# Everyone wants money



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

A few weeks ago we get a bill from IRS for not paying taxes on 2 forms we never got. One was for 38,000$ which was a lump sum of retirement. The other was for $8000 for hubby's disability.
My husband always has extra money taking out before receiving any check including social security. So much that he always get a substantial refund.

Turns out that the taxes were paid in advance on the $38,000 , in advance and more than what was needed. So that's a non issue and they should have never made like we got away with something. The 1099 was not received, not declared, but had more than required taxes paid on it in advance.

The disability checks were sent without taxes paid, and we did not get the "1099" on it. My hubby was really sick, in and out of the hospital, and we never noticed. So we owed taxes on that. But they hit us with 2 years of interest, and a penalty of $500 for not filing for a substantial amount . The amount was $8000 in disability, but they made it look like it was $38,000 more , which did have more than necessary taxes paid on it , but wasn't filed. 

So hubby owes them $ 3200 . We paid it but I'm challenging it. It's just not a fair penalty . Our past filings show our habit of paying more than necessary taxes on income in advance and making sure there are no mistakes by using Turbo tax. That should be considered as well in this penalty. I'm just angry.
****************

In 2015, I stayed in the hospital for a day for chest pain. The way our Empire Blue cross blue shield New York is supposed to be that Medicare pays the bill and the Empire pays the rest. We are supposed to get forms from both telling us they've paid. They have a system that Medicare pays and automatically send the bill to Empire.

I got paid receipts from all the docs and proceedures all covered. So I keep getting this bill from the hospital for $862 they claim was not paid. They keep sending it and I keep writing back that I don't owe them. In fact after hours on the phone with Empire, no department has any record of any bill from them. I never got a bill from them. I do have one letter that Empire had sent to the hospital that their bill to them is missing certain codes that and they need to correct it. 
The problem may be that Florida Blue cross blue shield may have gotten the bill in error because we have NY insurance. They have done that before. Do you know how stupid these billing people are? 

The thing that bothers me the most is that I never got a letter with the breakdown of what they are billing for, and what was done. I want to know. They may have the wrong person. None of the ID numbers match up. One the phone with Empire I get the round and round of being passed "we don't do that, I'll pass you to the department that does".
Now I get a threat from them about a collection agency. So I have to spend time going over there and (not) finding the person that handles that.

I'm really fed up with these people. I wish "stand your ground" gun law included a legal way of shooting them.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Contact the CFPB. From what I've seen when they speak, others listen and get off their behinds finding answers and fixing issues.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I've had to deal with code problems as well. Incompetent boneheads.

Wait until you have to deal with a "cancellation of debt" 1099c when in fact it's entirely false; which I proved to the IRS and got my money back (with interest) as well as from the State of Georgia. 
The what's in your wallet people tried screwing me but they failed. I wont have anything to do with those crooks again.


----------



## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

..................................


----------



## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

The hospital where I used to live pulled this all the time. EVERY time I had anything done up there (even something as simple as a blood test) they'd claim you didn't pay it... and if you paid it at that point they'd send ANOTHER bill. I swear they were just trying to catch people not paying attention. I had as many as four bills for one procedure pile up and they were insistent! Always had to call and argue with them every time... and they knew damn well what they were doing. Pissed me right off. 

Taxes are a whole other thing. I wish they'd focus on the upper class criminals hiding gadloads of money in offshore accounts than go sniffing around and harassing people guilty of a typo, or not receiving something. UGH. Typical. I feel for you. Good luck in fighting it.


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Well it's been a month since my mail carrier stated he must have delivered my prescription glasses somewhere else, and I wrote out a complaint because they said they weren't insured, and I'm thinking if YOUR carrier claims he may have delivered them elsewhere-this is what I need insurance for? Still waiting.

That hospital bill thing really pi$$es me off. I never get a rundown of the charges, just the insurance pays them or doesn't and they tell me I have to pay the leftover? With Medicare AND a secondary NY Empire plan? And 3 departments in NY Health etc. can't find a bill? I think the ambulance company billed me too for something that should have been paid by secondary. Just shoot me now.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I feel for you Karen. I've been through it too, and still going through it with my mom. My moms secondary is Tricare, the military health insurance. It amazes me how hospitals and associated medical facilities and ambulance companies are ignorant of secondary insurance and how they work. Some places seem to play stupid and ignorant on purpose. It's very frustrating. It would almost be worth it to throw in the towel and get rid of most everything and get on medicaid...that's the governments goal anyway...cradle to grave socialism for everyone.


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Lol. You're right in a way, all that insurance stuff is taken care of free of charge. I think they do play dumb, but Medicare has a deal with NY SHIP (NY state employee health insurance) where they pay their part and send the bill directly to them for the rest. But these billers love to send the balance to Florida blue cross blue shield, instead of NY, and it disappears,

No doubt your Mother's insurance and Tricare are driving you nuts. My parents have the same and it seems to be my dad's full time job to keep the flow going in the right direction. When I did homecare, if my coding wasn't right , I didn't get paid til it was. This hospital's bill was sent back from nyship saying to correct the coding before they get paid and they never did. And I get threatened with a collection agency. I really hate wasting time on other people's mistakes.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

seminolewind said:


> Lol. You're right in a way, all that insurance stuff is taken care of free of charge. I think they do play dumb, but Medicare has a deal with NY SHIP (NY state employee health insurance) where they pay their part and send the bill directly to them for the rest. But these billers love to send the balance to Florida blue cross blue shield, instead of NY, and it disappears,
> 
> No doubt your Mother's insurance and Tricare are driving you nuts. My parents have the same and it seems to be my dad's full time job to keep the flow going in the right direction. When I did homecare, if my coding wasn't right , I didn't get paid til it was. This hospital's bill was sent back from nyship saying to correct the coding before they get paid and they never did. And I get threatened with a collection agency. I really hate wasting time on other people's mistakes.


 When my previous wife was sick, the billing got so bad at several places that I had to pound it into the heads of the front desk personnel who then brought the billing clerk out of her cave to see me prior to my wife seeing the specialty doctor. There were a couple young girls doing the billing at two places where they had an "I dont give a crap attitude." Needless to say we switched doctors and facilities both times. It was for the better as far as the billing goes, not necessarily switching doctors and facilities though. However in my wifes case it didnt really matter, now that I look back, the end result wouldve been the same.
Of course the majority of places where we went, there wernt any problems.
I guess in your circumstance they ASSUME you have Florida Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Cant they read your medical card that has the secondary payer on it? They usually burn a copy of it, front and back. Might be time to speak to the billing clerk each time you visit and tell them to get the coding right too.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

OK, you guys are scaring me with what all is going on here. The bills have started rolling in and I just don't have it in me right now to do battle with them. I've got other priorities taking everything I've got.


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

robin416 said:


> Contact the CFPB. From what I've seen when they speak, others listen and get off their behinds finding answers and fixing issues.


what is CFPB?


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

robin416 said:


> OK, you guys are scaring me with what all is going on here. The bills have started rolling in and I just don't have it in me right now to do battle with them. I've got other priorities taking everything I've got.


maintain records of everything. And every name of those you spoke to.

I was on the phone with everyone I could reach. It's never anyone's responsibly for anything. The last one tells me that if my secondary insurance did not get billed, they have to call the hospital and straighten it out. AND that if Medicare didn't pay it, then the secondary PROBABLY wouldn't either. Now, is that professional? Probably? She says they bill secondary insurances as a courtesy. I'm so tired of this.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwih25z17NzNAhVMqR4KHdjjBsYQFggmMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.consumerfinance.gov%2F&usg=AFQjCNF-MO4AMnuajFZve9Ufb6F--XFrkA&sig2=WcGoCDZvkUpqzNTNiYB0Jg&bvm=bv.126130881,d.dmo


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Do they have anything like this for health insurance? It does become a full time job for seniors, and sometimes very expensive.

First thing I think I'll do is offer them all a payment plan. Like I could afford $20 a month on owing $30,000. Right?

Today I get a letter from the secondary insurance that they are not paying my ambulance bill because 'I' did not clear up all the coding to make it understandable. Who am I, a medical coder? I have no idea what codes they are, and I should not be doing my own coding because it translates to what they pay. Furthermore, Medicare paid that $700 bill and secondary didn't know?

I want someone who gets paid to handle these things.

Then I sell a laptop for $500, almost new and before I send it I remove all my files and reset it and now I can't get it to start up. So I had to cancel the sale.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm going to do some digging about this since I am facing the same type of things going on.


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I'D LIKE TO KNOW why things don't happen the way they say stuff happens I a certain.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Because every company out there got so bloody big sucking up smaller companies they no longer have any control over their business'. And add in outsourcing and it just escalates.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Great point Karen. Get the names of the people you talk to...times and dates you conversed with them also. I learned that lesson the hard way.


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Yes. I'm pulling out a notebook. And asking for someone's name gets them more helpful. 
And what I'd like to know is if Medicare pays the biggest chunk, why can't this other insurance read the forms. 

Did you know that hospitals or docs can't bill you the difference in what the insurance pays and the balance left over. It's called balanced billing. You are responsible for your Co pay or Co insurance or deductable. That's it. Of course a lot depends on your annual deductable.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

seminolewind said:


> Yes. I'm pulling out a notebook. And asking for someone's name gets them more helpful.
> And what I'd like to know is if Medicare pays the biggest chunk, why can't this other insurance read the forms.
> 
> Did you know that hospitals or docs can't bill you the difference in what the insurance pays and the balance left over. It's called balanced billing. You are responsible for your Co pay or Co insurance or deductable. That's it. Of course a lot depends on your annual deductable.


They've tried that with me a long time ago and I was on pins and needles. I went to the Tricare office and had it explained to me how it works. They even called the billing department at the facility in question and got it squared away. It breaks my heart they didnt get paid $500 for a bag of saline solution lol.


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

What gets me is the ambulance bills me for $101 after Medicare pays $600. They didn't bill the right secondary so I sent the bill to secondary. They sent a bill to the fire department. The fire department sent them poorly coded bill. They replied to the ambulance co. Never heard from them. I get $60 . Now I get a letter that the claim was denied because I never sent them the correct codes. But they paid me back for what I laid out. These people have so many different departments that the ones you talk to don't know the right department. I'm so mad.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Chinese fire drill for sure Karen!


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Today I call the number on the back of the 2nd insurance. What luck! Someone who knows what she's doing.

The system is Medicare gets the bill, pays their chunk, then sends it to my 2ndary. Medicare part B goes to blue cross blue shield of NY. But she said that box was not checked on my file. So the bill went elswhere and was not paid or I got a letter stating that the code is not working. The lady said that's why BC/BS has no bill received . I am glad this woman could know right up front what was going on. She said she'll call the hospital and see what they have Not done.


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Yesterday I get the top part of an e-cigarette in the mail. There are two types of connections or bases, EGO, and 510. His ebay ad says "510 drip tip and base". He sent me an EGO connection or base. I did not want this one because it doesn't fit my e-cigarette.

He said if it was a 510 base, his ad would have read "510 drip tip and 510 base". I think he's a moron . In 7 years of vaping, this is the first time I've had a problem with anyone I've bought from. No more ebay. And we are talking about a $10 part. 

Now, if you went to a bakery and the sign said " cake- blue icing and filler" is that a different meaning than "cake-blue icing and blue filler" ?


----------

