ComplaintsforIowa Family Chiropractic

• Initial Complaint

  09/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In June we realized this chiropractor withdrew $105 from our checking account. It occurred again in July and another $105 was taken out. We have never been to any of their offices. Our bank said someone used my debit card. I cancelled that card on July 12th. They emailed us in July and said it was an error on their part. To date we have not been reimbursed $210. The last email on August 30th they said they credited our old debit card and I told them many times that card was cancelled. We have been dealing with this for over 3 months and they will not reimburse us. We have told them they need to send us a check.

  Business response

  09/17/2023

  We have apologized to the client, and again we are very sorry for the mistake.

  Merchant services sent us the following, telling us that the bank refunded the client, and that we were not to issue a refund directly. 

• Initial Complaint

  07/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  I was being seen by Iowa Family Chiropractic 4/15/22 to 5/25/22. I was concerned about how much I was paying to the practice after insurance and the extra paperwork I had to fill out to get insurance to cover it so I stopped their services. I made sure I paid my bill in full and received a ledger at that time showing I had it paid in full. One year later, I received a bill stating that I owe $105 and it was from collections. I emailed them asking what it was for as I made sure to be paid in full when I left. They initially said it was what was due after I was refunded. I asked for a new ledger with the new balance. Upon comparing it to the claims that were sent in, 3 dates for services were not sent into insurance (April 15, 18, and 20, 2022). I emailed Iowa Family Chiropractic telling them that they need to file those claims before I pay them. They stated insurance did not cover the first appointment, but nothing was said about the other two appointments. I contacted my insurance and verified if claims were sent in on those dates. They said no they were not. I emailed Iowa Family Chiropractic again stating they need to send in those claims to my insurance. I still have not seen a claim go through yet. IFC puts you on a payment plan anticipating insurance will not cover the cost, but what they don't tell you is that they are not sending claims into insurance at all.

  Business response

  07/24/2023

  The patient in question was required by their insurance company to fill out additional forms. A third party (Optum) which is a governing body of United Heathcare, is the ultimate decider of what visits/how many visits are covered. It is required to fill out this paperwork within 10 days of the first covered visit, and we did not receive the paperwork back from the patient in time to cover the first two appointments - they were billed and denied by the patient's insurance company. The patient's visits were billed to and covered by insurance beginning 4/19/22. Two dates of service were not covered by their insurance, but we did not receive the *** (explanation of benefits) until after their care was discontinued. All claims were billed and ***s received. 

  We will not be attaching ***s since to our knowledge it is outside of HIPAA for the BBB to access this information, but the patient is welcome to call us to get this information or call their insurance company. 

  Also, please note that you contacted the wrong clinic. This is the ********** clinic, which is a separate entity than the ****** clinic where the patient was under care. 

  Customer response

  07/25/2023

   
  Complaint: 20352773
  
  I am rejecting this response because the story as to why I have been given this bill continues to change every time I ask for a reason for the bill as well as the other statements given are false.  First, I was told the amount owed was missed after I paid the original ledger.  Receiving EOB after the end of care still does not explain why I received a bill one year later.  Then, it was stated only the first appointment was denied with no explanation as to why.  NOW you are stating the first two appointments were denied due to paperwork being filled out late.  This is incorrect as I filled out all of the extra paperwork in the office and gave it to the receptionist every time.  Another note on that, you have now stated my insurance denied the first two appointments, but that still does not give a reason for the third appointment (4/20/22).  Lastly, I have contacted my insurance and they have zero claims in for those 3 dates so they cannot deny anything that has not been given to them.  There is no way you have an EOB for those dates as one does not exist.  I have asked in several emails to the ****** office for information about why I received this bill and you continue to not provide me any proof that I owe this amount.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  08/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I visited Iowa Family Chiropractic on 05/26/2022 for service, they took my Insurance details, and on 05/27/2022 on my second visit they discussed my payment plan and how long will I be needing the care. They provided me with a three-month service plan for $94 per month for three months. I started visiting them for my treatment and I paid my first $40 initial payment on 05/26/2022. I was told to pay the first $94 on 06/02/2022 and I was told that would take care of the services for that month and my account was all PAID. I then continued my treatment and then on 07/05/2022 I was asked again to make a payment for $391 for services to which I asked how could it be that much when I was being told that I was all paid up last time to the receptionist (********), after checking she accepted that the Clinics database was wrong and I only owed the second installment of $94 and then I made the payment and was again told the account balance is all PAID up until then. Then on 07/14/2022, I am being told that I have an outstanding balance of more than $600 or something. I asked why this amount was so high to which I was told that my Insurance has not been paying the clinic since my initial visit on 05/26/2022. They told me that their management failed to notice this until two weeks prior to 07/14/2022 during which I made a payment for $94. I called my insurance and made them aware of the situation, and they assured me that they would have not provided the wrong information to the clinic if they ever reached out to them for my benefits confirmation. I was also told by my insurance that the clinic should have been able to see that they were not getting paid by insurance and also be able to see that the amount they keep charging was going towards my deductible and also could see that the customer would be responsible to pay those amount. This is a fraud that they intended to keep me in dark and made me attend the services while completely knowing the payment situation.

  Business response

  08/03/2022

  We apologize for the mistake that BCBS made. We have a reference number for the instance in which they misinformed us with benefits. This unfortunately does happen, not often, but occasionally. We are unable to catch the mistake for 4-8 weeks (post-covid, insurance companies take much longer to send an EOB with payment details) and therefore could not inform the patient immediately. For instance, right now (8/3/22), they have not sent an EOB for dates of service 6/8/22 to current. 

  We were notified on 7/5/22 and had a conversation with the patient on 7/7/22, per our detailed notes. He was told that his insurance was not covering as they had stated to us on the phone, and that he should call them to find out why. On 7/14/22 he came in, upset, likely because he had received the same information we just did - that his care was going toward a deductible.

  Since we knew this was a shock to the patient, we offered a payment plan so he could pay off the balance over time rather than immediately. He was given these options on 7/18/22 but has yet to respond regarding them. 

  It is always our intention to provide accurate payment information up front, but when we are at the mercy of third party insurance, we cannot guarantee benefits. All patients are given a document explaining this, which the patient signed before beginning care with us. Each patient is responsible for knowing their own insurance information, as it is a contract between the member and the insurance company. 

   

   

  Customer response

  08/12/2022

   
  Complaint: 17660010
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  i would like to be sent that reference number where the clinic claims that ***************** provided wrong information. I would like to verify with insurance as they have repeatedly provided my with claim that they didn't.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  08/15/2022

  Reference LVI3689958

  The person working for wellmark specified that DEDUCTIBLE DOES NOT APPLY, COPAY WAIVED, 20% COINSURANCE for chiropractic care.

  Please see the attached patient policy - under "financial policy" items 7, 8, 9

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩