Emergycare Inc.

Review: A few months ago, I became very ill with a severs intestinal virus. I had nausea, chills, and a fever. I neeeded to go the emergency room. I don't drive, so I had to go by ambulance. They billed me for the service, which is around 700 dollars. I have told them on repeated occasions that I am on medical assistance. On more than one occasion, I have given them my medical assistance ID#. Yet, they are still sending me bill statements for the original service. I had given a copy of this bill to medical assistance long ago. To me, this is between Emergycare and medical assistance. Medical assistance should have covered this bill long ago. I don't why I am still being sent a bill statement.Desired Settlement: I want this resolved by Emergycare saying the bill has been paid by medical assistance and to stop harassing me by sending me bill statements saying payment is long overdue.

Business

Response:

See attached File?

Thank you for the opportunity to address the concerns raised by Mr. [redacted]. The EmergyCare vision states we are committed to giving each patient the care and compassion they deserve. Once an ambulance trip is completed, the information is forwarded to the patient accounting department and assigned to a biller. That representative then searches for billable insurance. The representative checks with the hospital, common insurances for this area and of course, Medicaid. This task was completed on April 19,2013. The date of service in question was April 13, 2013. The hospital did not list insurance and no eligible insurance was found. Medicaid found Mr. [redacted] in the records, but the eligibility was inactive for the date of service. I have included the print out showing 'Inactive Coverage' from Pennsylvania Medicaid. Mr. [redacted] was billed by EmergyCare for the first time on April 19th. In May, the billing representative tried calling Mr. [redacted]. A voice mail was left asking him to call us back. We did not receive a call back. In June, we received one of our bills back with a note from Mr. [redacted] (attached). The notes states he has UPMC for You, which is a Medicaid plan. We checked into the UPMC for Life coverage and determined Mr. [redacted] was not active for the date of service. We called Mr. [redacted] on June 5,2013 and had to leave another voice message. We did not receive a call back. On June 12,2013 we received another invoice back from Mr. [redacted] with a note stating to bill UPMC for You (attached) The patient was still listed as not eligible. But we decided to bill anyway. UPMC was billed and subsequently denied on July 3,2013 for, 'expenses incurred after coverage terminated.' The denial is also attached. We have since called Mr. [redacted] twice, July 16th and August 5th. We have not received a call back. While we appreciate the opportunity to address this matter, the above information would have been explained to Mr. [redacted] had he returned even one of several phone calls. EmergyCare would be happy to discuss payment options with Mr. [redacted]. Respectfully, [redacted]

Review: On November 04, 2013, I passed out at my work, [redacted]. EmergyCare was called to transport me to Hamot Hospital. At the time of the incident, I was not covered under any health insurance. I received a bill from EmergyCare on November 12, 2013. I wrote to EmergyCare explaining my situation, that I did not have insurance, I am trying to completely support myself. EmergyCare then responded that I needed to give them a copy of my last three bank account statements and fill out an application for financial difficulty. After completed those tasks, I was notified via mail that I was denied this financial assistance. I then reached out again to EmeryCare asking them to review the attached document explaining all the bills I am paying and how I cannot possibly pay a $959.50 dollars to them at this time. I thought that I was working with EmergyCare to get this bill taken care of, even if this meant they could work with me to make smaller payments. After this, I did not hear from EmergyCare but received a letter in a the mail from the United Collection Services stating demanding that I pay the $959.50 bill that was now sent to collections. I am very disappointed that Emerycare just handed my bill to collections without notifying me. As I previously stated, I thought I was working with Emergycare to get this issue resolved.Desired Settlement: I would like to set up a payment option, or understand why I was denied financial assistance based on the breakdown of bills I sent to EmergyCare.

Business

Response:

EmergyCare received the copy of the complaint filed by Ms. [redacted]. I appreciate the opportunity to

respond to the any matter voiced by members of the communites we serve.

Ms. [redacted] was transported by EmergyCare on November 04, 2013 from [redacted] Pharmacy to UPMC

Hamot Medical Center. As stated in the complaint, she requested financial assistance and EmergyCare

provided her with our financial hardship application. It was returned to our office on December 11, 2013,

at which time it was reviewed and determined that Ms. [redacted] had not provided the required bank

statements, therefore, a determination was unable to be made.

On January 2, 2014, Ms. [redacted] contacted our office to see what information was required and she

provided the required information on January 8, 2014. Upon review of her application, it was determined

that Ms. [redacted] had unexplained income, as well as, she was above the income guidelines when

compared to the 2013 Federal Poverty Guidelines and did not qualify for our charity program. A letter

was sent out to her requesting that she contact our office to set up a payment plan. She did not contact our

office to set up payments.

On January 22, 2014, our office received another letter from Ms. [redacted], again, requesting financial

assistance. However, when comparing the original financial hardship application with the details provided

on the second letter, some discrepancies were noted. The discrepancies included income, rent, and school

loan payments. Once again, it was determined that she was above the income guidelines and did not

qualify for our charity program. I called Ms. [redacted] and left a message for her to return my call to

discuss payments but she did not return my call.

Unfortunately, without a return call or acceptable payments, the account was turned over to the collection

agency on February 7, 2014. I’d be happy to discuss this matter directly with Ms. [redacted]. I can be

reached at ###-###-#### or via email at [redacted].

Respectfully,

Lead Patient Account Representative

Consumer

Response:

Ms. [redacted] states that on January 22, 2014 EmergyCare received another letter from myself requesting financial assistance. This is correct., I had asked that EmergyCare reconsider based upon the details of the monthly budget I provided them. Ms. [redacted] states that there was "discrepancies" noted with income, rent, and school loan payments yet I was never notified on this matter. Furthermore, this letter states that Ms. [redacted] personally called me but I never received a phone call. In addition to having my phone number, EmergyCare could have contacted me via email and or by mail. I did not receive any response, hence why I was very confused when this matter was turned over to collections and I was awaiting a response. Ms. [redacted] also states that I can discuss this matter with her directly, but now that EmergyCare has already sent this bill to collections, can anything be done about taking that back?

Regards,

Business

Response:

EmergyCare received the copy of the complaint filed by Ms. [redacted]. I, again, appreciate the