- Report: #873264
Complaint Review: HealthWell Foundation - Gaithersburg Maryland
Reported By:
Donna -
Mesa, Arizona, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
HealthWell Foundation
Gaithersburg, 20878 Maryland, United States of America
Phone:
800-675-8416
Web:
www.HealthWellFoundation.org
Categories:
Business Rating:
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HealthWell Foundation Financial Aid for Prescription Costs Gaithersburg, Maryland
Recently I was prescribed Humira for Arthritis. Humira is very expensive and would normally be unaffordable for me, so I requested a Grant for financial aid from HealthWell Foundation. HealthWell Foundation specializes in helping people with limited funds afford their prescription medications. I received a Grant for $2,800 to help me pay for Humira. In December, HealthWell Foundation provided assistance with the cost of my medication for the remainder of 2011. In January, another Grant for the same amount was awarded to help with this year's costs.
When I received confirmation from HealthWell Foundation that I had been awarded another Grant, I ordered my prescription for that month. My Health Insurance company is Aetna and I had to go through their Specialty Pharmacy for this medicine. Aetna always goes through a verification process when a third party is assisting with payment. At that time, HealthWell confirmed that the Grant was available and ready for use. Based on this information, the medication was shipped to me and HealthWell was billed for part of the costs.
In February, someone at Aetna contacted HealthWell to ask why payment had not been made. HealthWell Foundation informed the Aetna representative that they were not paying a dime because they had "regulations" that prohibited them from doing so. They also demanded that Aetna pay a minimum of 50% of the costs for the medication but that is not part of my plan. The insurance is through my employer so I do not have a choice of getting a plan that will cover more of the expense. They do not offer such a plan. When Aetna informed HealthWell that 50% payment was not a part of my plan they were informed that, in that case, HealthWell Foundation would not pay a penny towards the costs.
When Aetna was told that HealthWell would not pay due to "Regulations" they claimed to have, they refused to divulge any information with regard to what these "regulations" were or who authorized them. The next thing I know, I received a bill for nearly the entire cost of the medicine. I do not have the financial means to pay this bill. If I were able to pay I would have never needed to ask for help in the first place. Due to HealthWell Foundation's refusal to honor the grant I was awarded, I now have a grant sitting at Healthwell Foundation that I can never use.
The relief I want in this matter is as follows, I want HealthWell Foundation to honor the grant they awarded me. I also want to see their business license revoked as well as their status as a "not-for-profit" organization and all the perks that go along with that. I would also like to see them barred from doing business in the United States. That includes opening an office outside the country for the purpose of targeting American citizens for their MEDICATION FINANCIAL AID SCAM.
Any help Ripoff Report can provide in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time
When I received confirmation from HealthWell Foundation that I had been awarded another Grant, I ordered my prescription for that month. My Health Insurance company is Aetna and I had to go through their Specialty Pharmacy for this medicine. Aetna always goes through a verification process when a third party is assisting with payment. At that time, HealthWell confirmed that the Grant was available and ready for use. Based on this information, the medication was shipped to me and HealthWell was billed for part of the costs.
In February, someone at Aetna contacted HealthWell to ask why payment had not been made. HealthWell Foundation informed the Aetna representative that they were not paying a dime because they had "regulations" that prohibited them from doing so. They also demanded that Aetna pay a minimum of 50% of the costs for the medication but that is not part of my plan. The insurance is through my employer so I do not have a choice of getting a plan that will cover more of the expense. They do not offer such a plan. When Aetna informed HealthWell that 50% payment was not a part of my plan they were informed that, in that case, HealthWell Foundation would not pay a penny towards the costs.
When Aetna was told that HealthWell would not pay due to "Regulations" they claimed to have, they refused to divulge any information with regard to what these "regulations" were or who authorized them. The next thing I know, I received a bill for nearly the entire cost of the medicine. I do not have the financial means to pay this bill. If I were able to pay I would have never needed to ask for help in the first place. Due to HealthWell Foundation's refusal to honor the grant I was awarded, I now have a grant sitting at Healthwell Foundation that I can never use.
The relief I want in this matter is as follows, I want HealthWell Foundation to honor the grant they awarded me. I also want to see their business license revoked as well as their status as a "not-for-profit" organization and all the perks that go along with that. I would also like to see them barred from doing business in the United States. That includes opening an office outside the country for the purpose of targeting American citizens for their MEDICATION FINANCIAL AID SCAM.
Any help Ripoff Report can provide in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Donna
Mesa,Arizona,
United States of America
Still no relief from Aetna/Healthwell scam
#2Author of original report
Thu, May 03, 2012
I contacted Aetna recently to see what could be done about this alleged outstanding balance that would not have occurred if Aetna had not violated their own policy and shipped the medication without getting the money in hand first. The Aetna representative refused to listen to my side of the story. Instead it was a case of Healthwell Foundation is always right and patients are always wrong.
The very next day, the charge was turned over to a collection agency. I did not even have a chance to try to find some way to pay for it, although I feel that I should not have to because it was Aetna's screw up that caused this situation in the first place, not mine. They also informed me that they are withholding any and all future shipments of Humira despite the fact that I have found alternate funding to take care of the costs. They are, in essence, blackmailing me into paying for their mistake. If I am forced to go off this medication my condition will get much worse. I may even be forced to stop working due to the pain, and no other medication has worked for me.
This should not come as a surprise because Aetna has been trying to force me off this medication ever since my doctor prescribed it. They have thrown up one brick wall after another in an effort to prevent me from obtaining this medicine. Thank God I do not have a life-threatening condition like Cancer or Heart Disease. Given Aetna's lack of compassion for anything other than their financial bottom line, if I had any such condition they would probably still try to blackmail me in the same way even though it is they who screwed up, not me. There is a lot of talk about government "death squads" that were brought out by those who opposed President Obama's healthcare plan. But in reality, it is not the government that has "death squads", it is private for profit insurance companies that allow "bean counters" (aka Accountants), with no medical training whatsoever to make life an death decisions for patients, with or without their doctor's approval, simply by picking and choosing who receives treatment and who does not.
