This has been a hard week for both Sandi and I both physically and mentally. The bills keep piling up, the calls about them keep coming, and we both feel pretty bad. Sandi's ongoing feet issue has been really bugging her and the warmer weather certainly is not helping her ongoing breathing problems. Next month marks a year since she went on oxygen equipment 24/7. What little hope we had that it would be temporary seems to have been nothing more than wishful thinking.
You have not seen much from me these last few days and what little you have seen has been accomplished by my lying stretched out on the floor on my stomach trying to type and click to do whatever. The ongoing back and leg deal has been insane this week. Tomorrow Sandi has a long day infusion deal and how I am going to make it through sitting in their institutional chairs I have no idea.
Despite how bad the week has been and more, one thing happened that is simply wonderful. The good folks of Tapir and Friends Animal Store for whom I do a little freelance writing for as I can have created a page devoted to some of Sandi's creatures. Through the site they have offered them for sale with the monies made going to help Sandi pay for cancer treatment. They have Sandi's stuff in their warehouse and can ship quickly as well as market her items which takes a burden off of us that is increasingly difficult to accomplish.
Sandi's page is here and I hope you will check it out as well as the other things on the site.
Showing posts with label collection agencies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label collection agencies. Show all posts
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Doctor Stuff And More
I have a far lower patience threshold for stupidity lately than normal which is why I recently have left a number of yahoo groups. Those who see my posts on social media know that I popped a fuse earlier today. NELNET is one of Sandi's student loan providers and has provided grossly incompetent service since they got a hold of a couple of her loans a few years back. It got so bad over a year or so ago that we filed formal complaints with both the US Justice Department as well as the Department of Education regarding their incompetence and bullying behavior.
Ultimately, a Vice President at NELNET was contacted by the government and fixed the problem while blaming us repeatedly in a letter that was supposed to be an apology. One of those "I'm sorry that you were inconvenienced at this difficult time" type letters instead of a true apology. I had to write two more letters explaining the full reality of the situation they alone caused while also providing written documentation of their incompetence using their own letters to prove to her that what she was being told internally was lies, all lies, and damn lies.
Kick it forward to last month. We discover to our horror that, somehow, NELNET has been awarded the contract to handle all TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABILITY APPLICATIONS on behalf of the Department of Education. Instead of sending your fully completed application to the Department of Education, you have to send it to a post office box handled by NELNET. They review the application and then forward it on to the DOE whether you are a veteran, civilian, or whatever. They handle all of them and you have no choice, but to go through them.
So, Sandi fills out the application on December 9 and we take it in to the doctor at Texas Oncology at Medical City Dallas Hospital. He has some things going on, so he does it on December 13th. We get it back and mail it in at that time. I double checked it first to make sure it was fully complete and photocopy it and the cover letter that is going with it.
Today we get two letters of denial from NELNET. Both letters cite reasons that are wrong. Not just wrong, but so wrong you wonder if a monkey could do a better job.
The first letter which is dated December 31, 2013 and meter postmarked January 6, which we received today, January 16, 2014 says the application has expired. Therefore, because the application has expired we need to do a new one.
WRONG!
You have sixty days from the date of the application to submit it. Sandi filled it out and signed it on December 9. It had not been even thirty days when they rejected it--according to their letter dated December 31, 2013.
Then things got even stupider.
The second denial letter received today which is dated January 3, 2014 and meter postmarked January 6 says the application --THE EXACT SAME APPLICATION---was rejected for two reasons. 1)Her birth date is missing and 2) the doctor failed to complete section one.
Wrong and WRONG!
There is no place on the application for a birth date. Prevalently the new ones as of this year require that information but the one we have that they sent us last year does not have a section requesting a birth date.
The doctor certainly did fill out section one. You can clearly see he marked the "yes" box which indicates her illness will lead to death and that box is marked right above where he wrote "terminal" in the diagnosis line along with the specific multi word name of her damn cancer.
So, in both letters we got today, everything they said was wrong is actually correct and meanwhile they have blocked her from having her application processed because they flat out screwed up. Unfortunately, Sandi saw the letters before I got them out of the mail and became highly agitated and very upset about them as well as a collection letter from an outfit doing business as SYNERPRISE CONSULTING with offices up in Kansas and here in Plano. Their letter was on a debt with Excel Anesthesia who was paid two months ago after I contacted the feds and the state to complain about their billing practices and errors which had led to issues with Aetna. After spending months writing letters to both outfits and getting the runaround from both and lots of finger pointing from folks who could not sign their name, I copied everything and sent to the Feds and State folks. That got the ball rolling in both places and finally, because I screamed blood murder, they got paid. Absolutely no debt at all is owed to Excel Anesthesia and has not been owed for over two months. Plenty of time for them to fix it in their system and yet today we got this too.
That just got her even more upset. Needless to say that is NOT helpful to her at all. Part of the rage is steroids based and part of it is what the cancer has done to her on top of everything else. Normally these things come, I figure out how we should handle them, and then talk to her about it. I have a chance to prepare her for what has come and can tell her how I will make it right. But, this time that didn't happen and she became very upset.
With the student loan nonsense I hand wrote notes on their letters pointing out their mistakes, copied everything, shoved it all in one envelope and sent it back. No point in writing a cover letter because that could confuse them. Circle the error, note the correct information on the form, and send it all back in one envelope after making copies.
With Synerprise Consulting, I told them to cease and desist immediately with their collection activity. I provided them the copies of the governmental complaint letters, the dates their client was paid, and told them to get back with their client, Excel Anesthesia, and clear her name before we escalated things federally. They should know I won't hesitate to report them for their collection activities--done it before and they had to deal with the consequences of that.
Not only was this stuff I didn't need today, Sandi really didn't need it. The last few days have been very difficult as she is having massive mood swings much worse than the normal ones. She has also had some increased trouble breathing. Whether that is because of the record mountain cedar pollen counts we have been experiencing daily (she is highly allergic to mountain cedar) or something else is going on, I don't know. She desperately needs a PET SCAN and so far insurance has refused to pay for it here as they want her to have it down at Mayo in Jacksonvill as part of her followup care. That is impossible as she remains oxygen dependent and the airlines and those in charge will not let her fly.
She is also massively swollen in her feet and lower legs. Swelling has been an issue all along but the last few days has been more pronounced than normal. Whether they will try again to combat this with a multi hour IV drip tomorrow morning I don't know. We have an appointment early in the morning after we get Scott to UTD and it could be a very long day.
And the fight goes on and on and on....
Ultimately, a Vice President at NELNET was contacted by the government and fixed the problem while blaming us repeatedly in a letter that was supposed to be an apology. One of those "I'm sorry that you were inconvenienced at this difficult time" type letters instead of a true apology. I had to write two more letters explaining the full reality of the situation they alone caused while also providing written documentation of their incompetence using their own letters to prove to her that what she was being told internally was lies, all lies, and damn lies.
Kick it forward to last month. We discover to our horror that, somehow, NELNET has been awarded the contract to handle all TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABILITY APPLICATIONS on behalf of the Department of Education. Instead of sending your fully completed application to the Department of Education, you have to send it to a post office box handled by NELNET. They review the application and then forward it on to the DOE whether you are a veteran, civilian, or whatever. They handle all of them and you have no choice, but to go through them.
So, Sandi fills out the application on December 9 and we take it in to the doctor at Texas Oncology at Medical City Dallas Hospital. He has some things going on, so he does it on December 13th. We get it back and mail it in at that time. I double checked it first to make sure it was fully complete and photocopy it and the cover letter that is going with it.
Today we get two letters of denial from NELNET. Both letters cite reasons that are wrong. Not just wrong, but so wrong you wonder if a monkey could do a better job.
The first letter which is dated December 31, 2013 and meter postmarked January 6, which we received today, January 16, 2014 says the application has expired. Therefore, because the application has expired we need to do a new one.
WRONG!
You have sixty days from the date of the application to submit it. Sandi filled it out and signed it on December 9. It had not been even thirty days when they rejected it--according to their letter dated December 31, 2013.
Then things got even stupider.
The second denial letter received today which is dated January 3, 2014 and meter postmarked January 6 says the application --THE EXACT SAME APPLICATION---was rejected for two reasons. 1)Her birth date is missing and 2) the doctor failed to complete section one.
Wrong and WRONG!
There is no place on the application for a birth date. Prevalently the new ones as of this year require that information but the one we have that they sent us last year does not have a section requesting a birth date.
The doctor certainly did fill out section one. You can clearly see he marked the "yes" box which indicates her illness will lead to death and that box is marked right above where he wrote "terminal" in the diagnosis line along with the specific multi word name of her damn cancer.
So, in both letters we got today, everything they said was wrong is actually correct and meanwhile they have blocked her from having her application processed because they flat out screwed up. Unfortunately, Sandi saw the letters before I got them out of the mail and became highly agitated and very upset about them as well as a collection letter from an outfit doing business as SYNERPRISE CONSULTING with offices up in Kansas and here in Plano. Their letter was on a debt with Excel Anesthesia who was paid two months ago after I contacted the feds and the state to complain about their billing practices and errors which had led to issues with Aetna. After spending months writing letters to both outfits and getting the runaround from both and lots of finger pointing from folks who could not sign their name, I copied everything and sent to the Feds and State folks. That got the ball rolling in both places and finally, because I screamed blood murder, they got paid. Absolutely no debt at all is owed to Excel Anesthesia and has not been owed for over two months. Plenty of time for them to fix it in their system and yet today we got this too.
That just got her even more upset. Needless to say that is NOT helpful to her at all. Part of the rage is steroids based and part of it is what the cancer has done to her on top of everything else. Normally these things come, I figure out how we should handle them, and then talk to her about it. I have a chance to prepare her for what has come and can tell her how I will make it right. But, this time that didn't happen and she became very upset.
With the student loan nonsense I hand wrote notes on their letters pointing out their mistakes, copied everything, shoved it all in one envelope and sent it back. No point in writing a cover letter because that could confuse them. Circle the error, note the correct information on the form, and send it all back in one envelope after making copies.
With Synerprise Consulting, I told them to cease and desist immediately with their collection activity. I provided them the copies of the governmental complaint letters, the dates their client was paid, and told them to get back with their client, Excel Anesthesia, and clear her name before we escalated things federally. They should know I won't hesitate to report them for their collection activities--done it before and they had to deal with the consequences of that.
Not only was this stuff I didn't need today, Sandi really didn't need it. The last few days have been very difficult as she is having massive mood swings much worse than the normal ones. She has also had some increased trouble breathing. Whether that is because of the record mountain cedar pollen counts we have been experiencing daily (she is highly allergic to mountain cedar) or something else is going on, I don't know. She desperately needs a PET SCAN and so far insurance has refused to pay for it here as they want her to have it down at Mayo in Jacksonvill as part of her followup care. That is impossible as she remains oxygen dependent and the airlines and those in charge will not let her fly.
She is also massively swollen in her feet and lower legs. Swelling has been an issue all along but the last few days has been more pronounced than normal. Whether they will try again to combat this with a multi hour IV drip tomorrow morning I don't know. We have an appointment early in the morning after we get Scott to UTD and it could be a very long day.
And the fight goes on and on and on....
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Update
Sandi is doing about the same in all aspects. Late this afternoon new oxygen tanks arrived that should last
longer---- we hope. We know the cylinder on the right, which is the biggest she has had to this point, lasts about an hour and a half on her rate of 5 liters of air per minute. Hopefully the new bigger cylinder on the left lasts longer as just getting to the hospital and the doctor's office takes about 45 minutes one way.
By the way--the caution tape you see tied to Sandi's rocker behind the table is because they are in the process of fixing a hole at the base of the wall between our porch and next door. After leaking for over a year the porch was collapsing in that area due to wood rot so they have been working on it this week.
Sandi has been on steroids about two weeks now. Whether that is why she suddenly has started growing hair or not we have no idea, but earlier today we discovered she has hair growing on the sides of her head. She still has nothing on the top of her head, but it is definitely coming in on the sides and especially on the back of her head. It is coming in jet black and is very short at this point. Sandi was thrilled to see the hair start coming back as there was strong possibility that it wouldn't come back again.
Early this morning we got a call from the doctor's office and they want her down there Friday morning for a little blood work. They need to check her cumindin levels going into the weekend to make sure the dosage is right as everything has been jiggled this way and that with the recent hospital stay and everything else. We are still on schedule for Monday regarding major blood work and a doctor's visit.
I spent a large part of today working on letters to collection agencies thanks to Medical City Hospital Dallas and Texas Radiology ignoring the installment agreements we have with them and filing claims. In the case of Texas Radiology they told the collection agency Sandi owes over a grand in unpaid claims. Interestingly enough, they have only billed us for slightly more than $20 bucks and that was back the first week of June. How the alleged balance got to be over a grand with no other bills coming our way I have no idea.
I also don't know why, when they know about our situation and have the full details on it, anyone anywhere who has two brain cells to rub together thinks that reporting us to a collection agency is going to do anything at all to create money for them. Our credit is shot and we don't care. It does not matter. It is not like we are going to buy a house, apply for credit, etc. We don't have money to pay what matters--the rent, utilities, Sandi's insurance, her drugs that are not covered, etc. Reporting us to a collection agency is a waste of time and does nothing to magically create money for us to pay bills with or do anything. In the case of both the hospital and Texas Radiology as well as a couple of other medical providers that have done this, all the billing stuff is handled far away in Delaware, Ohio, and elsewhere. So, the local folks who start things can't or won't do anything to assist or fix the problems their external billing staff create.
I did manage to work on a couple of reviews today as this blog is becoming way to much medical news all the time. One of those reviews appears tomorrow......
By the way--the caution tape you see tied to Sandi's rocker behind the table is because they are in the process of fixing a hole at the base of the wall between our porch and next door. After leaking for over a year the porch was collapsing in that area due to wood rot so they have been working on it this week.
Sandi has been on steroids about two weeks now. Whether that is why she suddenly has started growing hair or not we have no idea, but earlier today we discovered she has hair growing on the sides of her head. She still has nothing on the top of her head, but it is definitely coming in on the sides and especially on the back of her head. It is coming in jet black and is very short at this point. Sandi was thrilled to see the hair start coming back as there was strong possibility that it wouldn't come back again.
Early this morning we got a call from the doctor's office and they want her down there Friday morning for a little blood work. They need to check her cumindin levels going into the weekend to make sure the dosage is right as everything has been jiggled this way and that with the recent hospital stay and everything else. We are still on schedule for Monday regarding major blood work and a doctor's visit.
I spent a large part of today working on letters to collection agencies thanks to Medical City Hospital Dallas and Texas Radiology ignoring the installment agreements we have with them and filing claims. In the case of Texas Radiology they told the collection agency Sandi owes over a grand in unpaid claims. Interestingly enough, they have only billed us for slightly more than $20 bucks and that was back the first week of June. How the alleged balance got to be over a grand with no other bills coming our way I have no idea.
I also don't know why, when they know about our situation and have the full details on it, anyone anywhere who has two brain cells to rub together thinks that reporting us to a collection agency is going to do anything at all to create money for them. Our credit is shot and we don't care. It does not matter. It is not like we are going to buy a house, apply for credit, etc. We don't have money to pay what matters--the rent, utilities, Sandi's insurance, her drugs that are not covered, etc. Reporting us to a collection agency is a waste of time and does nothing to magically create money for us to pay bills with or do anything. In the case of both the hospital and Texas Radiology as well as a couple of other medical providers that have done this, all the billing stuff is handled far away in Delaware, Ohio, and elsewhere. So, the local folks who start things can't or won't do anything to assist or fix the problems their external billing staff create.
I did manage to work on a couple of reviews today as this blog is becoming way to much medical news all the time. One of those reviews appears tomorrow......
Sunday, March 03, 2013
Hope It Is True
As I spend a beautiful Sunday wasting my time and my life by writing more appeal letters to Sandi's insurance company, cease and desist letters to collection agencies, and update yet again the paperwork for our food stamps that we have yet to receive, I truly hope the below is true. If not, I may be able to appear on a future episode of "Hoarders."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
