bay dermatology unethical and deceptive billing practice palm harbor Florida
My husband is covered by WellCare Medicare Advantage insurance of which Bay Dermotology is a specialist provider.
My husband consulted with a Bay dermatology doctor in a office visit. At this visit he was advised to come back in a couple of weeks for Blu-Light treatment for some growths on his face. He paid a $30 co payment on this visit.
Bay dermatology was asked before treatment to verify the co payment for blu-light treatment with WellCare.
Bay Dermatology said $30 was the co pay and there would be no other charges. We also verified this with our insurance evidence of coverage book.
When my husband went back for his treatment he asked the office clerk before treatment to again verifie that there were no hidden fees. WellCare supposedly forbids balance billing. He was assured that that had proper authorization and $30 co pay for the treatment visit on top of the original office visit was the the total co payment owed. He payed his $30 again for his co pay and had the Blu-Light treatment.
A couple of weeks later we receive a bill for another $58.56.
It seems that they split the treatment code into two parts in order to bill both us and the insurance for more money than was originally agreed on. They up-coded the treatment code in order to extract more money.
This in my opinion is a totally unethical ploy to gain more money for what is a single simple procedure from both us and the insurance company.