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[Frenchfry]

The other day we received a bill from someone affiliated with MMH....it was for a routine mammogram screening...the place said MMH didn't send the insurance information over so we gave 'em the info.

Well we just received a bill from MMH for their portion...they called it "OP diagnostic test"

We're going to call MMH in a sec...but my wife says "why in the world did they take all the information 5 minutes before the appointment?" "They even copied the insurance card."

BTW...my wife has been going to MMH for years and our none of our information has changed in all that time.

I'm sure we'll get it straightened out....I'm just sharing our experience in the hope that someone at MMH realizes either their system failed or an employee needs to be addressed for their incompetence.

Beyond the hassle of resubmitting our insurance information......the costs involved in sending us those bills were wasted.

Perhaps it was an aberration....but if ignoring on-file insurance information in the hopes of duping their customers is the norm....I'd say shame on Mercy Memorial Hospital.

[BigRedDog]

We go through something similar 2 or 3 times a year with them...

they are classic "the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing"...

even within the same department!!!!

We have found the easiest way to get things straightened out is to go to the actual billing department which is in the basement of the building at 7825 N. Dixie in Newport.  I don't think they get too many visitors, but we had been trying to settle a problem like you have for months...   we walked in and it got taken care of while we were there!!!  I think it has something to do with you actually being able to see who you're dealing with

[Frenchfry]

Well we made the call and it seems to be straightened out...we'll see.

It seems MMH would be interested in the savings from not having to send out bills to customers that already submitted their insurance information since those receiving the bills are just going to reiterate the insurance information anyway.

Hopefully someone in the system will see this and make the necessary corrections to ensure others won't have to experience this hassle.

[BigRedDog]

Well we made the call and it seems to be straightened out...we'll see.

It seems MMH would be interested in the savings from not having to send out bills to customers that already submitted their insurance information since those receiving the bills are just going to reiterate the insurance information anyway.

Hopefully someone in the system will see this and make the necessary corrections to ensure others won't have to experience this hassle.

I doubt you will see anything happen...   it's been going on for years and we haven't seen any improvement.  If they fixed it they would probably have to cut 2 or 3 jobs out of the billing department

[Flanders]

Imagine the countless joys and efficiencies that we all get to look forward too when the government's involvement increases.

[BigRedDog]

Imagine the countless joys and efficiencies that we all get to look forward too when the government's involvement increases.

Not sure what you're getting at Flanders...

we have Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Michigan, nothing government...

and Mercy Memorial is a privately run operation as far as I know

One thing I do know is that since the government became 'more involved' our 22 yr old daughter now has our health insurance back and will have for another 4 years...

unless you manage to get that revoked

[Skittelroo]

One thing I do know is that since the government became 'more involved' our 22 yr old daughter now has our health insurance back and will have for another 4 years...

Congrats!    You're the first I've heard that has said how their health care has improved.   I've noticed most of our prescription copays have gotten lower.   Don't know if that is an effect of the new plan...

[Professor H]

MMH - reorganization made lots of people leave and it appears they outsourced their billing to somewhere in Kansas City (the PO box we mailed our check to)...

They sent us a bill from October - about  3 weeks ago, and we mailed the check within a week - during which we received one of those computer robot calls, wanting someone to call MMH about an account.    I called and they stated this was a new policy to send the bill and have the robo call as some people were claiming they never received a bill...   

Can't figure out who's running the show - but outsourcing seems to have become prevalent for everything now.

[pam]

There is nothing more annoying than those robo-calls! My insurance has applied our co-insurance incorrectly (10% of total bill instead of 10% of the individual procedure) and I had already talked to our insurance who assured me they would correct it and cut a check to Mercy. As a courtesy, I called Mercy to let them know. I got robo-calls for a few weeks and the thing that irritates me most is that if they want to talk to me about the bill, there should be a person on the end of the line. Every time I returned the call from the robo-message, I always got put on hold forever and forced to leave a message anyhow.  Even after my insurance company cut the check and I paid my portion, I still got the robo-calls. So irritating...

[Frenchfry]

MMH - reorganization made lots of people leave and it appears they outsourced their billing to somewhere in Kansas City (the PO box we mailed our check to)...

They sent us a bill from October - about  3 weeks ago, and we mailed the check within a week - during which we received one of those computer robot calls, wanting someone to call MMH about an account.    I called and they stated this was a new policy to send the bill and have the robo call as some people were claiming they never received a bill...   

Can't figure out who's running the show - but outsourcing seems to have become prevalent for everything now.

The first bill mentioned radiology services with a PO BOX return address in Dearborn and the MMH bill had a return address in Chicago.
At first I was hesitant mentioning that since you seem to embrace the Rush Limbaugh mentality against everything about Chicago.

Congrats!    You're the first I've heard that has said how their health care has improved.   I've noticed most of our prescription copays have gotten lower.   Don't know if that is an effect of the new plan...

Two of our children were allowed back on our BCBS policy as well.
Like you, we noticed the RX copay was lower than expected...not sure why.

And for anyone filling 'em at a Kroger pharmacy....make sure your receipt says you received 50 points per 'script....they made a mistake and only gave us 50 points for the three 'scripts we had filled...a return trip required to get it corrected...they wouldn't fix it over the phone.

[BigRedDog]

Now this one takes the cake...

on 7/11/2012 MMH billed us $10.33 for lab work that the insurance didn't cover from a visit on 5/31/2012...

and then today we received a 2nd notice (dated 7/12/2012 OR THE VERY NEXT DAY) for the same amount.  I'm really not sure how they think we could have possibly paid it in the time frame they work in

I can see some ways they could save some money in their billing

[BigRedDog]

The first bill mentioned radiology services with a PO BOX return address in Dearborn and the MMH bill had a return address in Chicago.
At first I was hesitant mentioning that since you seem to embrace the Rush Limbaugh mentality against everything about Chicago.
 Two of our children were allowed back on our BCBS policy as well.
Like you, we noticed the RX copay was lower than expected...not sure why.

And for anyone filling 'em at a Kroger pharmacy....make sure your receipt says you received 50 points per 'script....they made a mistake and only gave us 50 points for the three 'scripts we had filled...a return trip required to get it corrected...they wouldn't fix it over the phone.

If you called the 1-800-KROGERS line they should have been able to look at your account and fix it over the phone.

[Aguilera]

YES

Has been for years. 

They suck.

Period.

[Tiny]

Now this one takes the cake...

on 7/11/2012 MMH billed us $10.33 for lab work that the insurance didn't cover from a visit on 5/31/2012...

and then today we received a 2nd notice (dated 7/12/2012 OR THE VERY NEXT DAY) for the same amount.  I'm really not sure how they think we could have possibly paid it in the time frame they work in

I can see some ways they could save some money in their billing

We have had the same thing happen. My wife had a mammogram back in April and we just got a bill for $52.00 deductible July 31st. We have never had to pay a deductible on mammograms they are preventative fully covered. She had a colonoscopy last year and we were billed for over $600.00 because it wasn't billed right. These are also preventative and covered 100%. MMH doesn't bill anything right so our insurance won't pay and we get bills galore that are supposed to be covered and we have to fight them all.  I wonder how many people get screwed paying these bills that insurance should cover and if they billed things right they would have to spend less time straightening things out thus saving money. No wonder why it costs so much for medical costs.

[BigRedDog]

We have had the same thing happen. My wife had a mammogram back in April and we just got a bill for $52.00 deductible July 31st. We have never had to pay a deductible on mammograms they are preventative fully covered. She had a colonoscopy last year and we were billed for over $600.00 because it wasn't billed right. These are also preventative and covered 100%. MMH doesn't bill anything right so our insurance won't pay and we get bills galore that are supposed to be covered and we have to fight them all.  I wonder how many people get screwed paying these bills that insurance should cover and if they billed things right they would have to spend less time straightening things out thus saving money. No wonder why it costs so much for medical costs.

We've had problems with getting charged for the "preventative" procedures too Tiny. 

My wife has gone so far to make sure that when signing into the hospital first thing that the procedure has the "preventive procedure code" (apparently they're different if they're not considered preventive by your insurance) only to still get a bill due to the fact that the code was changed by someone before it was sent to the insurance company. 

I'm starting to wonder if perhaps someone at the hospital does this on purpose.  And I'm like you...  I wonder how many people just go ahead and pay the extra to the hospital