Hematology Oncology Associates-Muhlenberg

Review: Back in February of this year I was told I had iron deficiency anemia and I needed iron infusions. Before I got them done, I asked the doctor's office if they would be covered and they said they would look into it and scheduled my infusions a few weeks later to make sure they had enough time to check that it was covered.I never heard anything so a few days before I went to get my infusions I called the office to make sure the infusions were covered.They told me they would look into it and call me back. After only a few minutes I did get a call back, which was surprising because the insurance company is not that easy to deal with. I even expressed my surprise to the office that they got an answer so quickly, but was assured everything was covered.Now, I am getting billed $85 for each infusion 5 f them)that I received. I called the office on 5/21 and spoke to [redacted] and explained everything to her. She told me she left a long message for [redacted] who is in charge of the insurance stuff and she would get back to me that it was probably a mix up. Never getting a return call back, I mistakenly assumed [redacted] took care of this. On 6/14 I got a late bill because this was not taken care of. I called the office on 6/16 and [redacted] conveyed, through another person, that when she said it was covered, she meant the insurance will cover their part, but did not know about co-pays and I am now being blindsided with $425 worth of bills for iron because all the important(costly) little details were not explained to me. If [redacted] would have verbally explained that to me, I could have called the insurance company myself to get the costs. Since I was told it was covered, by someone who spoke to my insurance company, there was no reason to think any kind of costs were going to occur.Desired Settlement: I would like to see the office absorb this cost. I feel I was given misleading information by trusting someone to do their job. I never would have got these infusions for $425.

Business

Response:

July 8, 2014Dear **. [redacted]:Thank you for bringing this complaint to our attention.The patient’s provider recommended that she receive a particular type of intravenous infusion. The Insurance Coordinator at the physician’s office contacted the patient’s insurance company and obtained authorization from the insurance company for these treatments. The Coordinator relayed this information to the patient. We apologize if there was a miscommunication and the patient perceived this authorization of the treatment as an indication that the full cost of the treatment would be covered. The insurance company paid approximately $735.00 for each of the 5 treatments, and as per her policy, the patient was responsible for the remaining balance after the insurance payment which came to $85.00 per treatment,We are very sorry if the patient was not aware of her obligations for a co-pay or deductible prior to the treatments. It is not the practice of our office to notify patients of these obligations specific to their individual insurance plans.Thank you,

Consumer

Response:

Unfortunately and disappointedly, no response from the office regarding this matter.