I opened a bill from Swedish Medical Center today, to read the following:
DELIQUENCY NOTICE
After repeated attempts to encourage you to pay your long overdue account with Swedish, this is still an outstanding balance. This letter is sent as our last attempt to assist you in resolving the balance(s) due. While we suggest that you take steps to settle this outstanding balance in full, the account is scheduled for a referral to a debt collector, ARSTRAT, if we do not receive payment within 15 days of this statement date. If you are disputing any charges on your bill, you must contact us immediately. Swedish does offer financial assistance to those who qualify, however, it must be requested by you and we are not showing any completed or approved application at this time. Bills from other health care providers (physicians, laboratories, etc.) that are billed separately from the hospital bill are NOT covered by this statement or Swedish financial assistance policies. In order to prevent debt collection, you must contact us immediately and make satisfactory arrangements for payment at 1-866-365-7357. Your bill is due in full at this time.
Whew! Who wrote that mouthful?
Do they think it's scarier if it's all in one long paragraph like that?
Let me state, for the record, that as far as I can tell--and I've checked--I do not owe Swedish any money. I've written to Swedish telling them this, but they ignore my letters, which from now on will be posted to my blog at the time I write and mail them, to keep a paper trail.
But, just for fun, let's take this threat line by line:
1. "After repeated attempts to encourage you to pay your long overdue account with Swedish, this is still an outstanding balance."
Oh, that must be what those phone calls--which did NOT identify the caller--were all about.
See:
Here's a New One: The Blind Billing Call
We'll ignore the weird grammar in that first sentence: "...this is still an outstanding ..."
What about my letter of April 17, and previous letters? I never received a response.
2. "This letter is sent as our last attempt to assist you in resolving the balance(s) due."
Do you promise?
3. "While we suggest that you take steps to settle this outstanding balance in full, the account is scheduled for a referral to a debt collector, ARSTRAT, if we do not receive payment within 15 days of this statement date."
Well, the bill was dated June 4, and I haven't heard from ARSTRAT yet. Maybe they're still reading my letter from last year, which they never responded to.
4. "If you are disputing any charges on your bill, you must contact us immediately."
Been there, done that.
I've called (fairly useless), and written (also fairly useless), and not gotten a reply other than more computer-generated form letters and bills.
5. "Swedish does offer financial assistance to those who qualify, however, it must be requested by you and we are not showing any completed or approved application at this time."
Yes, and they call it "Charity Care" to embarrass us. Also, have you seen the forms and documentation that sick people are expected to provide in order to get Charity Care?
See also: more on charity care
6. "Bills from other health care providers (physicians, laboratories, etc.) that are billed separately from the hospital bill are NOT covered by this statement or Swedish financial assistance policies."
Yes, I know, thank you. But boy is it a surprise to new cancer patients when they get bills from doctors they haven't even met!
7. "In order to prevent debt collection, you must contact us immediately and make satisfactory arrangements for payment at 1-866-365-7357."
Please refer to my letter of April 17.
8. "Your bill is due in full at this time."
Well, no, it's not. The date of service on the bill was August 27, 2007. As I've told you before, I always meet my out-of-pocket max by the end of January every year, and after that time I cannot owe for any services provided by Swedish, which is a preferred provider on my insurance plan. We've had this conversation before.
Send me a written statement of what services I received on 8/27/07, and an explanation of why they weren't covered by my insurance company (WSHIP), and I will happily write you a check.
Note to readers: Having problems with a medical bill? Please feel free to adapt any of my letters that are useful. And please let me know what happens.
@ Jeanne Sather 2008.
Comments