Medicaid Fraud!!

April 16th, Kiteboarding at Desoto Beach Florida, I fell and when I stood up Bam!! Stingray Barb right in the bottom of my foot!! The bastard got me good because the water turned Crimson around me almost immediately! I made my way back into the beach, wrapped my foot the best I could, stowed my gear in the van and headed to Palm Medical Center near Treasure Island.

Long story short, I got 2 X-rays on my foot to check for pieces of the Barb, a little saline flush syringe, and the Doc glued the loose skin and filled the hole. Told me no water for 2 weeks... I came home!

Last week I got 2 calls from their billing department. the first was mild, but the second one today, was pushy, trying to get me to sign up for Medicaid to pay for the bill. The first call wouldnt tell me the amount. but told me they would send the bill in the mail. Today's call, told me the amount was $8000 and change... I said are you Bleeping kidding my?? 2 xrays, a plastic syringe douche and glue is 8K???? Her response!?? Well if you sign up for Medicaid, they will pay it no problem!!!

I lost it and told her that I think I'm getting ripped off, and i'll be damned if I'm gonna allow you to rip of the Tax payers!!

Now granted, 8K isnt jack in the medical field. but its just the friggin point... How determined the girls were to get me to sign up to pay the bill... friggin Crazt!!

so, I think its a clear case of fraud... who do I lay this on for the best results??

you need to reread that post. he’s paying a debt collector many months later. at that point, the debt has been written off as a loss. a loss that’s covered by, among others, the taxpayers.

No, it's you who needs to reread it. He paid what he actually owed. Not what they tried to cheat him out of. The decision to let a collection agency do the negotiating was the hospital's. They could have made a fair deal themselves.

he didn’t pay the person that he owed, and he has no idea of the real amount of “what he actually owed”.

the amount that he paid was utterly unrelated to the services that were received. debt collection agencies don’t know (or care) the different between hospital bad debt and new car bad debt. it’s odd to think that a bad debt collector is going to magically arrive at the perfectly computed real value of a complicated medical procedure.

he didn’t pay the person that he owed, and he has no idea of the real amount of “what he actually owed”.

He paid the hospital's agent. Again, that was the hospital's choice.

He had a good idea of what the service was worth and he certainly did know that it wasn't worth eight grand. Try to be serious.

the amount that he paid was utterly unrelated to the services that were received.

That's just your opinion. Looks pretty close to reasonable to me.

debt collection agencies don’t know (or care) the different between hospital bad debt and new car bad debt.

That's not on him. He didn't choose the collection agency, the hospital did. They delegated the negotiation to the agency and that was their choice. Let's be real here. The hospital did that because they knew the price was a scam to begin with and they weren't going to get the full amount billed anyway. The tried a scam. It didn't work. So they had to settle for what they could get. If they had been honest to begin with they probably would have come out better. Some people are intimidated by bill collectors though and can be bullied into paying what the collector demands. So using a collection agency was just another last ditch attempt at overcharging the patient. It just didn't work this time.

it’s odd to think that a bad debt collector is going to magically arrive at the perfectly computed real value of a complicated medical procedure.

But asking someone to pay for services not given to him, but given to some other patients is not odd?

And what is complicated about a x-ray and a band-aid?

The lease immoral strategy is to refuse to participate in the immoral system.

And so what would that translate into in this concrete situation (i.e., with the rigged system already in place)?

1. set-rep insuring himself before engaging in risky behavior?

2. set-rep not immediately going to the Emergency Room, but rather seeking the lower-level "urgent treatment" referred to elsewhere in this thread?

3. set-rep paying the full cash amount demanded of him (perhaps after first attempting a little "negotiating")?

4. set-rep saying essentially "F*ck you!" and absconding - equivalent to going to a high-priced restaurant where you know that the prices are jacked up, then - after dessert - visiting the restroom, discovering that the liquid soap dispenser is empty, and then taking that as justification to sneak out through the back door?

You tell me! (Extra points for pointing out a better, fifth strategy.)

Regards,

lol.. You must be a groupie and trying real hard to fit into Brodies and DITGS little clique... but, I dont think thats going to happen because your are quite obviously more dumb then they are.

Walking out on a high price meal because there is no soap in the bathroom? that is what you picked up from this thread??

Your post doesnt even deserve a response, however I did it out of courtesy

And so what would that translate into in this concrete situation (i.e., with the rigged system already in place)?
1. set-rep insuring himself before engaging in risky behavior?
2. set-rep not immediately going to the Emergency Room, but rather seeking the lower-level "urgent treatment" referred to elsewhere in this thread?
3. set-rep paying the full cash amount demanded of him (perhaps after first attempting a little "negotiating")?
4. set-rep saying essentially "F*ck you!" and absconding - equivalent to going to a high-priced restaurant where you know that the prices are jacked up, then - after dessert - visiting the restroom, discovering that the liquid soap dispenser is empty, and then taking that as justification to sneak out through the back door?
You tell me! (Extra points for pointing out a better, fifth strategy.)

Regards,

No problem.

5. Recognize that hospitals deliberately try to overcharge cash patients, but will eventually accept fair payment if you hold out. Do that.

Your analogy isn't even close BTW. The diner chose to buy an expensive meal. He wasn't reacting to an emergency. That's multiple failed attempts by you and two others to come up with a relevant analogy. Do you think maybe.the reason you can't come up with one is because your underlying logic is flawed? It all comes down to your desire to overcharge one patient to make up for not getting paid by another. You're never going to find a positive analogy to that.

And since when is simply swimming at the beach "risky behavior"?

PS: Mind your profanity here.

lol.. You must be a groupie and trying real hard to fit into Brodies and DITGS little clique... but, I dont think thats going to happen because your are quite obviously more dumb then they are.

gas_dr and JohnBrowdie are, indeed, quite possibly more intelligent than I. gas_dr, at least, evinces a very deep knowledge of medical practice, so I consider his claim to be a physician quite credible. So he probably is more intelligent than either of us. (Not that that is the sole criterion of judging a man - see Dr. Fauci.) But more importantly, they seem level-headed and reasonable, and have maintained a calm, civil tone throughout this thread (though the good gas_dr's patience does seem to be wearing rather thin towards the end - understandably). They have both displayed a real willingness to examine the argument from different perspectives, or at least to ask pertinent questions, and they did not reflexively resort to heaping abuse upon others with whom they disagreed.

Walking out on a high price meal because there is no soap in the bathroom? that is what you picked up from this thread??

Maybe my analogy was not the best - but I think that it may have captured some of the nuances of your basic mindset - which seems to me to have been the overriding factor in your story.

Your post doesnt even deserve a response, however I did it out of courtesy

Yes, very courteous, indeed!

Regards,

Thanks for your thoughts on this issue, SeeSharp.

5. Recognize that hospitals deliberately try to overcharge cash patients, but will eventually accept fair payment if you hold out. Do that.

That might, indeed, be a feasible strategy, SeeSharp. But I think that it could effect a real change to the (rigged) system only if a large fraction of the participants pursued it. (Shades of the "Prisoner's Dilemma.")

PS: Mind your profanity here.

Sorry if my asterisked expletive verged on offending you. Under the circumstances, it seemed appropriate, considering sit-rep's combative manner and insulting tone.

Regards,

He could negotiate with the business office and probably get that $8,000 knocked way, way down. I also don’t know a hospital that won’t do a payment plan. There is usually no expectation that one pays it all at once. And thus it would never get sent to collections and end up on his credit report. And the hospital would probably end up with more than if he went with the Medicaid fraud suggestion (I’m assuming based on his stated lifestyle that there is no way he qualifies honestly.)

In the end, everyone would win. But that would require some thinking rather than yelling at innocent workers on the phone.

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