EasyPay Isn't Easy (for me)

[scrabbler1]

Anyone here ever have problems with the EasyPay system some medical service providers have been using the last few years?

Prior to a few years ago, I would go to a medical service provider (i.e. lab, radiology office) and get my service. Then, a few weeks later, after the EOB comes out (a correct one), I get a bill from the provider for what I owe. I would then pay the bill, usually on line at the provider's website. For me, that was easy.

Then they introduced EasyPay, where I let them run my credit card at the time of service. When this works properly, at some point they bill my CC for the final amount I owe and don't receive a bill for the outstanding amount.

But in the last few years, this has not worked well. In one case, the initial EOB wasn't correct so I got billed extra based on it, before I could get the insurance company to amend the EOB. Then, I have to chase down the provider to get a refund, something which would take 4-6 weeks after multiple phone calls. Or, the provider billed my CC before the EOB came out, and the IC ended up paying the whole thing, leaving me owing zero. Again, I have to chase down the provider to get a refund which took about 4 weeks.

Not wanting to go through this nonsense any more, I would try to opt out of EasyPay at the time of service. They threatened to withhold service if I didn't give them a CC, saying it was "company policy." When I contacted someone in the home office, such as a patient relations rep, about my EasyPay woes, she told me I was permitted to opt out of EasyPay; it was not company policy.

In the first example, the rep mailed me a letter I could show to the lab tech in case they tried to strongarm me into giving them a CC. I made a copy of the letter and handed it to her when she gave me the "it's company policy" line. That shut her up really quickly; did I call her out on her lie or did she not know she was wrong about it not being company policy? I don't know. I did ask the rep who sent me the letter, and when I got one of those patient surveys a few days later, I raised the issue again.

In the second example, I met with the office manager months before my appointment. She had spoken to to the patient relations rep already and told me there will be an entry to my file telling the receptionist not to ask for my CC. And that's what happened.

So, I won't be chasing down any refunds. I am the gatekeeper as to when I pay for these services, and only after final, correct EOBs have come out.

Any of you ever have problems with EasyPay?

 

[MarieIG]

I don't recall signing up for easy pay.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I'm not aware of any EasyPay "standard" out there. None of my service providers use it.

 

[Letj]

Privia participating doctors use such a system. I don’t like it because they can screw up and the EOB doesn’t always match their billings. I hate it too! Luckily it’s easy to deal with the one doctor’s office so not much trouble getting any refund owed.

 

[RetMD21]

I wouldn't be inclined to use Easypay. I see to many errors. I got a "due now" bill for $2500 for anesthesia for a recent eye procedure. The medicare allowable amount is probably $250 at most. The bill actually acknowledges Medicare/correct Medigap company. They probably submitted something wrong. I had a pathology billing error from a colonoscopy last year. They had reversed a P in my Medicare number.

 

[Sojourner]

I'm not aware of any EasyPay "standard" out there. None of my service providers use it.

I wouldn't be inclined to use Easypay. I see to many errors.

+1

Sounds like a system intended solely for the benefit of billing departments and boosting the bottom line of medical service providers. I would go elsewhere (assuming I had a choice) if any of my doctors insisted on something like EasyPay.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I don't think I would want to pay a medical bill until it's been processed by the insurance and I check for errors and overpayments. I have found coding errors in many hospital bills, especially the big ones.

 

[badatmath]

Never heard of this in this context.

 

[MarieIG]

I don't think I would want to pay a medical bill until it's been processed by the insurance and I check for errors and overpayments. I have found coding errors in many hospital bills, especially the big ones.

Exactly, I want my bill submitted to insurance first and have the opportunity to review their response.

 

[Letj]

I don't think I would want to pay a medical bill until it's been processed by the insurance and I check for errors and overpayments. I have found coding errors in many hospital bills, especially the big ones.

Actually the insurance companies advise against doing so. I once paid a hospital bill before the prosecute to take advantage of a discount. That was a mistake because the deductible at the time the hospital generated the bill had already been met by the time they actually billed the insurance company. It’s a nightmare to get your money back.

 

[audreyh1]

I only know about Medicare Easy Pay which is a way of paying premiums by bank draft.

 

[COcheesehead]

Our provider uses it. Personally I didn’t think it was hard to use and never noticed errors, but our experience is limited.

 

[scrabbler1]

Just to make sure, my objection to EasyPay is the provider's insistence of enrolling in it, with the threat, implied or actual, of withholding service if I decline. I do use EasyPay for one of my doctors the last few years because the copay is well known beforehand, and it has never varied in the 7 years I have used that doctor's office and have had the same IC.

Having had to go through considerable trouble just to obtain the option to decline EasyPay, an option I already had but was denied using, was somewhat annoying but well worth the effort.

Thank you to those who posted their EasyPay experiences, good, bad, or not applicable haha.

 

[euro]

Not sure this was actually related to EasyPay but could well have been: DW went for an annual screening procedure the other day. She paid her $25 copay for the visit by credit card. About a week later, she got an e-mail saying "your deductible for this procedure ended up being $149 - we had your credit card info on file, so we went ahead and charged the card for that amount".
DW assured me that she never gave permission to them to save her credit card info, nor to have them charge the remaining amount. In the meantime, the claim had actually been processed and the EOB generated. Turned out that our additional portion was indeed $149, so that part was legit. Nevertheless, I asked DW to contact her provider and make it clear that they did NOT have permission to keep our cc info on file, not to charge unauthorized amounts. They ended up claiming that the info was saved "by mistake" and agreed to delete it from their files. We will see......
No way do I want our info stored in such places - I bet they get hacked frequently.

 

[RetMD21]

...
DW assured me that she never gave permission to them to save her credit card info, nor to have them charge the remaining amount. In the meantime, the claim had actually been processed and the EOB generated. Turned out that our additional portion was indeed $149, so that part was legit. Nevertheless, I asked DW to contact her provider and make it clear that they did NOT have permission to keep our cc info on file, not to charge unauthorized amounts. They ended up claiming that the info was saved "by mistake" and agreed to delete it from their files. We will see......
No way do I want our info stored in such places - I bet they get hacked frequently.

Yeah the "mistake" worked out for them. Generally I like to authorize individual charges and medical bills are IMO the most likely to have errors.

 

[Koolau]

I always try to avoid letting anyone automatically charge my CC unless I'm directly involved at the time. Any screw ups and then YOU have to take the active role. Never fear. If you own THEM money - they'll let you know.

 

[scrabbler1]

I have a follow-up for the 2 medical service providers for which I was able to opt out of EasyPay.

With the radiology clinic, a pair of EOBs came out in May, because I had 2 different procedures done at the same visit. A few weeks ago, the clinic billed me for the amounts shown in the EOBs. I quickly paid them on line at the clinic's website. Would I have been billed those same amounts had I used EasyPay? I don't know, but the total I was billed of these 2 procedures was within a few dollars of the one of them I had by itself last year. Hmmm.....

With the lab, the IC produced a pair of EOBs, one for each script I had filled during my April visit. However, the total of the 2 amounts I have to pay is more than the max copay I usually pay. I already questioned the IC for this, and they agreed and will revise the incorrect EOB. However, because I did not use EasyPay, I don't have to worry about the lab billing my CC for this overstated amount. They might bill me anyway, but I can simply refuse to pay it until the IC revises its EOB. The IC rep even offered to call the lab's billing department right away to head off any incorrect bill. (That's a nice gesture, huh?) Either way, I won't be chasing any refunds, which was the whole point of my effort to opt out of (Un)EasyPay.

 

[scrabbler1]

One more update on the lab.

The IC rep called the lab's billing department and asked them to put a hold on the incorrect claim while they work on revising the EOB. The lab agreed. Then, the IC comes out with a new EOB which states I owe ZERO on all the claims, not even the $50 copay I expected to pay! Nice surprise, huh? I hope the lab followed through with their hold and will not try to bill me anything on either claim.

Had I been in the (un)EasyPay, I'd be chasing a $143 refund now.

 

[RetMD21]

I don't think EasyRefund exists

 

[scrabbler1]

I'm on the verge of getting bit again by EasyPay.

I have another appointment with the radiology clinic I have mentioned in previous posts. After getting an unrelated snag straightened out (the prescribing doctor's office erred in the script), the subject of prepayment via EasyPay arose. I told the radiology clinic rep I don't do EasyPay and there is a note in my file for them not to ask me about it, which is what happened earlier this year.

The rep told me there are no notes like that in my patient file. Furthermore, the office manager I spoke to last April is not with the company any more. The new office manager told me there were some rule changes (huh?) but I can still get a waiver from EasyPay if I jump through some hoops which include getting my insurance company involved. I'm not certain how messy or annoying that would be, as dealing with them by phone usually involved being put on hold for a while and getting transferred at least once. Still, to see all the trouble I went through to smooth out the process back in April now wasted is annoying. ("Even when I win, I lose!")

So, I contacted the patient relations rep (actually a VP of operations) I spoke to before and she told me her office will take care of this and one of her underlings will contact me later today. The appointment is Monday afternoon, so time is of the essence.

At the lab 2 months ago, the tech gave me no grief when I told her I would not do their EasyPay, simply reminding me I'd get a bill later. The EOBs changed a few times, but in the end I wasn't chasing any refunds and everyone was happy.

 

[athena53]

Actually the insurance companies advise against doing so. I once paid a hospital bill [on receipt?] to take advantage of a discount. That was a mistake because the deductible at the time the hospital generated the bill had already been met by the time they actually billed the insurance company. It’s a nightmare to get your money back.

My friend who answers calls from Medicare beneficiaries sees this all the time. I wait until all insurance claims have been submitted and settled before paying whatever my share is, which is usually zero.

The lab I use (Quest) offers something like easy-pay ("we'll charge your card only for what insurance doesn't cover") but fortunately I use RequestaTest and pay in advance. This is for bloodwork done more frequently than Medicare allows so it's out of pocket.

 

[easysurfer]

I shy away from anything that says "easy."

Yeah, right ... .

 

[Koolau]

I shy away from anything that says "easy."

Yeah, right ... .

Yeah, easy for WHOM?

 

[sengsational]

You might consider getting a credit card you can pause or limit. I've been using privacy dot com for that. You mint a new card for the insistent vendor with whatever limits you want (annual, monthly, etc). They run the card and it's valid when you sign-up. Then you pause the card. Later, they try to run the card, it fails, and you get notified. If it's a legit amount, you unpause the card, they usually automatically retry, and they get paid. The down-side of this arrangement is that you need to link a bank account, but you can link a side account where you keep a low balance.

 

[athena53]

You might consider getting a credit card you can pause or limit. I've been using privacy dot com for that.

Interesting idea. (That's why I hang out on discussion boards.) Do they issue a physical card you can present? It doesn't look like it from their site. I wonder if that would be a problem with providers.