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VENT: The never-ending medical bill (long and whiny)
So on November 3rd, I had a D&C for my miscarriage. While the actual procedure was easy, the whole thing was very emotional for me, obviously. About a week later, my insurance company called and left me a message to call them "about my benefit information", and I freaked out, wondering if something wasn't covered, etc. Turns out they were offering me their prenatal program because, you know, they saw in my chart I was pregnant. "Congratulations on your pregnancy!", they shouted. So I had the joy of telling them that yes, I WAS pregnant, but not anymore, since I had a D&C they can probably also see on my insurance chart. That was fun.
Then we started getting the bills in December. We got an anesthesia bill (the bill came on the same day my water heater destroyed our floors), a bill from my doctor's office, and the bill from the hospital (the same one where I work). The hospital bill was the biggest (a few hundred dollars) and DH dipped into our savings and wrote the check. Every time we got a bill for the baby we didn't get to bring home, it was just another knife in the gut.
So on 1/26 my husband wakes me up and says someone from my work is on the phone. Turns out it was the billing office letting me know they didn't get my payment. At the time I hadn't bothered to look and see when the check cleared, because I figured they had gotten it. I told them we had paid the bill and pulled out the check register to verify we had paid it on 1/18.. They said they hadn't received it and they would note that I "claimed" we had paid. I assured them we paid as soon as we got the bill, at which point they said this was actually the SECOND bill they had sent without any payment, which is why they were calling me. We never got any other bills until the one we paid, and I was pretty pissed that A) they were treating me as delinquent, and 
that 2.5 months after my miscarriage, I was still dealing with this.
After I hung up, I got worried that several hundred dollars was just floating around, so I got on our bank's website and sure as heck, there's a copy of the canceled check dated 1/18, that cleared our account on 1/21. I called the number back and gave them that information, and the girl told me that it can take "a while" for the payment to post to my account, and not to worry.
So this morning, after having a crummy night's sleep on the couch dodging falling ice-covered tree branches, my husband wakes me up AGAIN because "work" is on the phone. They say they are calling about my outpatient visit on 11/3, and I said "So you still don't have my payment?" I inform them that I did confirm that my check, written on 1/18, was cashed and cleared my bank on 1/21. She said they still had no record of a payment. I asked what she wanted me to do, and she asked me to get a copy of the canceled check (easy, it's on my bank's website) and if they don't get payment in a week, they will call me back, and I will need to fax that information to them so they can start tracing why it's never been posted to my account.
So there's almost $500 of my money floating around that clearly SOMEONE has, but apparently not the hospital. She told me they call every week to check on delinquent accounts, so she would check back with me in a week. I told her that honestly, the procedure I had was very emotionally draining and I was really tired of dealing with this, and I would just like it to be fixed. The girl promised to check on my account daily, she said she'll call if the check is posted to my account, and I told her to go ahead and call me on Friday if it's not been posted so I can send them the canceled check, since it's been over 2 weeks since the check was cleared and no one has posted it to my account.
So on Friday (or heck, maybe tomorrow since I'll be at work anyway) I'll probably have to bring in the canceled check we wrote to pay for my D&C so hopefully the hospital will stop calling and reminding me about my "outpatient visit" that broke my heart.
Grr.
Thanks in advance for letting me vent. I just want to put all this stuff behind me and move on, and it's impossible to do when I am now getting weekly calls regarding my "delinquent" account at my own employer.
Congrats to both my TTC buddies, Amberley18 and sb2006 on their beautiful babies!
Re: VENT: The never-ending medical bill (long and whiny)
That is insane that your check cleared that long ago and hasn't shown up on your account. Their accounting dept is dropping the ball.
I think, to avoid them calling you again (which I suspect they will, cause honestly, if it hasn't been entered on your account by now, it sounds like it's just lost) and dealing with reliving that sad day, you should just fax or bring in the copy of the cancelled check and try to get that acct settled. You don't need them picking at that wound. I know they're just doing their job and all that, but the fact that you are an employee there, it's only two weeks past due and they are harrassing you like that on the phone is insane!
I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. I hope it gets settled soon so you can try to move on.
That is really weird about the check! I hope it gets fixed before you have to go in on Friday.
I'm sorry you're going through this. Again, I hope it all gets straightened out ASAP.
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