Penn Medicine CEO: Ralph W. Muller They deceived me by changing the cost of my copay to $295.00 after I had already paid the $250.00 I was asked to pay. Philadelphia Pennsylvania
On June 14, 2019 I had an outpatient procedure at Penn Medicine at their Valley Forge location. The receptionist told me that my copay for that procedure was $250.00. I paid with my credit card and received a printed receipt just prior to having the procedure. On July 15, 2019 I received a bill in the mail from Penn Medicine claiming that I owed $45.00.
The bill was printed on a single piece of paper but with printing on both sides. The front side simply said that I owed $45.00. I had no idea what that charge was for. So, I called the Penn Medicine Customer Service number (1-800-406-1177) at 11:00 AM on July 16, 2019 and spoke to the service representative who answered the phone.
She asked me for my account number, date of birth, etc. to confirm my identity. After providing those, I asked her for the date of service for the bill in question and she told me to turn over the bill and look at the top of the back page. Listed there were services which I received at Penn Valley Forge on June 14, 2019. Also listed were Charges, Payments and Adjustments with a "balance due of $45.00.”
That summary of figures did not list the fact that I had already paid a co-pay of $250.00 on the day of services. The service rep told me that she could see from her online screen of my account that I had already paid a $250.00 copay—but that the actual cost of the copay was $295.00! That was news to me, and that announcement was not included in the summary on bill’s back page.
In response, I said if that is true, how come the person at Penn Valley Forge didn’t ask me for $295.00 when I went in for the procedure? She couldn’t answer. I told her I thought Penn Medicine was engaged in some sort of deceit, if not actual fraud, in the way they send out bills in the mail to senior citizens after receiving copays on the day of service.
I also told her that this was not the first time I received questionable bills from Penn Medicine. Finally, I told her I intended to file a complaint against Penn Medicine in the hope of protecting myself and others from being ripped off in the future by deceitful Penn Medicine billing tactics.