I got so scammed!

[MooseMom]

Back in January, I got a referral to an eye doctor who diagnosed me with dry eye.  He explained that there are different types of dry eye and that he wanted to see me again for a dry eye assessment, after which he could recommend the appropriate treatment.  He gave me some information about a new treatment called Lipiflow; I won't go into the details.  He explained that theirs was the only clinic in this part of the state that has this machine.  The good news, he said, is that it is effective, but the bad news is that it costs $300 per eye, $600 total, and it's not covered by insurance.  He said that the machine cost the practice $65,000, like I cared.

I thought this was too much money and decided to just live with it, but my eyes began really bothering me, so I got a referral for a follow up.  I made an appt but had to reschedule for another day at 3:40PM.  I showed up only to be told that the dry eye assessment takes about an hour and there was not enough time left in the day to do it.  The scheduler screwed up, and I was not happy and refused to reschedule.

The next day, the dry-eye assessment lady called and profusely apologized.  So, I decided that since my referral was still good, I'd go ahead and at least find out what was going on with my eyes.

I went for the assessment this past Wed, and apparently my glands that secrete oil don't work well anymore.  So the doctor came in and talked to me and did further assessments.  It sounded pretty dire, and he said that the lipiflow would be an appropriate treatment option.  I decided to give it a go as I had set aside enough money to pay for it in case I changed my mind.  I should have been warned when he started explaining that the machine cost $100,000 (again, why would I care, and didn't you tell me earlier that it cost $65,000?).  So we get halfway through the treatment when the machine started getting error messages.  Bottom line, I got a full treatment in one eye but not in the other.  I was told that this had never happened before and that they would call me when it was fixed so that I could come in and complete the treatment.

So I go to pay, and as I was standing with the dry-eye assessment lady in front of an entire row of receptionists at the front desk, she informed me that the treatment actually costs $600 PER EYE, ie $1200 total.  I was so shocked and horrified that I thought I was going to cry.  And then I got angry.  I told her that I know what I was told initially, and she said that there must have been a misunderstanding.  I said that yes, there certainly HAS been a misunderstanding!  I pointed out to her that in all of the forms I had to fill out, read and sign that NOT IN A SINGLE PAGE was there ANY information about charges, so how is a patient to know?  Why don't you give notice of your charge for this treatment?  And you know what she dared say?  She said that they couldn't put the charges in writing because RIGHT NOW THEY'RE RUNNING A SPECIAL FOR $800 INSTEAD OF $1200!  She pulled that right out of her hat.  It was a bald faced lie, and it was certainly the first I'd heard of any damn "special."

Those people just flat out lied to me.  They KNEW I had tx meds to pay for, but they didn't give a rat's hat.  I had no choice but to pay.  But I made sure that everyone within a 50 feet radius knew of my displeasure.  I still cannot believe it.

And today I got a bill from them for the co-pay.

The good news is that it seems like I broke their stupid machine, so at least for a while, they won't be able to scam other patients.  Serves them right.

[cariad]

Outrageous! Oh, that really winds me up!

Did you pay by credit card I hope? I would fight that charge to the bitter end. AmEx has come through for me on several occasions. They shouldn't get away with this! I know that frustration only too well, that but-I-know-what-I-was-told aggravation. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Shameless liars!

If you cannot fight it, I would at least start naming names at every opportunity.

[okarol]

That's irresponsible!
Come to California - it may be cheaper http://apps.scco.edu/ceonline/courseview.asp?selclassid=19&selID=175&selOrderID=5
This article said it may need to be repeated every 6 months.
I found prices on the internet vary from $300 to $1000 per eye.
I would be really angry too! Who quotes things per eye?? Like you'd have only one dry eye??
How does the eye feel?

[CW]

I cannot stand lying thieving scumbags! Hope you can find somewhere to get your other eye done, good luck

[MooseMom]

Cariad, I tried to pay with my amex; I thought I'd at least get some reward points out of the deal, but of course they didn't accept it.

I won't fight the charges because I paid what I was quoted, but since I got the referral from my PCP, the next time I see HIM, I will let him know what happened.

Okarol, I did my research before consenting to the treatment.  I knew that it's a procedure that may well have to be repeated annually.  I watched several YouTube videos, one being from the Mayo Clinic.  The consent form I signed was very clear in saying that the treatment may not work, that there were no guarantees, that it may have to repeated, etc, so I accepted the risk.  But the doctor said that the treatment should at least prevent the condition getting worse, and frankly, I'm tired of the whole concept of having to helplessly stand by while some part of my body eventually fails.  The idea of having to cope with yet another chronic, incurable condition irritated the hell out of me.

While the risks were made clear, the price was not.

I do think my treated eye might actually be feeling a bit better.

[Speedy1wrc]

I don't know a single Dr that doesn't drive a car in the mega-buck range and live in a house whose garage is bigger than my whole house. I think they certainly make enough gosh darn money that they shouldn't have to scam you to pad it just that much more.

I ran into a cheating Dr once and reported him to my insurance company. Unfortunately they didn't seem to care very much. It's losing battle.

[MooseMom]

I've just never run into this kind of thing before!  I'd report him to someone if I could think of someone to report him to!  Well, I figure he is just going to have to live with himself.

The ugly part is this...when he first mentioned this treatment, I was quite upset and told him about my transplant and how I really was just so tired of "procedures".  He said he understood because just two years before, he had fallen ill and his wife had been told that he was dying.  I made all the appropriate sympathetic noises because, well, I felt bad for him.  He'd obviously been through a lot.

So this time when I saw him, he told me has been on prednisone and could relate to the side effects.  I got curious and asked what his diagnosis was.  He told me, I wished him well, etc.  I was really concerned about him because, well, he has a chronic, incurable just like I do.

So much for feeling bad for him.

[Ang]

did you actually some sort of result on your eyes

[Rerun]

I'm glad your one eye is feeling better.  On TV they advertise "Restasis" (sp) for dry eye.  It is a once a day eye drop.  On TV the eye doctor has dry eye too.  HA HA

At least eye clinics and dentists and veterinarians tell you prices.  Regular hospitals or other doctors MD's don't.  It is a surprise every time and you cannot seem to get an itemized bill.  And with eye clinics where Medicare pays first... if the negotiated price is $150 then they charge $150 and Medicare pays 80% of that and my insurance picks up the other 20%.

At the "d" clinic the negotiated charges is $3000 and the Clinic charges $65,000 and Medicare will pay the 80% of $3000 and my insurance will pay the other 20% of the $3000.  They just pull the $65,000 out of their "Hat".

I noticed this was in off topic so I used "d"..... sorry

[Wildrose]

Thats horrible!! So sorry you had to go through that!
Sounds like you handled it better than I would have, I would have freaked out then ended up bawling (in front of everyone). 

[AnnieB]

Can you report this to anyone? I first thought of BBB, but don't know if they cover doctors. Or what about Angie's List? I know they rate all sorts of things, including doctors. Plus I know you can write reviews on the internet. You could at least make sure someone else doesn't run into this.
It really su*&#ks that this happened to you.

Anne

[Jean]

How about the AMA ( American Medical Association ) ?

[CebuShan]

You only let people know in a 50 foot radius? Shame on you!         

[MooseMom]

Can you report this to anyone? I first thought of BBB, but don't know if they cover doctors. Or what about Angie's List? I know they rate all sorts of things, including doctors. Plus I know you can write reviews on the internet. You could at least make sure someone else doesn't run into this.
It really su*&#ks that this happened to you.

Anne

That's a good idea.  I should do that.

[MooseMom]

At least eye clinics and dentists and veterinarians tell you prices.

Well you see, that's the thing.  The eye doctor DID tell me the price BECAUSE THIS NEW TREATMENT ISN'T YET COVERED BY INSURANCE!  He told me that it would be $300 per eye.  And he rabbitted on about how expensive the machine was, blah blah blah, like that was MY problem.  Well, I guess it became my problem because when I went back and had the treatment, I went to pay and was THEN told that it was actually $600 per eye.  The nurse launched into an explanation that they couldn't possibly cover the cost of the machine if they charged such a small amount as $300 per eye.  But when I complained, then SUDDENLY there was a "special" promotional rate.

And no, the treatment didn't work.  But their machine broke down halfway through my treatment, and I hope it cost them a bazillion dollars to get it fixed.  The doctor was REALLY mad that the machine broke.     Now, THAT'S not my problem.