I can't keep up with this society

[CathyA]

Maybe it's just my ADD, but dang......I just can't keep up with insurances. I'm the one who takes care of paying the bills and keeping up with insurances. Unfortunately, some of the insurances come through DH's business (he owns) and some are separate( i.e. Medicare, Prescription, Supplement, Vision, Dental). All these involving Medicare have to be separate, and not as a couple any more. They all are paid differently (through checking or VISA, or paper bill pay).
They all have different requirements/deductibles/co pays, etc., etc., etc. It's making me CRAZY!!!!

Since we came off DH's medical insurance through his company, we have to pay lots more for Dental visits. I called each of our dentists to find out why. They both told me that they have never been on any insurance plan (well, DH's dentist only accepts 1 insurance, that I've never heard of ), but they explained that they send the bill to the insurance and even though they aren't contracted with them, the insurance will pay a portion of what's "customary".
I don't get it. We used to pay either nothing or a couple dollars for a preventative maintenance cleaning, but now we're paying more than half. I thought old farts were supposed to get a bit of a break?
I guess this means that we should change our Dental (and maybe Vision) provider, after we find out what each place considers "customary". I just can't figure all this crap out. It's insane!!

(Not to mention how many looooong phone calls I've had to make to various Medicare related places to get them to straighten things out.
I'm just so damn sick of this. :( And this doesn't even talk about auto, homeowners, umbrella.

[pinkytoe]

My new theory is that it's all complicated on purpose - to befuddle customers and cause resignation. At some point, you just throw up our hands. Life used to be simpler, didn't it?

[Radicchio]

I agree. Recently decided to get adult disabled child who is with us 24/7 on Medicaid. This child has been on our private insurance since birth, but we decided we should get this established so that when the time comes that we don't have private insurance our child would still be covered by insurance. We didn't want to risk there being any gaps in coverage. Good thing we started now! It took months for what seemed like a simple procedure. Getting our child approved only took 3 days but actually getting the insurance in place and being able to access it took almost 3 months!!! I would call government agency #1, which would tell me to call agency #2, which, in turn, would tell me to call agency #3. Guess what agency #3 said? Yep---they told me to call agency #1!!! And, of course, each call involved a long process to get through their voice mail system and then even longer wait on hold at each. In the end, I determined I had to keep calling until I finally found someone who knew what he/she was doing and would actually listen.

I am generally pretty tenacious about getting these straightened out, but I have on occasion simply paid a bill under $20 because it wasn't worth the time or aggravation to try to deal with the insurer. Not a lot of money, but multiply that by the millions of customers the company has and it results in a large extra profit for them, doesn't it?

[Tammy]

Exactly. People will pay a small bill to avoid a hassle. I think somewhere there's a spreadsheet showing chances of payment without questions from the patient, at various percentages of the total bill ....

On the other hand, there are about 5 outstanding bills of less than $5 that we've never been billed for - from January when my husband had pneumonia. My EOBs say we should pay but no one ever billed us. So I ignored it, reasoning that if they don't bill me, then I don't owe them.

Medical systems don't even deserve to be classified as a business. They make no sense.

[Float On]

On the other hand, there are about 5 outstanding bills of less than $5 that we've never been billed for ---My EOBs say we should pay but no one ever billed us. So I ignored it, reasoning that if they don't bill me, then I don't owe them. Medical systems don't even deserve to be classified as a business. They make no sense.

and I guess it can take 2 or 3 years for them to audit themselves and fix those missing charges. We got a bill the other day for an office visit 2 years ago (went through an audit). I did find my payment for that one so it's their mess not mine. But last month I accidentally overpaid a bill by $50....I've already sent a request for refund but I'm sure it will take months (and an audit) for me to see that money again.

[pinkytoe]

As an another example, I just prepaid for a year of home and auto insurance on June 2. Yesterday, I received a bill for $13.00 - all it says is auto premium. I was not able to get through the voice mail system to speak with anyone about what it is for and it says I will be charged a $15 late fee if not paid by next Monday. Very frustrating...

[ToomuchStuff]

I had some blood work done some time back and they said they would send me a bill as they didn't accept cash, only plastic for the copay. I never have received the bill.
Makes me think of some of the stories from an older person on this block, both dealt with double billing and general incompetence.

[Zoe Girl]

i have high deductible insurance, not my choice really, and so they at first offered me a discount to pay at the visit, now they can't even tell me what the visit costs! i was told the cost could be much lower if i paid at the visit so the 2nd time i needed to see a dr i made sure i had money and then i couldn't, so frustrated.