Pacific Coast Psychiatric Associates

AVOID THIS SERVICE AT ALL COSTS! I was charged $250 USD for a 1 hour intake appointment only to hear the therapist didn't have weekly openings for 3-5 months, despite her being available to choose an appointment with online. She even admitted she should not have been available, but told me she couldn't help with the charge either. Also there is no price estimate online, so I called and was not given an estimate. Now I am trying to fight the charge and they say you can call if you have questions - well I did and I didn't get an answer. My mother just died, so I was seeking therapy ASAP due to the trauma - this is a COMPLETE SCAM. They are only here to take advantage of vulnerable people like me coming to find therapy quickly. Literally the worst business I have ever encountered - DO NOT USE! You would think psychologists would act HUMAN - nope.

I was referred by my insurance to PCPA. They told me a day before apt. they don't take it. Now they're charging me a $175 late cancellation fee.
I was referred to PCPA through my insurance Beacon Health c/o SAG AFTRA. A day before my apt. PCPA called to tell me they don't take my insurance. Why didn't they tell me that when I made the appointment and gave them my insurance info? To exercise this scam - a $175 late cancellation fee! They won't remove the charge, as they argue it is my responsibility to make sure my insurance is accepted. I told them I was referred by my insurance. They said that is a problem I should take up with my insurance. I believe they are in cahoots with SAG AFTRA and/or Beacon Health, as now suddenly neither has a record of recommending me to PCPA. I was directly referred to PCPA by my insurance. Do they get kickbacks for referring patients? A portion of that ridiculous $175 charge. (48 BUSINESS HOURS ahead of time is their cancellation policy. Who ever heard of such a thing? BUSINESS HOURS? Not including nights, weekends or holidays!) 47 reviews on Yelp have had the same experience! This business is scamming people. I have spoken to the manager and she and her staff are rude. She said "the decision has been made. The charge stands." They told me to write to corporate in San Francisco, which I will do. But this is a clear scam. 47 other Yelp reviews with the same experience!? Now this bill will go to collections, ruining my credit. I'm sure many people just pay it, as they don't want to ruin their credit and waste time on such nonsense, but I will not give in.

Insurance fraud and unethical treatment of prospective customer.
I would first like to say I am NOT a patient of pcpa. I have never seen or been evaluated by a medical professional in any capacity as a patient.

This pertains to insurance fraud and dubious tactics to defraud potential patients with regards to their 48hr cancellation policy and the *** dollar fee.

I was originally scheduled through my UCLA primary care provider for an appointment with the UCLA behavioral health services. Based on my presumed diagonsis (PTSD), UCLA decided to refer me to outside treatment for longer-term care.

Apparently, the initial step in this process from UCLA perspective was finding outside care that accepts my insurance Blue cross blue shield PPO (fep). Ucla called pcpasf, and confirmed my insurance was accepted. There is documentation at UCLA to back this up which can be produced.

After this, I received a link from UCLA on to the pcpa portal and signed up as a new patient and made an appointment for 7/9/2020 at 1pm.

On the afternoon of 7/8/2020 (less than 24 hours before my initial appointment), I received a phone call from PCPA that insurance was not accepted and that I would have to pay out of pocket. During this conversation, I told *** (PCPA staff), that I am not paying out of pocket as I cant afford, thank you for letting me know and the conversation ended with the clear intent that I am not going to the appointment

After that conversation on 7/8/2020 , I immediately called UCLA and told them that PCPA didnt accept my insurance and I still need an appointment with a mental health provider because PCPA canceled the appointment. The reason I mention this is bc there documentation from ucla to support this.

For reasons that I dont understand, I am now being charged 175 dollars for a cancellation fee.

What Pcpa did here is fraud they claimed to accept my insurance and then waited till 24hrs before the appointment (after the 48 hr cancellation deadline) and then informed me they are no longer accepting my insurance. Clearly most people can not afford the full out of pocket expense for medical bills.

After filing out all of PCPA's online forms I was told I had a $0 copay. After 3 session I received a bill for $600 in charges.
On June 2nd, I made an appointment with *** at PCPA. I went through the PCPA online system to make this appointment. After filling out a basic information form, and my insurance information, I was verified at a $0 copay - my sessions would be fully covered under my insurance. I did not agree to, nor did anything mention, status pending on my insurance nor that it needed verification. The PCPA system said that my insurance had already been verified after I filled out the form. There was no mention of this verification being a "curtesy" or that the $0 copay might be incorrect - this will come into play later. Had I been informed that my insurance might not be accepted, or that it had not been verified, I would have waited for verification to move forward. I have proof on June 9th, seven days after I originally signed up for a "Free" consultation, that PCPA's system says $0 copay with no mention of pending status, pending verification, etc. It shows my insurance information and $0 copay.

After my consolation - which should have been no charge - I asked *** about moving forward with sessions and costs. He responded that if my copay said $0, then I wouldn't owe anything moving forward. There was never a mention of a fee for the consolation, regardless of insurance and why would I worry about that when I have confirmed online & via the therapist a $0 copay. PCPA has now tried to bill me over $200 for the consolation alone.

For my first session on June 10th, I had to move the appointment from the morning to later in the afternoon, on the same day. I later received an email about a charge being owed to PCPA and didn't understand why I was being charged when I had a $0 copay. I called into PCPA as soon as possible to clarify this charge & what the charge was for since I had a $0 copay. I was put on hold, and they verified via the phone with me that I had a $0 copay & the charge was a cancelation fee. I was then informed I shouldn't have been charged that fee since I didn't cancel but moved the appointment on the 10th to later in the day. Before I ended the call, I asked one more time about my copay, or if I owed, or would owe anything, and was told that I would not as my copay was $0. This conversation took place before I had my first session, which should have meant - regardless of insurance, I shouldn't have incurred any fees at that time.

On June 12th, a representative reached out via the online portal asking for my insurance card for verification. I was confused as I was told this had already been verified. Having no problem sending over a copy of my insurance, I took photos of the front and back. It was not until June 17th, after my 3rd session, that I was sent a bill for 600$. When I received this email, I was distraught as I had been told many times that I owed 0$. I proceeded to try to resolve this matter first thing in the morning when I called Billing and Spoke with ***.

*** proceeded to send me documentation, the only "proof" that he had, saying I agreed that insurance verification was only a curtsy, and that still owe them $600. This "proof" was a screenshot of my signature with boxes checked & dated on 6/18/2020. It is very convenient that I "agreed" to all of this on the date and time in which I was on the phone disputing these charges. I also have a witness that was with me who can testify that I did not sign or agree to any such statements at that time. Being sent "proof" that I agreed to such "Terms" signed and dated the day and time while I was disputing them (6/18/2020) is highly suspect. When I called *** out on this exact matter, he could not explain why this was.

***, the 3rd person I spoke with. I informed her that the call was being recorded, my name, and if I could talk with the highest manager of billing. I was told that she wouldn't be able to get me to someone. On that call, she agreed this was not my fault but a flaw in your system, and I should not owe this money.

PSPA confirmed to both my husband & I that they accepted our insurance. After 3 appointments they told us they don't accept our insurance & billed us.
On 12/18/2019 I called the main number for PCPA to verify if they accepted my insurance for billing. They confirmed that they did and proceeded to book my first appt through their online portal. I had my first appt. on 12/19/2019 at their Santa Monica location (***). When I arrived the receptionist asked for my insurance card and let me know that with my insurance there was no copay due. I had my session and decided I needed to seek therapy at an office closer to my home. I then scheduled a second appt with a therapist at their Agoura Hills location (***). When I arrived the receptionist took my card and told me I would owe a $20 copay and they rest would be covered.

After my appt. that day I scheduled another appt. for 12/31/2019 with the same practitioner. On 12/30/2019 I received a call from the PCPA central billing department letting me know that they actually did not accept my insurance and that I would be responsible for the entire bill of $480 ($240 for each session) out of pocket. When I let them know that 3 different people verified that they accepted my insurance they didn't seem to care. I then asked them to cancel my upcoming appt for the next day and they informed me that if I did that I would be liable for the $175 cancellation fee. I asked them to waive that fee due to the fact they just informed me that my insurance would not be accepted and they said they could not waive the fee.

I asked to speak with a supervisor and they instructed me to file a complaint online as there was no one at that office I could speak with. I then filed a complaint online and the supervisor called me back letting me know there was nothing they could do about my balance owed or waving the cancelation fee. I asked to speak to her supervisor and she informed me that there was no one "higher up" that I could speak with and her word was the final decision. If I wanted to complain to their corporate offices I could write a letter and mail it to their complaints department. I have done that and still haven't heard back however they constantly email and call me about our bills that they our now sending to collections.

As a summary, my husband and I sought therapy services from PCPA and were told by multiple employees of this company that our sessions would be covered by our insurance. After multiple sessions they then informed us that the sessions were not covered. They also charged us for cancelling our sessions after finding out our insurance would not cover the cost.

We now owe $720 for 3 sessions and $350 for 2 cancellation fees.

They have made resolving this near impossible and refuse to see that they have any responsibility in this matter as they mislead us to get our business.

I cancelled an appointment with 24 hours notice but they insist on a $175 cancellation fee, even though I'm on unemployment and this was first visit.
On Monday, April 29 I cancelled my appointment for the following day. I had found out that I had a job interview that I needed to attend. Having been on unemployment since November 2018, this was great news. I had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder by another psychiatrist and she asked I find another, hence my contacting this group. They called me and were extremely rude, telling me that I had to pay $175 because it wasn't 48 hours notice. I reminded them that the previous day was Sunday and they told me that I would have had to let them know on Friday. That is far more than 48 hours. The supervisor called me at my request and was also rude and refused to let me speak to the owner. I let her know my extenuating circumstances and she did not care. To top it off, the appointment date fell on my 50th birthday.

The office told my stepdaughter that she had insurance. They were incorrect and now want to charge or $250 instead of the $96.75 insurance paid.
My stepdaughter saw Dr. *** of Pacific Coast Psychiatry on February 4, 2019. At the time she had insurance coverage with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The doctor called and reassured her that she did indeed have medical insurance. At some point after February 4, her employer retroactively canceled her policy to February 1. We have received multiple bills for $250 from the psychiatrist for this visit.

She had a similar visit on 4 December 2018 and the charge to the insurance company was $96.75. I called up the billing office on February 25, March 7, and March 12 to try and resolve this matter. I offered to pay them $96.75 which is what they would've received from the insurance company (I have the previous billing statement). They are insisting on $250, have sent her 3 bills to this effect, and the latest bill threatens to tack on another $25 in late fees.

She lost her job on Friday, February 1. She tried to call the same day and cancel her appointment for Monday, February 4 but was told by the office that she needed at least 48 hours notice, that she still had insurance, and would have a $175 cancellation fee if she did not make the appointment. Technically, she did give them 48 hours notice. However, I'm still willing to pay the $96.75 which is exactly what this compassion challenged physician would have been paid by the insurance company.

It is unconscionable, immoral, and an exercise in predatory payment policies to ask someone who just lost their job to pay over 250% the amount they would have made from the insurance company had her policy not been retroactively canceled. Sadly, it erodes respect for the medical profession.

Please help with this matter. Again, I am willing to pay $96.75 which is exactly what they would've made from the insurance company. Not only was the psychiatrist unable to help in any way, the repeated bills that she sends adds to her anxiety.

MsGarfinkle's issue with our billing department is a complex oneBasically, her Health Savings Account (HSA) pays on insurance claims really lateUnfortunately, our EMR system sends out automated emails of accounts being past due after a certain amount of days so she has been getting these
notifications from usWe have talked to her at length (*** *** myself and our billing department's manager included)Another problem is that we have updated rates with MsGarfinkle's insurance (United Healthcare/Optum) which are not reflecting on the Explanation of Benefits that she receives from her insuranceAs a result, it seems as it she is getting charged more than we should be for her visit according to the EOBWhen, in reality, we are charging her the correct ratesWe have spoken to a network manager at Optum who is working tirelessly to correct their records so that patients are not receiving the wrong information on their EOB'sSince this issue is still in the process of being corrected, we have told MsGarfinkle that she can make payments according to the old Optum rates and when the issue gets fixed and she received written confirmation from her insurance about the new rates, then she can pay off the remaining balanceAs a result, MsGarfinkle has chosen to only communicate with us via Optum and refuses to speak to anyone elseThis, of course, could be resolved if she gave us a chance to explain the complexities of what is happeningThe network manager at Optum has also offered to speak to patients to verify that this is a problem on Optum's endAs far as the balances being applied incorrectly, that is not trueThe confusion could lie in the fact that our EMR does not automatically apply payments taken from the portalOur billers have to manually apply payments, so if they get a payment, they automatically apply it to the older balance for the patientWe have since corrected anything mistakenly applied after speaking to the patient

I scheduled an appointment with my psychiatrist, and one of us, either the doctor or myself, incorrectly inputted the date of the appointment in the system. I never received confirmation of the appointment despite receiving notifications through text and email from PCPA on a regular basis. Yet, when the appointment was "missed" I received an email about that. I feel PCPA unprofessionally miscommunicated this appointment time and it was the doctor's word against mine. I had written on my calendar and phone a completely different appointment time and really had no idea of this alternative time. As far as I knew, I had no reason to suspect I had done anything wrong, yet I was charged an exorbitant late fee. It is unethical and unfair to charge someone $175 dollars for a simple error, which could have been made by the doctor and not just the patient. PCPA should not blame patients when their appointment system is seriously flawed. If you visit their YELP entry ( *** ), they have received numerous complaints about the late fee. My insurance charges me $25 to see them; I am assuming many patients at PCPA are like me and cannot afford such a high fee. I am sure many patients at PCPA also struggle with their mental health and often make unintentional mistakes. They should not be punished so severely for something out of their control. Shame on PCPA. They should at least fix their notification system.
Product_Or_Service: 30 minute follow up appointment