We’ve recently found an error with a medical bill that we are presently trying to get straightened out.  Last year one of our children began seeing a speech therapist one time per week.  After checking with our insurance, the office manager of the therapy center informed us that our insurance was covering a portion of the therapy sessions and we would only need to pay the special co-pay for each visit, which is $30.  So for 6 months last year at each weekly visit we wrote a check for $30. 

We made our regular visit the first week in January and were informed by the office staff that they had called our insurance company and now the visits were being covered at 80% per visit after we had paid our annual deductible.  So I checked with our insurance company and they verified that this was the case.  After paying our $300 deductible, the amount we would owe per visit would be $26.  They also informed me that this was the case last year as well.  I explained to them that we had been paying the $30 co-pay for all the visits last year.  I was told that I needed to take it up with the speech therapy office.

I spoke with the office staff at speech therapy at our next visit and was told that all the billing was handled from another office.  I explained the problem that we had been paying $30 per visit when we should have only been paying the 20% portion which was $26 per visit, a difference of $4.   I was told that I needed to contact the billing office and take it up with them.  So I contacted the billing office and explained the problem.  I had to explain the situation several times, as the person I spoke with was not understanding the problem.  Seems that their billing system does not reconcile co-pays with insurance proceeds, or at least that was what I was led to believe.  Bottom line?  We are out $50 to $60 that I seriously doubt we will ever see back.  Lesson learned:  I am going to double and triple check co-pays from now on, personally, with my insurance company.  Once the money has been paid to a medical provider, it is very difficult to recoup if there has been a mistake. 

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