Letaye V. Injerd, DC

Review: I went to this chiropractor to have them pop my back. They said it woule only cost Me 30 bucks they billed my insurance for 180 dollars then today I have a collection agency call me and say I owe 200.36 dollars. When I went there to be seen they told me I only had a copay of 30 dollars by the time I am done with this my total will be over 300 bucks. And all they did was pop my back for two minutes after waiting for over an hr to be seen.. This company is false advertisement and some body needs to do something about it

Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Refund

I want them to have only charged me the amount they said they would

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

Contact Name and Title: [redacted], Bsns. Mgr.

Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX

Contact Email: [redacted]@sbcglobal.net

You may edit this response in compliance with all local, state and federal privacy laws.

Mr. [redacted] came in to our office on 8-30-13 for treatment. He was scheduled for his next visit on 9-5-13, but he did not show up, nor did he call to cancel his appointment. The total charge for his 8-30-13 visit was our normal charge for code 99203, $148.00. His insurance was billed for this visit and it was applied to his deductible. When we contacted Mr. [redacted] on 9-25-13, he angrily refused to pay his deductible. Extensive notes were taken of this conversation. His total bill by that time included the normal charge of $40 for his missed appointment, making the total he owes $188.00. Notes of the telephone conversation as follows:

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9-25-13w [redacted] called our office. I ([redacted]) spoke to him, with my thoughts indicated in brackets.

He said he received a bill from us for $188 and wanted to know what that was about. I told him that we billed his ins. for his 8-30-13 visit, which was $148. The Explanation of Benefits we received from his ins. said it was applied to his deductible.

He said our front office person told him his cost would only be $30. I said we have no program for a $30 office visit (OV) charge. We charge $40 for an OV if no insurance is involved, and it has to be paid at the time of the visit. I don't know where the $30 figure comes from.

He said no chiropractor charges $188 for an OV, and that he could have gone down to the "other" doctor and paid only $20. I said that he should then go to that doctor -- but he still owes our office $188. I said the other $40 was a charge for a no-show on 9-5-13.

I asked him "Are you sure you are not thinking of another doctor's office?" and he said no, it was our office.

He then said that Doctor did him no good. He spent an hour in our office and Doctor's adjustment did not work. I said one cannot expect to be healed in one visit. He said he had his son-in-law who he admits is not a chiropractor! adjust him and it worked, so he cannot believe that he owes us $188.

He kept using profanity as he got louder and louder and more excited. I repeatedly -- some half-dozen times -- told him "This has nothing to do with animal defecation!" I also told him "This has nothing to do with having sex!"

I told him that he has 3 days to pay his bill in full, or he would be turned over to collections. While I was telling him this, he hung up.

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IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE:

1. He signed the fee slip agreeing to this charge.

2. He signed the agreement that there would be a $40 charge for missing a scheduled appointment without calling 24 hours in advance for any change or cancellation.

3. He signed an Assignment of Benefits form for his insurance carrier.

4. It always takes at least an hour to process a new patient, because of the paperwork involved.

5. A full case history/exam was performed on him. Plus hydromassage therapy (a $38 value) at no extra charge. Plus ultrasound therapy (a $22 value) at no extra charge. Plus the manipulation (a $59.17 value) at no extra charge. Total value = $267.17 -- insurance was only billed $148.00, and total treatment time was around 45 minutes.

6. A collection fee of $10 was added onto his bill by our office. The collection agency likely added on interest.

7. It is extremely rare that a patient is healed after only one chiropractic visit. (A good comparison is that it does not take only one doctor's visit to heal a broken leg. One can possibly be put in a full-body cast in one or two visits, but the patient must never move -- or even breathe -- for the entire month while the spine heals!!)

8. We had duly billed his insurance and the visit was applied to his deductible. It is illegal to engage in NOOPE (no out-of-pocket expense), as Mr. [redacted] is demanding to do. It is illegal for us to wave the deductible. Our office refuses to partake in fraudulent activity.

9. Dr. [redacted] suspected a more serious health problem in Mr. [redacted]. She recommended that he go for lab work. As far as we know, he did not take this recommendation.

10. Mr. [redacted] was apparently, by his own admission, administered a chiropractic treatment by a person not licensed for chiropractic in the State of California.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

When I called to talk to them about my bill they treated me with such disrespect I think that if a company is going to deal with people they should be more considerate to the fact yes they will get angry people calling about there bills especially when there person at the front desk is quoting people wrong amounts