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chiro – scam ?

(2 discussions)

I was in a car accident February 23 where a car rear-ended us and it was agreed that it is the other party’s fault. I then started my chiro sessions on the 25th. Upon my visit, my chiropractor told me up front I have to pay now, because the insurancewill usually take months to pay him, and that he will reimburse me after he receives payment from the car insurance. I told him, I don’t have that much money to pay upfront, so he introduced me to his care packages. I pay a flat monthly fee of 200$ to get unlimited visits to him. As it tuns out, the other party’s insurance do not deal with chiropractors directly, and advised that I pay upfront and they will reimburse me along with the settlement. Once I was notifed of this, I informed my chiropractor. He then asked for my car insurance information to check if I have medpay. My treatment will be ending this month. Before my release, my chiropractor wants me to sign a piece of paper that states I am responsible for all charges that haev incurred. I did not sign the paper, because I told him I haven’t seen the bills that I am supposedly responsible for. It was then revealed that he was billing my car insurance. I requested that I get copies of the bills. I received them yesterday. For 12 visits, the total ran up to $3850. This was just adjustments, no x-rays. He immediately explained that these were additional costs that he is biling the insurance, and that I won’t have to pay for it if my car insurance does not cover. He said by law, I would have to pay, but because of prior verbal argreement, I am only paying for the flat monthly fee. And he later referred to my flat monthly payments as “covisit fees.” Firstly, I want to ask, is this legitimate? Or is it a scandal? Can he tell me it’s a flat fee care package paid monthly, and then turn around and bill my insurance, saying I have only paid for the covisits?Secondly, this is cutting me short of the settlement. Because every penny my car insurance pays out, I will have to pay them back once I get the settlement. How should I approach this matter? Tell my adjuster exactly whats going on? Or tell the chiropractor he is committing an unethical business scandal? Thanks.


2 comments

    Avatar

    9 10

    Email me and I will tell you what I think and how to handle this.

    doc4bax

    9 10

    Although I can see the reasoning for the doctors attitude towards payment, there is a lot going on here. If you agreed to the monthly fee and paid the fee it is fraudulent for the doctor to bill the insurance. His fees are obviously inflated and it looks like he is doing a dual fee schedule which is illegal. Meaning he is infalting his prices and picking and choosing what he wants to charge based on reimbursement (auto cases typically pay in full). I smell scam. Check your email, I dicussed how to handle this.

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