Kathy.  But, at length, we got it signed and everything has been re-submitted.  It will take about 30 days to resolve, but there should be no more issue I hope!  There are two other bills, one being the Provo hospital, which I know have a balance due.  However, these billing offices put a lien on the drivers insurance, so when it ever settles, those bills will get paid.  There will be a point where the original bills are all paid in full!  CRAZY!