Funny accounting

I decided that I had better get to the bottom of Linda's wheelchair issues today. In preparation for my call, I collected the various EOBs from the insurance company, showing all of the payments made last year. I then called the insurance folks to find out what the purchase price of Linda's chair was.

You would be surprised just how hard that was to pull up. Luckily, I'm getting an instinct for these things, so I was able to lead the customer service person to it. The cost of Linda's chair is $986. I found that very interesting, because all of my insurance statements from October 27th on note that the insurance will pay no more (they've met the purchase price).

When I summed the payments on my pocket calculator, they amounted to less than the purchase price. I noted this to the woman I was talking to, and she diligently added it up. She got an even lower price than I did. I no longer wonder that I am still getting bills. The insurance people are going to look at it and I should hear within a week.

Here's an amazing fact. By my calculation, the amount they've actually paid is only 15 cents different from 80% of the cost of the chair. I'd bet that someone keyed in the 80% figure by mistake (because until you reach your out of pocket limit, that is the rate they pay for durable medical equipment). In any event, it looks like this should actually get straightened out correctly.

We can hope. The wheelchair people (Apria) have sold Linda's accounts for collection before. I know precisely how fun that is.