Grr. Big grr. LIKEOMG GRR.
Okay, so background.
December 2008, I slip on ice and break my leg. It is determined that the insurance company for the building's owners will handle the medical bills.
Flash forward to July 2010. The initial ER bill did not get paid. I call the insurance company, ask what's up, get no response. I send the bill again, no response, I call, leave voicemails, no response. (See a pattern here?)
Skip one more month to August 2010. BOOM! Bank account seized! BOOM! Wages garnished! Garnishment order lists the full amount of the hospital bill, plus the attorney's fees. Continue trying for three more weeks to reach the insurance company, eventually just give up and scrape by while the garnishment collects more than my monthly rent.
Another quick hop, and we're at the end of October 2010. YAY! Garnishment is over! I can has money and somewhat stable finances again!
Which brings us to today. In emailing back and forth about a misapplied payment for a recent doctor visit, I ask what account it got paid to. Know what they told me? Go on, guess. If you guessed "the one the garnishment was for," YOU WIN. It turns out, I still owe a large balance on that.
What. The. ****ing. ****.
Garnishment order for X amount. X amount is taken out of my paycheck over a 3 month period. Yet the hospital only received Y amount? Where's the rest? WTF DID ALL THAT MONEY I PAID GO TO?
So livid. Barely coherent. Extremely distressed.
It's not enough that I was on crutches in ice and snow for nine weeks. It's not enough that I nearly lost my job when the car broke down and I couldn't get there by bus because of said crutches on ice and snow. It's not enough that I now have chronic back pain from the slight limp I still have, or that my leg still swells up constantly because it didn't heal quite right... and then it's not even enough that they took a fourth of my pay for three months. This is like one of those nightmares where you wake up, except OH NOT REALLY, YOU'RE STILL HAVING A NIGHTMARE. Over and over and over.
This is the same hospital, by the way, that, when I had surgery in 2009, "oops, forgot" to order meals for an entire day. It's also the hospital that I will never, ever go back to, nor will I see any doctors who are affiliated with them. Ever.
GRRR.
ETA: Talked to the hospital billing and a VERY nice rep took the time to physically go to their legal department and found out for me that it HAS been paid, but that it's so behind in applying the payments that the billing department may not see it for months. RELIEF. If only everyone there was as wonderful and competent as this nice lady was, I would still do business with them.
