A Letter to Swedish Medical Center

I have in front of me a bill from Swedish Medical Center (although they want me to write my check to Swedish Hospital, and then there's Swedish Cancer Institute ... but anyway) with a date of service of 8/27/2007.

The "service description" is "on-going patient care," and I supposedly owe $75.18 after my insurance paid $3.02 and there was an "insurance adjustment" of $57.80.

Well, my first question is what the heck is "on-going patient care"? Is that a doctor's appointment? And, if so, with which doctor? I've seen two different oncologists at Swedish, plus the various doctors who read my scans who I never meet.

The bill puzzled me for several reasons: The most important of these is that once my annual deductible of $1,000 is satisfied, I don't owe anything for care I receive at Swedish, because it has a preferred provider relationship with my insurance plan, WSHIP. I generally meet the deductible by February every year, and don't owe anything after that. Since this bill is dated August of 2007, I shouldn't owe anything.

So I called WSHIP, to see if they could shed some light on this, and I talked to Jackie, who was very helpful, as always.

I gave Jackie the date of service and the amount of the bill, and she said that WSHIP has no record of a claim for that amount with that date of service coming to them for payment.

OK. Hum.

She said I did have a bill from Dr. Eulau, my radiation oncologist, with that date of service, for $191, and that claim was paid.

Looks like a mistake to me.

Here's the letter I'm mailing to Swedish today:

DATE: April 17, 2008
TO: Swedish Medical Center, Patient Accounting Customer Service
FROM: Jeanne Sather
RE: Bill with date of service 8/27/07 (see attached)

I believe that the attached bill is in error.

I called my insurance company, WSHIP, yesterday, and spoke to a woman named Jackie. She told me that WSHIP has not received a claim from you for that date of service in this amount.

She said there was a claim from Dr. Eulau, my radiation oncologist, with that date of service, for $191, and that claim was paid.

The bill also does not say which doctor's services the bill is supposedly for, and I would like an explanation of the term "ongoing outpatient care"--are you saying that I had a doctor's appointment on that date?

In any case, feel free to call WSHIP for confirmation.

As far as I can tell, I do not owe this amount, and I will be sending a copy of this letter to the Better Business Bureau.

I'm also sending a letter to the head of the Swedish Cancer Institute complaining about the blind billing calls his staff is making.

See: Another Blind Collections Call

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.