Misled by chiropractor, billed for services not rendered, neck injuries, should I take them to small claims court?

Submitted by SnooMemesjellies7591 t3_11xq3zr in Washington

I filed a complaint to WA Board of Chiropractor and they told me they don't handle billing issues.I only got the neck adjustment. I specifically asked my insurance.

Cash rate is advertised as $60. I also never signed any sort of contract with this chiropractor promising not to sue them in case of any medical injuries that arised from the adjustments.

I ended up paying $35 more per visit than if I just did the cash rate without insurance. With 20+ visits, this resulted in overpaying $750, an amount I would go to court over.

This was paid by credit card, so the first option is disputing the charges. I have not yet heard back after reporting it to CFPB.

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Background: I had scoliosis and rounded shoulders with severe upper neck and back pain and several doctors including ones abroad at the time recommended me to go see a chiropractor, acupuncturist, or physical therapist to relax the muscles and fix my posture. In hindsight I should not have listened to the advice of my doctor, but I do feel much better now that it doesn't bother me every day. The problem is my Aetna HDHP misled the coverage of chiorpractor adjustments, causing me to pay way more than if I just not had insurance and paid cash. I signed up for the Aetna insurance through my employer so that I can contribute to an HSA at the time with employer contributions, but the tax benefits were not worth the extras I have to pay per chiropractor visit.

Thanks

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Technical-Data t1_jd4o90h wrote

Why would you go to a charlatan in the first place? Paying money to someone that tells you that they can cure cancer with a massage is just asinine.

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SnooMemesjellies7591 OP t1_jd4pf5n wrote

I had scoliosis and rounded shoulders with severe upper neck and back pain and several doctors including ones abroad at the time recommended me to go see a chiropractor, acupuncturist, or physical therapist. In hindsight I should not have listened to the advice of my doctor, but I do feel much better now that it doesn't bother me every day. My insurance "covered" chiorpractor adjustments but I was misled on the extent of the coverage, causing me to pay way more than if I just not had insurance and paid cash. But because I wanted to contribute to an HSA at the time with employer contributions, I decided the tax benefits was worth it.

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Dusty923 t1_jd559jz wrote

Chiropracty is not science. Every single chiropractor is a quack. Your doc referred you to a quack. You need to get a new doctor. Same with acupuncture. Physical therapy, however, is supported by science.

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Particular-You-5534 t1_jd5a04c wrote

The NIH would disagree with you about acupuncture

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Dusty923 t1_jd5b7qb wrote

Just because it's covered doesn't mean it's based on science. Health insurance companies cover plenty of alternative "medicines". Not because they work but because their customers want them.

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Particular-You-5534 t1_jd5c0gw wrote

I didn’t say anything about insurance. I’m talking about the NIH. There is scientific support for acupuncture in several contexts. I’m not saying it is a cure all, but it has its applications, mainly for pain.

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Dusty923 t1_jd5eb81 wrote

Acupuncture is no better than a placebo. Other placebos also have demonstrated benefit, but they're by-and-large not covered. Acupuncture is only covered because people believe that it isn't a placebo.

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Particular-You-5534 t1_jd5epkq wrote

The people doing the studies showing its efficacy especially believe it’s not a placebo. I understand that you seem willing to die on the hill of acupuncture being completely fake. Unfortunately the science-based hill you’re trying to die on disagrees.

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Capable_Nature_644 t1_jd64d1b wrote

Reddit is the last place you want to get this type of info from. You don't know the quality of the info you're getting. I highly suggst avvo instead. And yes I do highly suggest to sue.

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acciolesbians t1_jd4asc5 wrote

Maybe contact your insurance company & see what your options are. It sounds like fraud, providers can’t charge less for cash pay patients & they shouldn’t be billing you for services not rendered.

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No_Concentrate9935 t1_jd4jjjt wrote

I thought Drs could charge less if you paid up front and they didn’t have to hassle w billing & insurance.

https://www.consumerreports.org/healthcare-costs/how-paying-your-doctor-in-cash-could-save-you-money/

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SnooMemesjellies7591 OP t1_jd4p8p9 wrote

Right, I will contact Aetna and see what my options are if this is intentional and fraud

For each visit, three types of services were billed to the insurance, adding up to $90-$100, whereas cash was $60. The service was the same. Because I had a HDHP, I didn't meet the deductible. Therefore if the insurance didn't cover much, I would suspect I can take them to court to charge me the cash rate.

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No_Concentrate9935 t1_jd4ppku wrote

Just wait till you are on Medicare. No coverage for physicals, & even though it took them months to properly get me covered, they backdated billing for three months so I owe them $600, for nothing.

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SnooMemesjellies7591 OP t1_jd4q5qk wrote

I'm in my late 20s. Isn't Medicare (not Medicaid) only for older people? Either way, healthcare sucks and is overpriced and I feel seriously ripped off. Do you think my credit card company would do anything if I ask them to reverse the extra payments for services not rendered? Or CFPB? It worked before for other medical payments.

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Technical-Data t1_jd4p99s wrote

I don't know about chiropractors, but for real doctors and hospitals, that was one of Hillary Clinton's poison pills in HIPAA. You can't offer a cash discount lower than what any insurance company would be billed. She didn't want us to be able to negotiate lower prices. ObamaCare negotiated an incentive for higher bills so there's now even more reason those are enforced because they cost insurance companies allowed profit if you pay with cash rather than use insurance.

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SnooMemesjellies7591 OP t1_jd4pxvw wrote

Is there any chance I can get a refund of the insurance premium too if I cancelled? Should I file a BBB/CFPB claim against Aetna my insurance provider?

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Dusty923 t1_jd562uq wrote

This is a devil that had to be allowed in the law to get it passed so that more Americans could have access to healthcare. They needed the insurance company's blessing. Because private corporations have so much control over the political system that we can't write laws to stop them from doing evil things.

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Rocketgirl8097 t1_jd6712q wrote

Yes they can. But it is fraud to be billed for services you haven't received.

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Salmundo t1_jd84ze0 wrote

I’ve never been to any provider who didn’t charge less for cash paying clients.

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NationalElderberry39 t1_jd8w1vh wrote

It is very common for health providers in wa to have a different time of service rate than if billed later. You may not have signed anything but by billing your insurance, likely signing something to okay that, your chiropractor has a contract with them for the rates they can bill and get paid for. If your insurance doesn’t end up paying it, because of your agreement with your health insurance, you are now liable for that payment. As to the things you were charged for, did you ask the chiro? Something as simple as applying heat can be billed as extra. The chiro has notes on what was performed and should be able explain the extra charges, but it would be good to ask for the explanation of what was billed and why.

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SnooMemesjellies7591 OP t1_jd9030y wrote

>It is very common for health providers in wa to have a different time of service rate than if billed later. You may not have signed anything but by billing your insurance, likely signing something to okay that, your chiropractor has a contract with them for the rates they can bill and get paid for. If your insurance doesn’t end up paying it, because of your agreement with your health insurance, you are now liable for that payment. As to the things you were charged for, did you ask the chiro? Something as simple as applying heat can be billed as extra. The chiro has notes on what was performed and should be able explain the extra charges, but it would be good to ask for the explanation of what was billed and why.

Yes I had asked and reviewed each individual statement. For example, the chiropractor never adjusted my lower back and legs but in the time of service it claims they did so for an extra $25 per treatment. I'm not disputing services they actually performed

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mauifairy t1_jdu1kqa wrote

Chiropractors are notorious for this (particularly the one I worked for). They loooove adding the “extra spinal manipulation” charge on top of the standard 3-4 regions adjustment. My boss would usually write it off if a patient complained but otherwise would charge everyone that. I could go on and on about the shit they were doing.

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SnooMemesjellies7591 OP t1_jdu1obb wrote

Do you think I have grounds for taking the chiropractor to small claims court or disputing the credit card charges? I guess I was just confused why when billed insurance there are these extra charges but the cash rate is a standard $50-60 per visit.

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mauifairy t1_jdu292d wrote

It’s hard to say. I do know that once insurance has touched it it’s illegal to discount anything off of it. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told.

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SnooMemesjellies7591 OP t1_jdu2c0n wrote

Anyways, I reached out to my insurance about why the insurance rate was significantly higher than cash rate.

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