Hackettstown Hospital Billing Procedures
Has anyone else had problems with Hackettstown Hospital with billing procedures? My family have good Blue Cross benefits.The hospital keeps making mistakes and sending our bills to collection agencies.We have tried time after time to make the hospital pursue the correct billing procedures.Trying to contact the hospital billing department is ridiculous.
murofI “re-upped” an older thread regarding your subject matter. Maybe it can still be helpful. Good luck.
Guilty-Remnant 
Hackresident 
maja2 I have had issues with their billing procedures FOREVER! No matter who runs the place, the billing department could never get their act together. I have had major issues with them coding incorrectly amongst other things....from ER visits to out patient procedures. I have been sent to collection agencies (as well as my son) for workers comp claims! I have called over and over again. It's ridiculous.
Just Saying.... We have had many conversations where we call insurance and then the two of us contact the billing dept. They seem much more responsive and give you less bs if there is an insurance rep on the line with you.
When dealing with this hospital it just seems like they bill for everything (even if they know it is improper) just to see what they can make stick.
Cowgirl01 I have had nothing but problems with billing at Hackettstown - I finally filed a complaint with the Dept. of Banking and Insurance at the State - they were pretty much worthless. I found a very effective way to not run into billing issues with Hackettstown - we just go to Morristown. My only hope is that now with Atlantic Health owning them they can begin to improve - but I'm not holding my breath.
Kurt My husband is facing a "simple common" surgery and I thought that Hackettstown hospital now might have improved when it comes to billing. So I tried to verify with my insurance company (Blue Cross Blue Shield) if Hackettstown Medical Center is in-network (Atlantic Medical Health is, Morristown Medical Center is, Newton Medical Center is, etc). Surprise-surprise... It's not on in-network list posted online, insurance customer service didn't find it on the list also. So I called hospital billing, got recorded message to call main Atlantic Medical Health billing. I called main billing, was told that Hackettstown Medical Center must be on a list because they do accept our insurance, just like Morristown, Newton, Summit, and 2 more hospital facilities. She gave me tax number - all Atlantic Medical Health facilities bill under the same tax number. I called insurance again. Well, Hackettstown Medical Center does **NOT ** have this tax ID according to insurance records. That's explains why people have unpaid hospital invoices and are sent to collections.
Unfortunately my husband picked surgeon who does surgeries only in Hackettstown (BTW he is out-of network doctor). So now we need to decide if we want to have billing issues right away or just simply select a different doctor. It seems that we will go with a different doctor who is affiliated with St. Clares.
Lena 
3wbdwnj I have had so many billing problems with Hackettstown Hospital. As did my son and his wife. I think they purposely bill for procedures not done because the average person does not know what these tests are. One medication charge for my daughter-in-law was for three (very expensive) pills charged to her over a 12 hour period when the dose was ONE pill every 12 hours. When that was pointed out to them, the bill was suddenly decreased dramatically. My son demanded to see a result for any test listed on the bill. When the hospital couldn't produce those results, they got a bill in the mail for a much lower amount. No apology, only an adjusted bill.
Parental Unit My insurance seems to handle all this. Most taken care of by preapproval process making sure everyone is in network and anything after, if insurance says I don’t owe, they follow up to rectify. Only issue is when I don’t notice to inform insurance to take care of. So, for example, Mom had Cadillac plus plan, extended stay at Moreistown, was only billed 1,500 on 250k so I ignored. EOY summary looked funny because 1,500 shown as optional, not copay; I investigated with insurance and turned out billed for prvate room. Error, Motown covered, but if I hadn’t seen the EOY report, I would have thought 1,500 was a great deal.
Bottom line. Check bill, rely on ins. co. numbers. If outage, call insurance, they will probably take care of or tell you best way.
Strangerdanger We are still waiting to see how our latest Hackettstown Hospital claims will be processed.We were able to contact them [ after calling our Blue Cross representative] about our billing procedures.The Hackettstown Hospital representative went into denial and claiming no information was available about our issues.NO Help There!
Wow, I though that it was just us! All of the above has happened to us. Once, the bill (for approx. $250) was sent to collections before I got the EOB back from BC/BS. At that point the hospital wouldn't take my payment! they said that they had already written it off and I could only pay the collection agency.
Maybe there's a tax benefit in it for them - they write off massive amounts and then take whatever portion the collection agencies can get? Or something like that.
But something isn't right with their system.
Reggie Voter Rv—never have heard of such a thing; they sold your IOU to a factor.
Personally, if I didn’t need a credit rating, I would tell them to stick it, sue me, but harass me one more time and I will sue them.
Amazing in that two for two insurance companies — United Health and Aetna, have handled this stuff, when I identified it, for me as noted above. Used ro be they were just jerks but now seem to actually be customer focused.
Just beware as this has happened to me. There is a company out there stating they are collections Remax they call themselves. It is a scam!
Fact Finder My husband had an emergency visit recently ... Horizon OMNIA EOB showed it was denied because Hackettstown Hospital submitted wrong tax ID #, etc. Still haven't seen a bill or anything from Hackettstown Hospital saying we owe - hopefully they re-submit. My stepdaughter had an ER visit a few months ago and no issues with it being submitted properly by the hospital and paid by insurance. Hit or miss with them. Hope everyone is able to get their issues worked out - so frustrating dealing with this type of situation.
AnonymouslyA Hackettstown Hospital should have at least commented or tried to be helpful with this forum issue.Not a word from them!Thank You Hackettstown Hospital!
WARNING: I had surgery back in Dec. 2017 - overnight stay - hysterectomy with Dr. Difalco of All About Women. Dr. Difalco did a wonderful job - surgery unit, nurses, lab technicians - everyone was great. No problem with the hospital billing my United Healthcare Insurance.
HOWEVER, a few weeks after I was home I received a bill from a Dr. Ashley Roper for $459.00 calling it a consultation. I NEVER saw this Dr. or received any kind of exam from her! I called her billing dept. and they didn't know anything about it - I sent many letters to Dr. Roper re: her bill and never received a call or return letter. Her billing dept. billed United Healthcare which refused it stating they needed her NPI # - they sent in another claim but still did not provide that number.
I called the billing dept. again and was told that she is a representative for the hospital.
Now she has sent me to collections.
IF you are in the hospital for any type of care - tell the nursing staff to NOT let Dr. Ashley Roper in your room!!
Buckeye fan I received a bill also from Hackettstown Hospital a few days ago for the balance due on a Abdominal Ultrasound done about a month ago. It was not for a lot but I was shocked as I have very good insurance...Medicare A and B. and also AARP Plan J which always covers everything. I called and upon checking the girl said that they sent this bill before waiting to see if all of my supplemental insurance kicked in. So, not to pay anything. What???
joyful Very hard to get back on your feet, with the paperwork and billing rip offs. Stress kills....
Buckeye fan, I had an experience a few years ago with a surgery I had. I went to a surgeon in my insurance network. He used his partner from his practice, without informing me, as his assistant. This doctor (from the same practice) was NOT in my network. He submitted his bill to my insurance and it was denied. I then get his bill for a very large amount, I forget the exact figure. I called my insurance company and explained the situation. I was told under no circumstance to pay that bill and they would take care of it. I never heard from him again. It's very sad what some of these doctors try to get away with at the expense of the patient.
Single payer will solve the problem. One insurance for all. The more choices, the more loopholes. Some want insurance from other states- more loopholes due to more state laws-you won't even know what you are covered for until it's too late.
Keep reading the fine print with your +3 reading glasses all day long until you fall asleep tired of all the bull put in there by insurance lawyers...
dodgebaal 
justintime Single payer will create more issues than it solves...do we really need a dmv type experience for healthcare?
In the past when I've had billing questions I've either called my insurance company and they did a 3 way call with the hospital and settled it or I just went to the billing dept. at the hospital and resolved it.
We have Cigna and the day after Christmas we got a letter from them telling us that if they can't come to an agreement with Atlantic Health Care by Feb. 1st, Hackettstown, Newton, Morristown and all their other hospitals will be out of net-work for us. We will be able to go to St. Lukes in Phillipsburg, which we have no doctors presently for, to have in-net-work coverage. Next week I will need to contact all our doctors to see if they are part of the Atlantic Health Care program. So far I know my orthopedic Dr. is part of Advocare so I can keep them. What a pain this is going to be if they can't settle this!
magpie PU — but it is nice that more ins. Co,s are actually helping customers with billing in an active sense. I have had two in the past 5 years or so provide assistance.
At this point, No one in my family will ever pay a bill w/o verification by the ins. Co. Beyond copay, we never cough up in the office or pay a bill w/o seeing what ins. says we owe. I have even had them work discounts with oonetwork providers. Got a whopping $25 on $100 or something like that. But no effort or grief on my part: priceless.
Bug3
Any senior citizens want to give up Medicare? Nope, didn't think so...
Look at the post below yours- that does not occur with Medicare- which is single payer for the elderly.
If magpie were on medicare, her problem would be solved.
Should we not care about magpie?
magpie, we received the same letter. That is going to be problematic for a lot of people!
Where America chooses to spend it's money.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_carriers
I'm sure the teachers and the police have healthcare policies that allow them to go anywhere they would like..
These experiences will only get worse, with “deregulation”. That word means the healthcare system, banks, along with a few other predatory capitalists will bring the country to ruin. Possibly the entire world. Regulations are in place to protect us from consumer fraud. De-regulation? That’s free reign for predatory capitalists to steal more from us. We aren’t ALL lawyers, ready to go up against the big guys. All the hospitals and doctors have to do is push a billing button. Then it’s up to the consumer, with an onslaught of paperwork and phone calls, to fight(whilst sick) and keep out of collections. Trump wouldn’t know what to do, if HE received a bill of any sorts. But he doesn’t pay for ANYTHING. The Trump taxpayers don’t mind funding Mar a Lago, New York, Bedminster so Trump could golf. Camp David isn’t good enough for a mobster.” Yo’...Mr Trump will see you, now” (in Joe Pesci’s voice). If not for Twitter...(fill in the blank). SO many people are having issues with medical bills....more than ever before. Wonder why. As for me? I’ll just let my personal assistants handle all of my future tasks. Being an ultra wealthy person, I can do that, relax, and enjoy life...especially with the extra several million in taxes saved, when I inherit the rest of my empire.( yeah, right). I wish folks would stop treating healthcare like an expensive car....something you work for, earn and enjoy. Healthcare is NOT enjoyable, on any level. It’s a necessity. I’ve said before....INSURANCE COMPANIES SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN DEREGULATED, THUS TO GO PUBLIC!
"I think, beyond the budget, Medicare works, but would anyone say VA Health works"
Sd, you make an interesting point. Both are government run, but one works, the other does not. Does Medicare work because politicians are affected by Medicare voters, yet VA voters don't have as much clout?
Parental unit: thank you for the information but just want people to know that Dr. Roper was not and is not a part of my doctor's practice. Not related what so ever...in fact, my doctor didn't even know her. Dr. Roper took it amond herself to say she entered my room and consulted with me (Idon't remember her - there were so many nurses, lab techs, etc) and then charge me close to $500.00 dollars for that visit. I find this a disgusting practice!
That happened to me too at a different hospital. I was charged for a visit by a doctor but a doc never entered the room. It was his PA. I questioned the charge but nothing changed.
I was on the Phone aprox. 2 hours, (I was in hold for long periods) this morning as I Rec'v a letter from Atlantic Health that I owed quite a bit, from surgery I had 10/31/2018. I was very aware of my co-pay and more then willing to pay that. I was told to wait until everything has been resubmitted.
My insurance company was good enough to have a 3 way call with my insurance company, Atlantic Health billing and myself. It seems they billed for Out of network instead of in network. It will be re billed as in network. I keep a file with everything I rec'v and all phone calls. When we were in the phone my insurance company told Atlantic Health billing they were told, this should not be sent to a collection agency. I document who I speak with, and date and time of day. They record all calls, I am hopeful that I could refer them back to Phone call. Prior to my surgery I Rec'v a letter from them stating I was preapproved for 5 days in -patient. I only stayed 2 nights. I called the insurance company the day prior up surgery and was told every part of the surgery, the hospital and surgeon were all in network. There seems to be a problem with the Hospital billing as Hackettstown Hospital which gets denied, rather than Atlantic Health at Hackettstown. I am still worried and need a 2nd surgery which was planned for March, but will not have it until this is resolved. Unfortunately my 2nd knee buckles causing me to fall. I fell today and hit my head. I can't put off having 2nd knee surgery too long, as I will wind up with further injuries. I will not be comfortable until this is all resolved.
She
SusanC DBall: I don't know, but I think it's the system. Medicare is "here's your money, find a doctor, we pay 80%." So, it works as well as that can work VA is often full service, co-pay or free, and I think therein probably lies the rub --- the full service. The VA system is the largest system of facilities in the US. It has not worked ever.
To change the VA system would be to change the cost structure; I am sure that's a huge issue.
I've had a similar issue, Atlantic Health System (which is the billing unit) is not in network with United Healthcare, Hackettstown Medical Center is in network. Atlantic used their NPI number, not HMC's NPI number. My claim is being resubmitted for payment with the correct number! Atlantic took over the billing mid November 2018.
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