NP: Franz Ferdinand, You Could Have It So Much Better

I have been getting these cryptic messages on my answering machine at home for a month or two now. Call this number, reference this file number, we're not trying to sell you something. No indication of whether it was for me or my roommate, no indication of who they are, no nothing. So I figured I'd ignore it, because when someone explicitly tells you they're not selling something, and offers no other specifics, it usually means that they are, in fact, selling something.

Except this time they weren't. It was a collections agency, after me for $46 I owe the Northwestern Memorial Faculty Foundation for an x-ray I got way back in June. This was news to me, because I was never billed $46 for the x-ray I got in June. My doctor has had no problems billing me in the past, and I know with absolute certainty that his office has my current address and insurance information.

Which means I know exactly what happened, and a few phone calls confirmed it. Despte the fact that my doctor works out of Northwestern Memorial Hospital (and yes, I'm dropping names here for Googlebaiting purposes, because this is something that needs attention drawn to it), the fact that he had my current information had no bearing whatsoever on whether or not the folks in radiology had that same information. Which they didn't. They had billed my old insurance company, to no avail, and billed me at a three-year old non-operational address, also to no avail. This wasn't the first time, but the last time I was still at my same address, and my former insurance company was kind enough to send me a notice that a claim had been made and denied because, duh, they weren't my insurance company anymore.

Oddly enough, they had my phone number, but the hospital's billing office apparently didn't find it useful to try calling it. Or checking with people in the same fucking building who might have a clue. So now I've got a small blight on my credit report because these people are incompetent. Suffice it to say, they got an earful this week, and the matter is allegedly being handled. I'll believe it when I see it.

Once again, with feeling. Northwestern Memorial Hospital has serious problems with their billing. If you're considering going there, you may want to think twice. Or maybe staple your insurance card to your forehead, but even then I'm not convinced they won't fuck it up.