Apria Healthcare

Mr. [redacted] wanted to be refunded the delivery charge for the Oxygen that we delivered for Mrs. [redacted] while they were on vacation. For many years Apria Healthcare was able to provide our patients with additional equipment when they travel, free of charge. As the healthcare industry has undergone...

numerous changes and cutbacks recently, we found it necessary to modify our program as well. We 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 branch. There 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

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.
Regards,
[redacted]
Apria is only billing back as far as January 2017; however, rental fees being charged by Apria for the month of December 2016, should also be submitted to my current insurance, which is Original Medicare.  Apria was advised on many occasions of the changes in my insurance coverage.  I expect Apria to bill Original Medicare for any costs incurred during the month of December 2016 -through the present time. Thank you. [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 cc company DID not refund me the money. they said they could but I was "misinformed" by someone there TWICE. they said to let Apria bill me again and THEY had the $160.16. BUT THEY DIDN"T - they said that APRIA received the money and they need to go to their bank and research where it went. I am not paying this, since I paid it once to the cc company in December 2015. I was not refunded twice. 
Regards,
[redacted]

We have confirmed that the patient was billed for oxygen equipment through February 29, 2016 and equipment picked up March 2, 2016. Apria Healthcare did not receive a discharge from the patient’s physician and the first pick up request was March 01, 2016.  The insurances have applied their...

annual deductible and copay, the patient will be responsible for the open balance for January and February 2016. At this time there has not been a negative impact on the patient’s credit. We believe that we have taken all appropriate steps to resolve this matter.
 
[redacted]
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[redacted]

There doesn't appear to be a narrative of why the consumer is rejecting Apria's response.  [redacted] Physician & Patient Relations Apria Healthcare Corporate

We have reviewed patient account with assistance from our insurance billing team and confirmed that patient contacted customer service on July 13, 2016 because she had not received her CPAP supplies and she was informed that there was not an active order because her account reflects a delinquent...

balance. Patient account reflects a collection balance placed with [redacted] Management in the amount $135.00 for date of service January 15, 2009 for her oxygen concentrator rental. The claim was processed through patient primary insurance Medicare and secondary insurance [redacted] and they paid a co-insurance of $8.16 and $135.00 was applied to patient deductible which is why patient is responsible for the charge. Patient also had an open balance of $28.70 in collections for dates of service May 15, 2014 and November 29, 2014 but made a payment of $28.70 therefore it was applied to those invoices. At this time patient outstanding balance due in collections is $135.00. The order was not processed for patient to receive the CPAP supplies therefore the patient will not receive them as requested. We do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing.
 
Sincerely,
 
Apria Healthcare LLC

ITEM # 1:  Delay in Service and Customer Service Response time.  RESPONSE I want to sincerely apologize for the delay in care and the challenges you faced when contacting our Customer Care on behalf of Mr. [redacted]. I understand your frustration and concern with the delay in setting up...

her father’s oxygen as his health is most important. We will make every effort to ensure appropriate procedures are put in place so that this type of delay does not occur again, I also want to assure you that we are reviewing our current phone response times so that we can provide the best customer service possible. Sincerely,[redacted]Area Manager

ITEM # 1: Mr. [redacted] states that he received a CPAP device fromApria in December 2013 and was told his insurance would cover the cost of theCPAP device as they had his first one. However, he began getting rental statementsfor the CPAP device instead of it being purchased at set up. Mr. [redacted] states...

thatper his insurance statement, Apria has been paid more that the CPAP device isselling for at other retail locations. He states that he has tried to get theissue resolved but has just been passed from collection agency to collectionagency with no help. RESPONSE: We have reviewed Mr. [redacted]’s account and foundthat he received a CPAP device and supplies on July 19, 2013. Apria submittedclaims to [redacted] per the contract on behalf of Mr. [redacted]. Per the [redacted] contractthe CPAP device would rent for 13 months then convert to sale in the thirteenthmonth. The claims were submitted at the national retail price of $331.52 andthen [redacted] would process/pay the claim at the contracted allowable amount of$93.83. The January, February, March and April 19, 2014 claims wereapplied to Mr. [redacted]’s yearly deductible by [redacted]. Once the invoices were leftunpaid for 180 days they were referred to an outsourced collection agency. Theamount in collections is patient responsibility. We do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is toensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing. Sincerely,[redacted] Billing CenterQuality Specialist

Item # 1:  Company has not satisfied my need for CPAP (they mistakenly write 'Pap' as in 'Pap Smear') supplies. A man saying he was from Respondent Company phoned me on 11/10/14 and said he would send the CPAP machine white paper filters I require and that the charge would be $6.23. I received a parcel containing filters which are many times too small and DO NOT FIT my CPAP machine. Respondent company is now demanding that I pay the $6.23. I refuse to pay it and I am also not going to pay to return the wrong-sized filters. The filters reached me in the following manner. The man who called me says he works for Apria, gave his phone number as 877-265-2426 ext. [redacted], and his name sounds like [redacted] or [redacted]--hard to say, because he mumbles. He did not give me a chance to check the stock number for the filters, and refused to hold the line to let me look. Later, I checked my CPAP supply box and found wrappers giving the following info: the correct filters are Tiara Medical no. TCF-145. I called [redacted] a week ago and reported this. He has not bothered to call back. I also got a phone call from some woman calling herself "[redacted]" and saying she was calling from the same phone number, ext.[redacted]. I called her last week too, after the wrong filters arrived, and I left a message, and she too has not bothered to call back. I am also dissatisfied because Respondent Company has not shown me any evidence in writing that it will stop having its bill collector continue to dun me for payment I already made for a CPAP mask and hose many months ago. During November, 2014, the Respondent Company has had a bill collector fraudulently contact me about that alleged debt. To me, Respondent Company will not have resolved this complaint until and unless it assures me IN WRITING that I owe NOTHING.To me, it looks obvious from Respondent Company's response to the Revdex.com that they do not take this matter at all seriously -- they just do not give a shXT about this one customer's complaint. I am therefore contacting the federal Medicare system with this complaint, since Medicare regulates medical supply companies. Moreover, if this matter is not resolved by Dec. 15, 2014, I will make further efforts to get the attention of this monster corporation by suing it in local court. They have to resolve this, and I will not shut up until they do. RESPONSE Reviewing a recorded call, patient was contacted by a representative of the Escalation team who placed an order for filters for her.  The representative called the patient on 11/10/14 specifically to determine what type of filters and supplies the patient would require.  The patient requested disposable filters as she had gotten in the past.  The representative did ask the patient for additional information about her machine, specifically the name of the machine which the patient read directly from the machine.  It was identified that the filters had not been ordered for several years.  Apria did not have a record of any filter order in the system to reference and the product selection was made based upon the information that was provided to the representative.  During this call, the patient also asked about Billing.  The escalation rep identified to the patient that he did not see an open balance, but that he was not in the billing department so that he would not be able to research that appropriately.  Patient understood. On 11/14/14, it is identifiable that the patient called back in to the escalation representative.  It is also identifiable that the representative attempted to return the patients call unsuccessfully, however, he did leave a message for her return call.  The specific representative has been out of the office for a week.  The patient was provided the number for Sleep Central, but there has been no further contact received.  In spite of the representative being unable to reach the patient, he did proceed to correct the order and ship new supplies which were delivered 11/24/14.  Note that these supplies were shipped at no-charge and the patient and insurance has only been billed for filters once, which is correct and accurate.  It is not cost effective to pick up the errant filters, thus the patient is free to do as she wishes with them and may rest assured herself and insurance have not been billed.  Reviewing the billing on the account, the $48.05 from collections has been recalled for a date of service of 04/14/14. Sincerely,  [redacted]Area Customer Service Manager

ITEM # 1: Mr. [redacted] states that he does not believe that he owes any money for failure to give him current and correct information regarding his insurance billing. He states that he does not understand why he was sent more than the allotted 1 month supplies at a time. Mr. [redacted] states that his...

credit card was charged in the amount of $60.50, which he disputed with his credit card company and then Apria refunded him by check in the amount of $60.50 and he does not understand why he would receive a refund if he owed $795.90. RESPONSE: We have reviewed Mr. [redacted]’s account and found he received a CPAP unit and supplies on July 7, 2014. Apria verified Mr. [redacted]’s insurance with Tricare and received authorization number [redacted] to submit the claims for the rental of the CPAP unit and the sale of the supplies through September 2015. Mr. [redacted], placed his credit card on file to be charged for any amounts not covered by his insurance. When Mr. [redacted] called in to order additional supplies, the supplies were shipped and no payment requested from Mr. [redacted] per the insurance verification the supplies were to have been covered at 100%. Apria received denials from Tricare and resubmitted the claims on behalf of Mr. [redacted] to try and obtain payment for the CPAP rentals and supplies. However, Triccare sent a second denial for the submitted claims stating that all appeals should be directed to Military Medical Support Office by the beneficiary. The July 7, 2014 claims were paid at 100%, however the following months were denied. On November 7, 2014, we spoke to Mr. [redacted] regarding his open balance and he stated to us for the first time in our records that he did not know if he had VA or not. We requested that he confirm his correct insurance and let us know. On December 4, 2014, Apria charged Mr. [redacted]’s credit card on file for $60.50 for supplies that were ordered on September 10, 2014, after we had received the denial. Mr. [redacted] contacted Apria on December 19, 2014 and stated that he had VA insurance and should not have been billed and his credit card should not have been charged. The Apria representative reversed Mr. [redacted]’s payment of $60.50 and started the process to have the amount refunded. Apria started the process of verifying insurance coverage with the VA, in which we were transferred around and was then informed they were closed in observance of the Holiday. On December 30, 2014 we spoke with the VA who stated that the DME has to go through them, the claims can be submitted, in which they will deny and the patient will have to appeal. Mr. [redacted]’s open balance as of today is $795.90, he can file an appeal with his insurance on his behalf. Once the unpaid invoice’s become 180 days old they will refer to collections as Mr. [redacted]’s responsibility. We do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing. Sincerely,[redacted] Billing Center Quality Specialist

We have reviewed the patients account and confirmed they received durable medical equipment from Apria Healthcare on June 6, 2017. We have resubmitted a corrected claim to her insurance for processing. Also, the claims are currently pending payment status from them. We have requested a refund check...

be processed to the patient in the amount of $252.84; however, any claims that are not fully covered by the insurance may be the patient’s responsibility. We have also removed the patients bank information from our file; therefore, the account will no longer be charged. We 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 have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Thank you for taking this matter as seriously as I have for the past 12 months. I have heard this same response from Apria Healthcare numerous times is the past year. I will not accept a resolution until I receive notice from the collection agency that collections will cease and the equipment is picked up. 

Regards,
[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.
Although [redacted], Billing Center Quality Specialist, claims that a letter was sent on June 29th, no letter was sent, so of course no letter was received.  I spoke with a supervisor, [redacted], on July 10th who told me this information that a letter had been entered for approval, but NEVER sent.  She was not sure why neither [redacted] or her co-worker, [redacted] did not send out the letter.  [redacted] promised she would send the letters to me with copies sent to [redacted] in Denver.  The letters are supposed to be from both Apria Healthcare and the Collection Agency showing the second bill of $675.40 for the charges on 12/20/14, 1/20/15, 2/20/15, 3/20/15, and 4/20/15 have been cleared and recalled from the Collection Agency. Until I have this proof documented and no other fraudulent bills arrive, this complaint will remain open.
Regards,
[redacted] c/o [redacted]

We have reviewed Mr. [redacted] account and confirmed that he received a CPAP unit and supplies from Apria Healthcare on April 25th, 2013. At that time Mr. [redacted] had [redacted] in which under their plan agreement the equipment was to convert to purchase after six month of rental but the CPAP...

unit monthly rental started over in error. Mr. [redacted] account has not been corrected to reflect that he now owns the CPAP unit and will no longer be billed for the monthly rental. We are currently in the process of refunding [redacted] for all payments made toward claims processed to them for the rental of the CPAP unit. At this time Mr. [redacted] account reflects a zero balance.We do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing.

ITEM # 1: Mr. [redacted] has requested that Apria update his address so he receives his statements and letters at the correct address. He wants proof that he charges he is being billed has been submitted to both of his insurances. Mr. [redacted] wants to make sure that there is no negative information on his...

credit report. RESPONSE We spoke to Mr. [redacted] regarding his complaint issue on November 19, 2014. As we discussed with Mr. [redacted] we had three addresses on file for him and have now made the North Dakota the primary mailing address. We removed his statement from e-mail back to paper statements. We discussed his primary and secondary insurance coverage and he stated that [redacted] is primary and [redacted] is his secondary. We are in process of having the insurance verified and will submit the pending claims if we confirm [redacted] is primary and [redacted] is secondary. We removed the amount of $53.47 from collections and the amount had not been referred to his credit report. We also discussed the concentrator rental that is still at his home in Utah. After speaking to the branch manager, we have converted the concentrator to sale and there will be no future charges. Mr. [redacted] now has ownership of the concentrator. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and Mr. [redacted] has our phone number for any issues or questions that he may have. Sincerely,[redacted]Billing Center Quality Specialist

Revdex.com:
Although I did finally get the leg lifts on 3/12 they were aware of the need when it was ordered thru [redacted]. I personally called Apria to make arrangements for the chair and lifts to be delivered. they initially brought me a chair that was barely big enough for a small adult and no leg lifts. They brought me a different chair with foot rests (not lifts). No one would return my calls and never tell me when they were delivering. Avery contact with them was a hassle for me - they could never give me a date/time and then when they did no one showed up until 3/12. I was told it was due to no leg lifts in the warehouse.  Reference to complaint ID [redacted], l consider this complaint resolved.  I have the chair but I would never recommend this company to anyone!
Regards,
[redacted]

We do apologize for any miscommunications. We have received both of your payments on file.  We have applied $528.42 to the rentals for your machine and to the supply orders. There is currently a credit of $250.78 on the account.  Your equipment is to rent for 9 months then will convert to...

sale, meaning it will become your property at that time.  If you prefer to receive a refund, you can call 866-505-6365 to request a refund, otherwise, the money will stay as a credit on the account until the remaining claims have been billed and then the remaining amount will be refunded                                    ...⇄                                         ...⇄ We do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing.     Sincerely,  Apria Healthcare, LLC

Item # 1: Nearly impossible to reach this company by phone  RESPONSE: Apria implemented a new automatic answer service in January 2015We changed the prompts/options to help route customer calls more effectively. . Apria is implementing automated solutions to assist with the ordering of...

supplies in the future. Apria will follow up with the customer to review the correct call prompts/options to use to order her supplies.   Item #2: long hold times RESPONSE: Informing the customer of the correct automatic answering options will prevent long hold times.  Sincerely, [redacted] Area Customer Manager

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.
Regards,
[redacted]
Apria admitted canceling the order in error but still offer nothing to rectify this error. This error caused a delay in my husband starting his machine which benefits his heart failure by preventing sleep apnea. I clearly stated what I wanted and they have not addressed my requests. They have only stated the facts that I addressed in my complaint and admitted the error they made. It is totally unacceptable to me and I will make a complaint to the Attorney Generals office and the local news next. No one at Apria admitted this error to me nor has anyone had the decency to make amends and do more than verbally apologize. Aprias customer service is disgraceful and if we have another choice we will definitely seek that. I personally would never deal with them but it is my husbands account.

ITEM # 1: Mr. [redacted] states he is being charged for a mask that he received from [redacted] Sleep lab that he was not informed he would have to pay for. Hs states he is receiving threatening collection calls and statements. Mr. [redacted] is requesting for the calls to stop and wants a letter stating that...

he owes nothing. RESPONSE: We have reviewed Mr. [redacted]’s account and found that he received a CPAP unit and mask on July 21, 2014. Mr. [redacted] signed the Sales Service and Rental Agreement and provided his card for the charges due. Apria charged Mr. [redacted]’s credit card $569.90 for the sale of the CPAP unit and mask. The charge of $104.20 for the mask was recouped by the credit card company on October 8, 2014, leaving Mr. [redacted]’s balance $104.20. As a courtesy for the misunderstanding we have removed the charge of $104.20 from Mr. [redacted]’s account as of today, leaving him a $0.0 balance. We do apologize for the miscommunication as our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction as well as accurate billing. Sincerely,[redacted]Billing Center Quality Specialist