Complaint Review: Clinton Memorial Hospital/PESSO - Internet Internet

In December of 2008, I was in the emergency room at Clinton Memorial for kidney stones.  I told the intake receptionist that I had NO money, and she gave me a form to fill out.  It stated that I would only be charged for radiology or lab fees, if applicable, since my income at the time was well below the poverty level.  I spoke to a doctor for a few moments, he did a urine test and had X-rays taken.  He then told me he thought he saw a small stone on the film, and gave me two prescription slips for pain killers.  Two weeks later, I got a bill for sixty dollars for the radiology/lab fees, as per the statement I had signed.  I paid it, and I thought that was that.

A few months later, I would estimate late January or early February, I was back again, this time with severe infections in my sinus cavity and the beginnings of an upper respiratory infection.  Again, I signed the same paper, again it said I would only pay radiology and lab fees.  Since the doctor only looked at me for a moment, and could visually diagnose my symptoms, he signed a prescription slip for a powerful antibiotic and I was on my way.

And then, toward the end of April, I am awakened by my phone ringing.  I answer, and there is some man telling me he is from a collection agency and I owe him a severely overdue amount of $150.00.  I was tired, so I asked him to repeat that.  He did, and when I asked exactly who he worked for, he said PESSO.  I had no idea who or what a PESSO was-- neither did he.  He told me to do a web search and figure it out.  That really pissed me off-- he wakes me up, demanding money, and can't even tell me who or why.  So I hung up, and went back to sleep for my remaining few hours.  Well rested, I then did a Google search for this PESSO, and here's what I turned up:

"The Professional Emergency Specialists of Southern Ohio, Inc. (PESSO) represents the emergency medicine physician group or urgent care physician group that staffs the emergency department at Clinton Memorial Hospital or Dayton Heart Hospital and the urgent care physician group who staffs the department at After Hours or Fayette Business Health Services. The physician group is independent of the hospital or urgent care and bill independently for physician services in each department. "

Apparently, our hospitals are staffed by some private contracting service of doctor's-- funny how that information was NEVER disclosed on the financial paper I signed.  Once I found this out, I contacted PESSO and spoke to a very rude woman there.  I informed her I was below poverty level, I had no way to pay the $150.00, I had never been given any documentation of a bill at the hospital OR by mail, yet I was being harassed by debt collectors at seven in the morning.  She informed me that they had no payment plans or exclusions for the poor, and that I had been sent four bills already, and proceeded to quote my correct address from their 'file'-- funny, you'd think I'd have noticed four envelopes in my mail box.  She then told me that I had a second bill I owed on, another $250.00 from my sinus infection visit, and that it too was well past the due date and had been fed to collections.  I was irate at this point, and demanded to know how the -bleep- I was supposed to pay $400.00 to a company I had never heard of, when I had no money, and had not received a single written bill.  Not.  One.  She told me the mix ups of the USPS were not her concern, and that I would pay the sum in full.  I told her I would not, and hung up.

It is my opinion that these so-called networks are a scam, and that a.) the hospital should inform their patients of such subcontracting and separate bills, b.) the network obviously never sent me a bill, or that their mailing department is lacking if EIGHT separate notices never arrived in my mailbox, and c.) I believe that they send their bills to collections right away and don't even bother mailing statements because they KNOW they're a scam and people won't pay.

As of the writing of this, I am unemployed and I have received ONE written statement from PESSO that lists a $250.00 charge on it.  I threw it away.  If they don't want to take $5.00 a month, which is actually MORE than I can afford, then they get nothing.