Providers make more mistakes than my insurance co.

One of the things that I worried about when I got sick was that my insurance company was going to rip me off somehow.

Year To Date:

1. I have been balance billed by a provider which I unwittingly paid and never received a refund, billing service will not return calls so that I can get refunded.

2. Been misreported as delinquent by a provider to a credit collections agency which billing service agreed was a mistake after I suffered through a month of nasty collections calls. "We changed billing services and this is happening to a lot of our patients. Soooooorry" I changed docs immediately with that.

3. A dentist told me my insurance company would pay for some dental work which was necessary. You can guess the rest and skip to #4 or keep reading.

He got the work half way done, refused to do more work until I paid the insurance company's portion telling me the insurance company had denied the claim three weeks ago and wasn't going to do any more work until I paid the ins co. portion. So I paid. Turns our the insurance co. never denied or paid the claim because dentist never did file the x-ray. Claim was just sitting in insurance limbo. Even after I stood there and insisted they do so he wouldn't file that xray (he's PPO not indemnity) so I had to get a copy of everything and file it myself. Surprise, what I filed was denied, based on the fact that the documentation, that x ray as a matter of fact, didn't support the need. I looked into the condition a little more and I'm pretty sure they are right and the dentist was offering me something more on the cosmetic side than on the "necessary" side. Lesson learned: Should have gotten a second opinion on that much work, should have gotten the work pre approved. Pediatricians don't make more money by recommending tonsillectomies, but dentists do make more money recommending $$$dental work.

4. Pick up three prescriptions at pharmacy. Clerk gives me only two prescriptions in three bags and we both sign off on it.

Here's what happened: One bag was empty but marked "fridge"with a prescription label stapled to it, the second bag had the refrigerated prescription but otherwise no label, the third bag stapled shut had two different bottles in it and two different prescription labels stapled to it. Turns out it was a single prescription in two different bottles. I didn't realize the mistake until I got home. Went back to the store and the clerk gave me lots of flak. Had to come back a third time with all the bags to explain it, and there was not room for a third bottle in the overstuffed bag. She rolls her eyes and told me "it was possible" before giving me the prescription. Thank goodness it was something lame and not painkillers or I never would have been believed.

I only see the mistakes that cost me. I have no way of knowing about the mistakes that have been to my benefit that the provider eats, but I assume that the mistakes must go both ways.