Columbia County ambulance company agrees to stop illegally billing customers

[JetPhoto 626]

Columbia County ambulance company agrees to stop illegally billing customers

ALBANY – An agreement has been reached between the state Attorney General’s office and a Columbia County ambulance company that was illegally billing patients for the differences between what the company charged and what the patients’ insurance companies paid.

Under the agreement, the company must pay back at least 29 consumers who were improperly billed over the course of five years and change its billing policies to comply with state law.

http://midhudsonnews.com/News/August08/13/...bul-13Aug08.htm

[MerlinMedic 5]

Too bad this law does not apply to other faccets of health care -- then insurance companies will have total control over health costs. :angry: BTW, this is not a coment on the billing, or anything else, just the law as reported in the paper.

[Noula 0]

Too bad this law does not apply to other faccets of health care -- then insurance companies will have total control over health costs. :angry: BTW, this is not a coment on the billing, or anything else, just the law as reported in the paper.

I don't know what books you're reading out of, but contracts similar to this do apply to almost all facets of health care. For example if you go to your doctor and your doctor typically charges about $125 for a visit. Well, if he/she takes your insurance, they've agreed to a set rate with your insurance company, which is say $75 per visit. If you go to your doctor and he sends you a bill for $50 to make up for the difference, he's in violation of his contract with the insurance company and (in most states) the law as well.

Unfortunately, most people see medical bills and pay them by default so it's relatively easy for a doctor/hospital/etc. to get away with doing this. That and if you don't resolve this bogus bill... it WILL go to collections and bite you in the a**. Fortunately, you can usually resolve it with a quick phone call.

Not to mention, if you don't have any health insurance, all medical bills are negotiable. They'd rather see at least a good percentage of the cash you owe sooner than sending the bill to collections and winding up with a big and expensive fight about it.

[antiquefirelt 994]

I don't know what books you're reading out of, but contracts similar to this do apply to almost all facets of health care. For example if you go to your doctor and your doctor typically charges about $125 for a visit. Well, if he/she takes your insurance, they've agreed to a set rate with your insurance company, which is say $75 per visit. If you go to your doctor and he sends you a bill for $50 to make up for the difference, he's in violation of his contract with the insurance company and (in most states) the law as well.

Are you speaking of HMO insurance coverage? Or Point of Service? You'd better be sure of this before you go and refuse to pay your Dr's bill. Often your insurance policy doesn't cover 100% of many procedures. If your policy only covers 80% of the Dentist check up, you are responsible for the other 20%. In EMS billing the rules are set by Medicare. If you bill Medicare then you must use their rules and rates. It's Medicare who doesn't allow EMS to balance bill. I've not heard this is the case with all insurance, unless it's HMO style coverage. As part of an HMO network, your provider has agreed to set rates. But if your coverage is not HMO, you probably owe the difference.

[ex-commish 490]

On the subject of billing is it legal for a VAC ( non-fd) to bill if they are a tax district?

[GAW6 66]

On the subject of billing is it legal for a VAC ( non-fd) to bill if they are a tax district?

I have done extensive research in to this subject, since it is a subject that I am very passionate about. A VAC that is a tax district can bill only if they have a SIGNED RESOLUTION by the governing body (which in our Town would be the Town Board).

[ny10570 745]

I don't know what books you're reading out of, but contracts similar to this do apply to almost all facets of health care. For example if you go to your doctor and your doctor typically charges about $125 for a visit. Well, if he/she takes your insurance, they've agreed to a set rate with your insurance company, which is say $75 per visit. If you go to your doctor and he sends you a bill for $50 to make up for the difference, he's in violation of his contract with the insurance company and (in most states) the law as well.

Unfortunately, most people see medical bills and pay them by default so it's relatively easy for a doctor/hospital/etc. to get away with doing this. That and if you don't resolve this bogus bill... it WILL go to collections and bite you in the a**. Fortunately, you can usually resolve it with a quick phone call.

Not to mention, if you don't have any health insurance, all medical bills are negotiable. They'd rather see at least a good percentage of the cash you owe sooner than sending the bill to collections and winding up with a big and expensive fight about it.

But in these cases the doctor chooses which insurance they want to accept. If they're unhappy with the payments they can negotiate changes in price or drop that carrier. That option does not exist in EMS. Thats why EMS is the only place that I'm aware of where medicaid payments are the industry standard. Usually they're less than what private insurance pays.