My experience with UPHS-Marquette Central Scheduling, the Patient Advocate, the Compliance Officer and finally the VP of Operations was a 6 month exercise in frustration that finally ended in victory over fraudulent “balance billing,” by UPHS Radiology, aka Imaging Associates of Michigan. While Brian Cabell’s experience was inefficient, (he should have hung up and called back), mine led to being wrongly sent to collections in an attempt to unlawfully collect $550 I did not owe. I had a calcium score CT, was guaranteed by Central Scheduling that the entire cost was $244 out of pocket, which I accepted, and paid in advance of my CT. All paid up I was assured, but then came a legitimate appearing bill from Imaging Associates, whose customer service is in the Philippines, but has a Texas address! No email or local contact number. IAM is the contracted radiology provider for UPHS Marquette, and has an agreement with UPHS to provide the calcium score cardiac CT, which looks for coronary artery damage, without additional charge beyond the $244 paid to UPHS in advance.
I confirmed again and again with a local Central Scheduling rep and her supervisor, no balance billing was required. But they did mention they had heard of this happening to others also. I got nowhere with the Philippine reps, so I contacted the UPHS Patient Advocate, was assured I did not owe another $529 and it would be taken care of…but it was not. Another month went by and I was again wrongly billed by IAM, so I emailed Alyson Sundberg UPHS VP of Operations, who assured me I was correct and it would be taken care of by her Compliance Officer. It wasn’t, and a month later I was sent to collections, at which point I got upset.
Weeks turned into months, and UPHS passed the ball around from dept to dept while I waited for them to solve the problem they created and one which I could not resolve on my own. IAM repeatedly insisted I owed them another $529 despite UPHS assuring me I did not. Meanwhile my credit score was being threatened by the collection agency. 5 months after my prepaid CT scan I got a letter from the collection agent that “the amount owed is inaccurate” and that they were “ceasing collection efforts.” I never got an apology from IAM, UPHS or notice that the bill had been wrong and that I had no debt. I see this as a total failure of leadership. And what of the “others” who may have been unlawfully balance billed but perhaps lacked the knowledge or resolve to fight back? I suggested UPHS and IAM perform an audit to determine if others had been suckered into paying $529 they did not owe. Shame on UPHS and IAM, their radiology department.
How much does TV 6 pay you? Dozens of deserving news outlets in the area have added or elevated personal, yet you never mention in your blog. What is your obsession with WLUC? You have deleted this same comment 5 times from your comments section. Why so sensitive?
Congratulations and best wishes to Ms. Peterson on her next venture. Her series on life aboard a Great Lakes ore carrier warmed the cockles of this old sailor’s heart. Brava!
Is TV 6 / Gray Media truly neutral? Ask Karl Bohnak.
Nope. However, the children at TV6 don't know real journalism if it jumped out of their tiktock feed
My experience with UPHS-Marquette Central Scheduling, the Patient Advocate, the Compliance Officer and finally the VP of Operations was a 6 month exercise in frustration that finally ended in victory over fraudulent “balance billing,” by UPHS Radiology, aka Imaging Associates of Michigan. While Brian Cabell’s experience was inefficient, (he should have hung up and called back), mine led to being wrongly sent to collections in an attempt to unlawfully collect $550 I did not owe. I had a calcium score CT, was guaranteed by Central Scheduling that the entire cost was $244 out of pocket, which I accepted, and paid in advance of my CT. All paid up I was assured, but then came a legitimate appearing bill from Imaging Associates, whose customer service is in the Philippines, but has a Texas address! No email or local contact number. IAM is the contracted radiology provider for UPHS Marquette, and has an agreement with UPHS to provide the calcium score cardiac CT, which looks for coronary artery damage, without additional charge beyond the $244 paid to UPHS in advance.
I confirmed again and again with a local Central Scheduling rep and her supervisor, no balance billing was required. But they did mention they had heard of this happening to others also. I got nowhere with the Philippine reps, so I contacted the UPHS Patient Advocate, was assured I did not owe another $529 and it would be taken care of…but it was not. Another month went by and I was again wrongly billed by IAM, so I emailed Alyson Sundberg UPHS VP of Operations, who assured me I was correct and it would be taken care of by her Compliance Officer. It wasn’t, and a month later I was sent to collections, at which point I got upset.
Weeks turned into months, and UPHS passed the ball around from dept to dept while I waited for them to solve the problem they created and one which I could not resolve on my own. IAM repeatedly insisted I owed them another $529 despite UPHS assuring me I did not. Meanwhile my credit score was being threatened by the collection agency. 5 months after my prepaid CT scan I got a letter from the collection agent that “the amount owed is inaccurate” and that they were “ceasing collection efforts.” I never got an apology from IAM, UPHS or notice that the bill had been wrong and that I had no debt. I see this as a total failure of leadership. And what of the “others” who may have been unlawfully balance billed but perhaps lacked the knowledge or resolve to fight back? I suggested UPHS and IAM perform an audit to determine if others had been suckered into paying $529 they did not owe. Shame on UPHS and IAM, their radiology department.
How much does TV 6 pay you? Dozens of deserving news outlets in the area have added or elevated personal, yet you never mention in your blog. What is your obsession with WLUC? You have deleted this same comment 5 times from your comments section. Why so sensitive?
Gee I have thought for some time that TV 6 was slanted in their coverage, like The Mining Journal but not in the way this article was suggesting.
I miss the days of Walter Cronkite, yet except for BBC, I think most news now is slanted
Congratulations and best wishes to Ms. Peterson on her next venture. Her series on life aboard a Great Lakes ore carrier warmed the cockles of this old sailor’s heart. Brava!