We might not be the first to uncover a healthcare irregularity, but it is the first we have become aware of it. My wife and I have recently become more vigilant in reviewing our medical statements, and especially what has and has not been paid by insurance or Medicare.
In two recent statements, my Medicare account showed payments for service provided by a doctor in Vero Beach, FL, which is a lengthy drive from Lighthouse Point, and a couple of months later my wife noted that her Medicare account was charged for seeing a doctor in Utah, a state neither of us has ever visited.
Why should we care? At some point, Medicare may resist further payments because of the extensive amounts we seem to be spending on doctor and hospital visits. After a few years, this could have a very adverse effect on our attempts to have Medicare absorb those expenses.
Another area that has come to the top of our attention span is the ongoing effort on the part of politicians, or their staffs, to continue to collect donations even though their race was lost and their candidacy finished. Some are supported by arguments such as that these donations are needed to pay for “recounts,” even though the ballots were cast overwhelming in favor of the other candidate.
One final note on a similar situation bearing on the medical industry. My wife recently had an ankle injury that required surgeries and subsequent in-home care. We selected a service recommended by a doctor and began in-home treatments. Shortly thereafter, my wife began receiving calls presumably from “call centers” who had her personal cell phone number as well as our home address. At first, she would receive five or so calls a day to where she now receives upward of twelve calls each day asking if the caller can provide service for the types of injuries she is being treated for in home. Somewhere in that chain, her personal information has been tapped or intentionally provided to these irksome centers.
This is not an isolated situation. I receive treatment for spinal pain and, again, after undergoing these treatments, for several days thereafter I receive solicitations from call centers to provide pain relief from another care center or provider. These cannot be coincidences because they are induced in some fashion because of the treatments we have scheduled and pay for directly or through insurance. The call centers have a pipeline to this information and know exactly when to apply the telephone pressure.
The lesson to us is to carefully review all statements, whether they are for direct payments or through Medicare or other insurance. In this day and age, being vigilant will pay great dividends.