GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (via WOOD TV) — Fan Fan Wainer thought the $98 bill she received for her annual checkup was a mistake.
"We were just like, 'Oh, it’s a simple error. (They’ll) correct it.' But they just wouldn’t," Wainer recalled.
More than a year later and after a year’s worth of phone calls back and forth with Mercy Health, Wainer received a notice from a collection agency for the $98 bill.
"I was mad. I was very mad," Wainer said. "I don’t owe people money. I pay all my bills. But I don’t want to pay a bill I should not (have to) pay."
Under the Affordable Care Act, most health care plans are required to provide certain preventive services free of charge. Wainer thought her yearly physical was covered.
“It was a very regular physical check,” Wainer said of the March 2018 exam she had at Mercy Health’s Wege Center in Grand Rapids.
Mercy Health would not comment for this report, citing patient confidentiality, but the Wainers said they were told the office changed the billing code for the exam because the doctor diagnosed and discussed a potential heart murmur.
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