<p>Turns out it was a billing error. The billing company posted it to the wrong account. No medical records involved.</p>
<p>We asked if they would pay us for our pain and suffering but they did not seem enthralled with the idea.</p>
<p>thank you JEM</p>
<p>Merge done with a redirect from the other thread.</p>
<p>Glad to see that it is all now resolved.</p>
<p>Very sorry for your stressful hours!! So glad for the good outcome! :)</p>
<p>So much for being grandparents.</p>
<p>one day. Just not yet!!</p>
<p>The other day I was asked to sign an affidavit regarding a lawsuit being brought against me by the woman whose husband I stole and who I subsequently blackmailed. Turns out it was intended for another woman who has the same name as I do, and it was e-mailed to my <a href="mailto:firstname.lastname@gmail.com">firstname.lastname@gmail.com</a> account.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t have opened it at all, except that I’d talked to my bank about some mortgage paperwork that morning and was told that they’d send me the paperwork I needed to take care of. The e-mail I got said, “Firstname-- here is the document you need to sign. Please sign in three places in the presence of a notary. Thanks.” I opened the PDF, skimmed it in horror, and nearly had a coronary before I realized that the e-mail wasn’t from my bank.</p>
<p>I contacted the lawyer and, upon his direction, deleted the e-mail… But not before it shaved a few years off my life…!</p>
<p>I have to say I am surprised that our insurance paid out on this - there was no other pregnancy stuff - prenatal, delivery etc (the bill was for an epidural during labor and delivery), no evidence of a pregnancy or birth, no actual bill from a doctor. Makes you wonder.</p>
<p>And half the time we have to fight to get them to pay out when we *have *had treatment!!</p>
<p>well aibarr at least my daughter is just a secretive unwed mother, not a blackmailing homewrecker ;)</p>
<p>I once got a bill for a copay for an appointment that I had canceled. I had canceled it with plenty of advance notice, did not want to see the doctor again, and they mailed me a bill for the copay. The bill indicated that insurance had already paid their portion. I actually called my insurance company first, and they said to call the doctor’s office, so I did, and they worked it out. I don’t think it ended up being very complicated.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this kind of stuff is not uncommon.</p>
<p>I received an EOB for payment for ‘my’ physical therapy visits after my husband actually had PT post knee replacement. So, correct policy, wrong patient.</p>
<p>I once received a dental EOB for payment of a crown in my mouth, but son listed as patient instead.</p>
<p>All very sloppy.</p>
<p>Glad yours seems to be just more sloppiness and not identity theft.
And yes, WHY does an insurance plan pay for an epidural for someone who has NO records or others claims submitted for a pregnancy?</p>
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<p>Darn skippy! Though, it’s kind of nice to have an evil name-twin to blame my misdeeds on now. :)</p>
<p>I share a first, middle, and last name with a woman who lived in the next town to where I used to live. We also shared a vet, a pharmacy, and a gyn. I learned to routinely check further down the records before verifying who I was… Are you DMD, born on 7/7? Yes. No, I’m not DMD born on 6/3. It always annoyed me that she had MUCH better insurance than I did. </p>
<p>I am aware of five other women who have the same first and last name as mine. I know three of them personally. Fortunately, two have married and changed their names.</p>
<p>After my father died I received paid bills (by medicare) for the cardiac intensive care unit which he had in fact been a patient. The only problem? He died on the fifth and the bills (with 4 doctors seeing him once an hour) ran through the 16th. His name was very unusual.</p>
<p>I called the hospital and they, in essence, gave me the finger. I called medicare, 4 times. Went on hold for over an hour EACH time. Finally spoke to someone who said, “If happens all the time. We paid the bills, don’t worry about it.”</p>
<p>Our tax dollars at work.</p>
<p>One summer I received a letter from my insurance company that they had paid the doctor for my knee replacement. Like your daughter, I was on a cruise when this surgery happened. I called insurance (Blue Cross and Blue Shield) to discuss this and the woman I spoke to was adamant that I had had the surgery, because that was what the records showed. I tried to explain that I wasn’t around during the surgery, I didn’t have a replaced knee, I didn’t have scars, etc… She refused to listen and insisted this was correct. I even tried to reason with her that if I really had had the surgery and then called to say I hadn’t that I would end up being stuck with all of the bills, leaving my insurance company home free. She still wouldn’t listen, because she knew better than me, even though it was my body. Even though I was very frustrated with this woman, I still found it so comical that she wouldn’t even consider my complaint.</p>
<p>After this I called the surgeon’s office and got it straightened out. Years before, I had some knee therapy at the same doctor’s group that the surgeon who gave someone else a new knee worked at, so I was in the “system.” What happened is that another woman with my same name and who works for the same school district with the same insurance had knee replacement surgery. They messed up some forms and finally straightened it out. I was very happy it was not a case of medical identity theft.</p>
<p>ellebud-
You should call the insurance commissioner – medicare fraud is a serious matter
swimcatsmom-
There is a new rule called the “red flag rule” . The implementation date keeps getting pushed out,but healthcare institutions know they are obligated to verify the identity and insurance of all patients (this rule also applies to financial institutions) to minimize insurance and identity theft. Here is a link to the rule [Physician</a> Resources: FTC Delay of the Red Flags Rule - AMA](<a href=“http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/practice-management-center/data-security/red-flags-rule.shtml]Physician”>http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/practice-management-center/data-security/red-flags-rule.shtml) Hopefully its a simple billing error-- wrong keystroke or something. But if not-- the rules are getting much more stringent about these kinds of things. Good luck!</p>
<p>Good to know for the future. Fortunately it does turn out to be a billing error - not by the doctor or hospital but by the company that does the billing. Same company that our doctor uses to I guess they somehow charged it to our account. Presumably there is no system in place to make sure the names and details on the original bill match up to the ones on the account which is a bit scary. But it is sorted out, and we talked to the insurance company as well so they plan to be all over it if the billing company does not have it sorted out by the end of the week.</p>
<p>I have a relatively common name and was pulled over for having a brake light out. The officer then informed me I had a warrant out for my arrest. The look on my face must have made him think twice, so he called it in. The warrant was for another person with a birthdate one day different than me. It was slightly scary.</p>
<p>We got a bill for hospital charges for H. When I called to tell them they had made a mistake, the lady told me that he probably just didn’t tell me about it. Um, really? I don’t know about her, but I do tend to notice if H is not home for 5 days.</p>
<p>I tried calling everyone, including my congressman’s local office. No one cared. I eventually gave up. I had lost both my parents within a very short period of time and I couldn’t deal with another issue.</p>