Apria Healthcare

My father had COPD and had leased oxygen equipment and tanks from Apria Healthcare. He passed in April of this year at 79, and my mother paid two final bills. The last because they claimed they were never paid. In October Apria Healthcare sent her a check in my father's name in the amount of $26.40, knowing he was deceased, because she had in fact overpaid. She called them to have them send a check in her name because she was unable to do anything with a check in his. They said the needed a copy of the death certificate emailed to [email protected], and said to reference the check #, state her relationship to the deceased and provide her mailing address. I did this for her because she is technologically illiterate.

After a couple weeks, when she never received the check, she called and got the run around. They claimed they never received the email. I had owned a small website development and hosting company for 18 years. I know that, when you send an email to an email address that does not exist, the mail server bounces the email back to you. This is how I know it was received. Whomever she talked to said that they didn't have to send her a check because the account was not in her name. She went to the local Apria Healthcare office and got the same treatment. I filed a BBB complaint and their response was the she refused to send the copy of the death certificate, which is a lie. They received the email with the attached death certificate, they just want to keep $26.40 from the widow of a former customer. It's sick!

IMO, people need to be think carefully about dealing with Apria Healthcare. They love to game play. While looking on the Internet for similar complaints, I found this from a law firm that details some of the biggest issues with Apria Healthcare, including billing:

https://www.agrusslawfirm.com/companies-...thcare-llc

Consumer, Beware.

Item # 1: Ms [redacted] states that she keeps getting calls regarding a balance that she does not owe RESPONSE: We have reviewed Ms [redacted] ’s account and found that on the three of the claims the primary explanation of benefits was not submitted to the secondary insurance, therefore they did not cover the balance that was not paid by the primary insurance We have removed the open balance, leaving Ms [redacted] a $balance as of today We also removed Ms [redacted] ’s phone number from our automated dialer system so she does not receive any more calls We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused Sincerely, [redacted] Billing Center Quality Specialist

We have reviewed the patients account and were able determine that an Advanced Beneficiary Notice was signed by the Patient informing him that the Baseline Sleep Study was needed in order for Medicare to payDue to this information not being received, we were unable to bill Medicare for the CPAP Unit providedThis documentation was signed by the Patient on November 6, and also states that the face-to-face notes from the physician visit, after Medicare became effective, were not receivedLater, we were able to obtain the clinical notes needed but not the Sleep Study requiredWe do show a Titration Sleep Study on file however, this is not compliant per Medicare guidelines as the Baseline Study is requiredThe last claim billed for the CPAP Unit was denied on December 4, We are unable to submit an appeal to Medicare due to the last day to file an appeal was on April 2, The current outstanding balance due would be valid due to the Patient signing the ABN (Advanced Beneficiary Notice) and accepting the equipment without all of the required documentation on fileWe apologize for the inconvenience this has caused Sincerely, Apria Healthcare LLC

After review of the account, we were able to determine that due to previous issues with getting the insurance payment applied, the patient refund was delayedOur system automatically reposted the patients payment in error and this has been correctedWe were able to also confirm that the refund was sent for processing on February 2, and a check is being issued for the $previously paidWe apologize again for any inconvenience or miscommunication on our part Sincerely, Apria Healthcare, LLC

We have confirmed that the patient received a cpap machine November 7, and authorized automatic billing by signing our sales service and rental agreement with the credit card informationThe insurance has been sent a total of six claims which included the initial cpap supplies that was billed as individual claims and two months rental of the cpapThe patient has been refunded for amounts billed in excess of the insurance’s allowable due to the incorrect payor was attached to claimsA refund was requested December 23, and January 4, 2017, which takes two-four weeks to receiveUnfortunately Apria Healthcare would not be able to reimburse for overdraft fees due to the charges were authorized by signing the sales agreementThe cpap machine was returned December 29, 2016, however the patient only needed to submit a written request to remove the automatic billing to her cardWe do apologize for any inconvenience as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing Sincerely, Apria Healthcare, LLC

Revdex.com Attn: [redacted] Dispute and Information Analyst Lead San Diego CA [redacted] Re: Apria Healthcare Inc: [redacted] , [redacted] Revdex.com Rebuttal Case Number: [redacted] Dear Ms [redacted] This letter is in response to the rebuttal referenced above submitted by [redacted] to the Revdex.com We apologize for any miscommunication on our part that may have resulted in this rebuttalBelow is a brief description of the rebuttal matter and our response Item # 1: RESPONSE Mr [redacted] has been taken care of and has the machine and mask that he expected to receive via mail The Respiratory Therapist that set him up on his equipment placed a follow up call and he seemed to be very pleased with his new equipment He has received follow up calls from the staff as well as requested filters for future use There have been no further issues with this patient to our knowledge Sincerely, [redacted]

We have reviewed the patient’s account and because he never received the supplies, we have entered an adjustment for dates of service March 2nd, 2016-June 21st, in the amount of $The patient is no longer responsible for those charges and will not be sent to collectionsWe have also entered a request to our Sleep Management Center to discontinue automatic shipments to patient and the request has been completedPatient concerns with the customer service provided have also been elevated to our management team and agents are being closely monitored for discipline and training opportunitiesAt this time, patient’s account reflects a zero balance with no claims currently pendingWe do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing Sincerely, Apria Healthcare LLC

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved Regards, [redacted] ***- [redacted]

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below The business response is not quite accurateOn my initial visit to the local Apria Office, I simple wanted my defective base unit replaced as it was not workingI was told that I had to set up an appointment with my Dr., obtain hand-written interview notes from the appointment which took several days to arrangeI then had to go back a second time to obtain a signed written prescriptionI had to then go back a THIRD time to have the dehumidifier addedI do not need a humidifier as the one I have now works fineAll I need is a REPLACEMENT BASE UNIT Regards, [redacted] ***

We would like to apologize for the level of customer service you recently experienced regarding your respiratory supplies After a review of your records, we confirmed you were sent the respiratory supplies in errorThe customer service agent informed you that the outstanding balance of $has been removed from your account and you are no longer responsible for the balance Apria prides itself in providing excellent customer care, and in this situation, it has given us an opportunity for coaching to ensure this does not happen again Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or challenges this issue may have caused youWe greatly appreciate you for taking the time to bring your concerns to our attentionWe welcome all patient feedback as this provides us with a valuable insight into our services from the patient’s perspective which allows us to make service improvements, as it has done in this case Sincerely, Apria Healthcare LLC

We have reviewed patient account and confirmed that patient received his wound pump and supplies on September 16th, and his mother signed the Sales, Service and Rental Agreement acknowledging patient received the equipmentOur customer service representative spoke with patient sister on September 15th , and she provided her credit card information and at that time it was placed on file as recurring and was also charged in the amount of $for dates of service September 16th & 17th, for patient wound pump and suppliesWe received notification from patient sister credit card company that she disputed the charges and the payment would be reversed and taken back and we approved for the credit card company to recoup the payment of $and refund her in fullOn December 9th, we contacted patient insurance [redacted] and spoke with [redacted] reference # [redacted] and was informed that the authorization was canceled because another durable medical company requested an authorization for the same equipment and it was approvedThe representative also confirmed that the Negative Pressure Wound Therapy is non covered under patient policy per [redacted] ***’s exclusion of disposable durable medical equipment; therefore patient will still remain responsible for the charges and would need to contact the insurance in regards to the denials receivedWe do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction and accurate billing

Item # 1: No service on concentrator/purchasing supplies RESPONSE: Patient was in Florida for months and did not notify branch Equipment was written off as lost/stolen when branch could not reach patient Patient now requesting service on equipment Patient is still Medicare eligible and branch will provide equipment and supplies for patient Sincerely, [redacted] Branch Manager

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me I understand their explanation of the extra charges that have been made to my credit cardIt would be helpful though in the future if their statements would better explain these chargesIt would also be helpful if there is a phone number I can get to be able to actually talk to a person - my insurance might be changing after the first of the year, and I will need to be able to contact someone to get them the information Regards, [redacted] ***

We have reviewed the patients account and confirmed that when they received the CPAP supplies on November 3, the patients spouse credit card was attached to file to be automatically charged for services that are not covered by the insurance The incorrect insurance was attached to the file resulting in the credit card being billed in error for date of service July 11, for CPAP supplies receivedWe have requested a refund to be processed for the patient in the amount of $The account is currently in payor change status for verification purposes to submit claims to the insurance for payment for date of service July 11, 2017, and there is no patient responsibility at this timeWhen the patient spoke with our Billing Department on August 2, 2017, the call was disconnected in the process of being transferred to another representative to provide further assistanceWe do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing Sincerely, Apria Healthcare, LLC

We have reviewed the patient’s account and confirmed he received his [redacted] machine on March 11, When the equipment was obtained, the patient had [redacted] insurance coverage and the plan termed on June 1, There was no new insurance information on file, therefore, the account was setup to bill under self-payOur sleep management team tried to obtain new insurance information, but was unable to reach the patient, having leave a messageThe patient called on November 18, to update his insurance information to ***A payor change was initiated to verify the plan and during the verification process the ID number for the patient could not pull patient demographicsOur sleep management team attempted to contact the patient again to obtain the updated informationWe were unable to reach the patient and had to leave a messageThe patient’s claims for dates of service June 13, through November 11, for [redacted] supplies received and the monthly rental of the [redacted] was billed under self-payThis was due to not being able to verify the updated insurance planThe open balance due is $ On February 9, 2017, the patient provided insurance information being [redacted] Health and a payor change was initiated to verify the plan to submit claims to them going forwardPatient account does not reflect an open balance in collections at this timeWe do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing Sincerely, Apria Healthcare, LLC

We have reviewed the patients account determined that we will make one more attempt to obtain payment from his primary insurance of [redacted] An order was placed with Apria for supplies related to patient owned equipment in August from [redacted] , via an ***In this case the [redacted] received was dated after the patient’s insurance termination date with [redacted] Because of this [redacted] denied claims Apria submittedBecause the patient states he placed his order with [redacted] prior to his coverage term date as a courtesy we have sent an appeal dated 12/22/to [redacted] This means for the patient, the balances which were previously being billed have at this time been removed from his responsibilityUnfortunately, if [redacted] continues to deny the claims, ultimately the patient will be responsible to make payment to Apria Healthcare for the denied chargesWe do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing

We have reviewed the patients account and were able to determine that the patient does have a $yearly deductible along with a copayment of $Three invoices were billed and processed by the insurance and applied towards the patient copayment ($each month totaling the $copayment due)The patient will owe a total of $and a refund is currently being processed in the amount of $Due to a system error with GHI/Emblem, claims were denied requesting additional information/supporting documentation and the patient was billed incorrectlyWe are currently working with the insurance on getting the claims reprocessed and paid correctlyWe apologize for any miscommunication or inconvenience this has caused Sincerely, Apria Healthcare, LLC

We have reviewed patient account and confirmed that on February 4th, patient spoke with her billing team and was informed that the pricing and rental contract would change in order to bill in accordance with the new insurance contractWe have to honor their contract changes in order for claims to be coveredAs of May 6th, we have submitted claims to [redacted] for processing and once claims are paid by the insurance we will begin the refund process for patientWe do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing Sincerely, Apria Healthcare LLC

ITEM # 1: Mr [redacted] states that he received a CPAP device fromApria in December and was told his insurance would cover the cost of theCPAP device as they had his first oneHowever, he began getting rental statementsfor the CPAP device instead of it being purchased at set upMr [redacted] states thatper his insurance statement, Apria has been paid more that the CPAP device isselling for at other retail locationsHe states that he has tried to get theissue resolved but has just been passed from collection agency to collectionagency with no helpRESPONSE: We have reviewed Mr***’s account and foundthat he received a CPAP device and supplies on July 19, Apria submittedclaims to [redacted] per the contract on behalf of Mr***Per the [redacted] contractthe CPAP device would rent for months then convert to sale in the thirteenthmonthThe claims were submitted at the national retail price of $andthen [redacted] would process/pay the claim at the contracted allowable amount of$The January, February, March and April 19, claims wereapplied to Mr***’s yearly deductible by ***Once the invoices were leftunpaid for days they were referred to an outsourced collection agencyTheamount in collections is patient responsibilityWe do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is toensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billingSincerely, [redacted] Billing CenterQuality Specialist

Mr [redacted] wanted to be refunded the delivery charge for the Oxygen that we delivered for Mrs [redacted] while they were on vacationFor many years Apria Healthcare was able to provide our patients with additional equipment when they travel, free of chargeAs the healthcare industry has undergone numerous changes and cutbacks recently, we found it necessary to modify our program as wellWe do still offer a no charge option for our patients to ‘borrow’ additional equipment for their trip, if they pick it up at a local branchThere is a delivery fee incurred by the customer when we are needed to deliver and/or retrieve the equipment at the travel destination.Sincerely, [redacted] Customer Quality Supervisor [redacted] Travel Department