Read on Twitter
So i had a nightmare experience with New York City Health and Hospitals that I have to share as a warning... in January i went to a new doctor at Bellvue, recommended to me because he was experienced in LGBTQ health...
I just needed to refill my PrEP prescription, which has been encouraged by the city as a way to prevent the contraction of HIV among high risk populations. The visit itself was fine, and the medical staff was great. The trouble came when the bill arrived...
For the visit, which was entirely preventive care that had been covered by my insurance for years, i had been sent 3 seperate bills for thousands of dollars. When i examined the bill, i had been charged for two different types of doctors visits, one of which id never seen before.
I thought it had to be an error, so i called billing. They were entirely unhelpful, and eventually i had to contact the patient advocates at the hospital. It tooks months to even get someone from that department on the phone, and when i did, they simply sent me back to billing.
Despite repeatedly explaining that i was disputing the validity of one of the charges on the bill, no single department was able to assist me in actually filing and looking into the dispute, they simply shifted me from dept to dept, until 8 months later sending it to collections.
I am paying the bill because i dont want it to impact my credit, and luckily, i can afford it, but i fear for anyone who’s going to the public hospitals and isnt able to pay. It could saddle them with incorrect bills with no method of recourse.
As for LGBTQ health in the city, the experience was extremely concerning. The public hospitals are the primary way low income ppl get healthcare. How is the implementation of the city’s HIV prevention program going to be equitable when the system is full with red tape and errors.
Another disturbing aspect I forgot to note about this story was that Bellevue gave me less than 30 days after sending me their appeals decision letter to pay before sending to collections. Their letter was postmarked on August 5th, and the collections letter was sent Aug 14th.
According to the collector, it was sent to them 2 days before Bellevue even sent my appeals determination.
