Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  05/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In 2023 I had 3 Hernia related surgeries (January, March, September). Three separate stays in Memorial Hospital all following those surgeries. I continue to be billed (Account # ************ for amounts that I am not responsible for as per my own health insurance company (employer-based United Health-I have an HSA and my out of pocket *** for in network service is $3000 annual, which I obviously met). This collection effort began in January of 2024 and continues to this day (my consumer number HNE1488045284). I have emails from the billing department at Memorial/Beacon stating that the error was fixed on January 11, 2024. **************************** ****************************** stated as much in the email. Despite this, I continue to receive prompts that there is a bill due. It went from $1875 in January to $3295.80 (acct# ***********/Acct# ************* In March. I have made numerous attempts to correct this though it is not my issue. In March (the 27th) I sent another email after being prompted to pay this amount with the prior emails attached explaining this was supposedly taken care of. I issued the following directive: if this was not fixed I would be reaching out to the *** of Beacon and was quickly told that it was once again fixed. We are now in May and I am being prompted to pay the same amount, $3295.80 as I was in March. I have almost 20 emails with Beacon going back and forth on this.

  Business response

  05/21/2024

  I reviewed the patient's accounts, and the patient is correct, he did not owe the $3,295.80. The account#********** was the account with that balance. I have corrected the balance, and the patient responsibility is $0. Patient does still have the balance of $1875.00. That balance is still being worked with the insurance. I apologize that this was not taken care of when he was told it would be. 

  Customer response

  05/22/2024

   I am rejecting this response because: it does not address the completeness of my complaint. While I appreciate the acknowledgement that they corrected a portion of the mistaken bills, they clearly state in their response that there is an existing balance I may be responsible for. This is not the case. As was mentioned in my initial complaint, I spoke with the insurance company (again United Health) about this exact amount (remaining balance) and the date of service it was purported to apply to, and the insurance company told me I am not responsible for this amount according to their provider agreements and that they would be sending Memorial/Beacon a letter stating as much. In essence a cease and desist letter. If they need to work with the insurance company on the terms of their agreements that is between those two entities, not me. I would like an acknowledgment that I am NOT responsible for this amount as well before I would consider this a closed matter.

   

  Respectfully RPB
  
  

  
  

  Business response

  05/22/2024

  We have received a rejection for the account balance I listed. The patient will not be held responsible for any balance on the account. We have the right to appeal the rejection which is what is in process. If our appeal is rejected, we will have to write the account off. 

  Customer response

  05/22/2024

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

  
  

  Thank you for your help and that of Memorial/Beacon staff.

• Initial Complaint

  03/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Came in to see a physician for a serious health concern and was rudely bypassed by a rude comment from a male nurse about a possible hiv infection. When I got sent back to be in the waiting room for blood work there was a trainee and I was uncomfortable with a trainee drawing blood they sent me back into the waiting room and rudely told me they would call me back then when they were ready for me because I was uncomfortable with the trainee and wanted a professional. I have visited this hospital several times now with multiple humiliating and bad experiences and I am not the only one. I am in tears and this is unacceptable.

  Business response

  03/14/2024

  This was a quality-of-care review. Per **************** we have attempted to contact the patient to discuss her concerns with no response. We need the patient to respond to us so we can follow up on this complaint. 

• Initial Complaint

  07/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  After months of regularly speaking with a financial counselor at Memorial Hospital (South Bend) to check on the status of a very large bill, she gave me the name and number of a billing supervisor (*******************************, ************). The financial counselor told me Memorial had not sent in a pre-authorization, she did not know why, insurance will not pay for a bill over $52,000.00, and she recommended I call the billing supervisor. I have called several times (approximately 10 times in 10 weeks). After several attempts and after I asked for assistance from a higher level administrator, she did call back, stated Memorial would "probably" pay the bill, but I have nothing in writing. She told me not to speak to anyone but her about the matter. Other staff at Memorial at the cashier's office where I spoke with the financial counselor do not know anything about it, ****************** explained. It has been at least 5 weeks since then, I have new information from the insurance company to discuss with her, have questions, need some information about an appeals process Memorial was supposedly going to undertake with the insurance company. I need to talk with her, and she just does not call back. The voice mail option is probably bogus, she told me to speak only to her about the matter, but she does not speak to me! She seems to have cut me off.

  Business response

  07/31/2023

  ********************* has been notified that the account is with ******* and appeals due to a rejection for authorization. This processed takes anywhere from ***** days for us to get a response. We have informed the patient and she continue to call, sometimes twice a day. We have no update for her and will give her one once we hear from the insurance. We assured her, we will not be billing her. Patient even comes in wanting an update and there is no update to give yet. ******** will provide an update once the insurance responds to our appeal. ******** did state, she will try to call her weekly with updates. 

  Customer response

  07/31/2023

   I am rejecting this response because: I called because I had information and had questions, never got a call back and did not know what the timeline was (was never informed). ******** told me to call her, and I followed her directions. When I was told by ******** that visiting the billing office/financial counselor at Memorial was useless because the ladies there do not have the knowledge and experience to adequately answer questions, I immediately stopped going in. I do not call twice a day and several week have passed since I last called, which is why I filed a complaint. Without knowing who to speak to or the timeline, I did the best I could. A call back, which is a minimum expectation, would have been a simple solution to this issue. 
  
  
  

  Business response

  08/01/2023

  I reviewed this complaint with ********. She will make sure weekly she communicates with *********************. We are working to resolve this issue with insurance. 

  Customer response

  08/01/2023

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. A weekly call is not necessary-only an update when information becomes available would be fine. ******** spoke with me one time in the past, and I was grateful for her professionalism and kindess at that time. I understand her department must be extremely busy. I will wait patiently for a call and she is welcome to leave a message with an update on the situation. If I speak with her, I will not monopolize her valuable time, providing information briefly and keeping questions to a bare minimum.  

  
  

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  02/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had to go to the hospital for a medical emergency. The procedure went well and I have no remaining health issues. I do, however, have an issue with the billing department. I had received absolutely no contact from memorial hospital in regards to my bill. My Healthcare provider provided me with a statement but said I would need to wait for the bill to pay it. I had received no letters, calls, emails, or any other form of communication and then I receive a call from a collection agency. I call the hospitals billing department to confirm if this is the collection agency they use and to ask why I had not been contacted. They informed me that they were unable to send a bill via mail for an unspecified reason and then immediately sent it to collections. I was able to call and pay it off immediately but now I have taken a hit on my credit score over this. It's clear there was zero effort done to provide me the bill in the first place and before taking any other measure to contact me it was sent immediately to collections. So now I have to suffer the consequences of their inaction.

  Business response

  02/13/2023

  The account the patient is referring to is not our account. The account at the hospital was never sent to a collection agency. We billed the patient's insurance and they paid on 12/30/2022. Patient received a statement on 1/5 and 1/30 for payment of the account and paid us the balance on 2/8/2023. The account he may be referring to is the ER Physician billing which we do not handle. 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩