Helping the Daughter Out

The Daughter has been having some pain issues since the middle of January. Some sort of abdominal pain when she is laying down, etc. as well as some other symptoms. She had gone to Urgent Care in Tucson, and they had given here some antibiotics, then referred her to an ultrasound place, and another doc that does GI procedures. The U/S came back with inconclusive results. She finally was to have an appointment back on the 3rd for the GI doc. It turned out to be more of a consultation, than doing any procedure. She now has a procedure for Friday that they are going to insert a camera to see if they can see what the problem may be. The Wife and I think it may be a bleeding ulcer, but obviously we a re not doctors. So the Wife is going down Thursday night, escort the Daughter to her procedure, and hopefully return Friday night. No big deal.

Well, I guess it was Friday, the billing department of the people that are doing the procedure, called my daughter, demanding she give them banking information over the phone, and that she had to pay $207 right at that moment. She was smart, and did not give them anything, stating that she would need to call them back. From the second-hand information I have heard, they did not bother to tell the Daughter what the $207 (yes, that was the exact figure they gave) was for - be it the standard amount that is patient responsibility for this type of procedure? Maybe a percentage deposit for the facility to do the procedure? I mean, it definitely is not the copay!

So here in the next couple hours I will be calling the Daughter to get the info, and then calling this place back and find out what is going on, what is this figure for, if a deposit, will it be applied to any patient resp. etc. I just find it so callous and unprofessional, to call a patient and demand their banking information, and money, for a procedure that has not been done yet, to a patient that obviously is not well even. Are they just trying to take advantage of my 20 year old daughter, as she would be more susceptible to not knowing how things usually work in this instance? I don't know, but it angers me. Yet another injustice. Today, I hope to give them a verbal smack in the face, and if deserving, maybe even humiliate some worker that can't seem to have any decency or common sense.

Yes, you can tell it is a Monday.

PeacE