Ridiculous ways that our health care costs are increased.

In the mail today came a bill via a collections agency. Yes, I was sent to collections by St Vincent Pathology Medical Group which does my lab work about three times a year at St Vincent Hospital in downtown Los Angeles where I had my kidney and pancreas transplant. It's not a big bill. Just $146. The collections agency added on a charge of 20-cents.

Why am I writing this? Because this is the SECOND TIME this year that St. Vincent Pathology Medical Group sends my bills to collections WITHOUT SENDING ME A BILL.

St Vincent Pathology Medical Group does bill my insurance and yes, my insurance pays them the appropriate amount, and then the balance is for me to pay. That is the $146. But St. Vincent Pathology never sent ME a bill. After they settle with my insurance company it seems their next course of action is to send my account to collections.

This same thing happened earlier this year -- NO bill from St Vincent Patholgy but I did get a bill from their collections agency and I PAID IT. No questions on my part. But now it's happened A SECOND TIME.

What's going on St Vincent Pathology Medical Group? You can't send ME a bill? And after my insurance pays you your next course of action is to send my account to collections? I am sure that part of your costs are reflected in the fees you pay your collections agency. Well, here's an idea: send me a bill directly, which I will gladly pay, and save yourself some fees and help hold down the cost of healthcare in America.

The bill from the collections agency arrived today, Saturday, when the office was closed St Vincent Pathology Medical Group, so I will be calling you St. Vincent Pathology Medical Group during your regular office hours this coming week to ask you WHY you can't send me a bill directly? And don't tell me you don't have my address. Every time I go to the hospital to have my blood work my mailing address is verified.

I wonder how much YOU increase the cost of healthcare in this country?

Here is an update.

I called St. Vincent Pathology Medical Group who told me their billing is handled by a company called APS Medical Billing. It turns out that APS Medical Billing did not address my statement properly -- they left off my apartment number from the address and the post office returned my statement as undeliverable. However, the COLLECTIONS AGENCY did have my apartment number. How is it that APS Medical didn't have the apartment number but the Collections Agency did?

APS refused to take my payment over the phone saying the account has been referred to collections.

So I called back St. Vincent Pathology Medical Group and spoke a second time with John Davidson who said he was an "office coordinator" who said the best he could do was write up a report.

In the meantime, I was told by APS that since ten days have elapsed since they turned it over to collections that a negative credit report probably was filed against me with the credit reporting agencies. Remember that I received notification from Collections on Saturday, November 21 and APS turned the account over to collections on November 9 -- so there was NO way for me to avoid my account being reported as negative to the credit reporting agencies.

My next step was to call the Collections Company and I found that the interest charge which was 20-cents on their letter to me dated November 18 had now increased (five days later, today November 23) to 52-cents. I paid it using my debit card with Bank of America and received my payment confirmation number.

Now what? Well, I certainly want a letter of explanation from St. Vincent and APS as to why they didn't have my apartment number but the Collections Company did -- and so does the hospital because that information is noted every time I have blood work there. I also want a correction made with the credit reporting agencies and I want a refund of the interest.

St. Vincent Pathology Medical Group just called me. It seems they haven't updated my mailing address or phone number since I moved about two years ago. Ironically APS Medical Billing had my current address but didn't include my apartment number when they sent me a bill. But CMRE Financial Services -- the collections agency -- was the ONLY one to have everything correct: my address with the apartment number.

St. Vincent Pathology Medical Group says they are sending me a letter of correction and apology with a refund check for the interest and they say they are notifying the credit reporting companies about their error. I told them I wanted their letter so I can send it myself to the credit reporting companies. They said everything will be mailed tomorrow.

Don't hold your breath on everything working out fine with the credit reporting agencies.

It's the medical industry, what else would you expect? We've seen this happen too, only I don't waste time past the 1st phone call. Like yours, ours was unable to go back to the provider so I could pay them, so I didn't pay anyone since I'd never give a dime to any collection agency. There's total incompetence across the entire healthcare industry these days, whether thru faults of the providers or created by the corrupt confusion that Obamacare started.