Double Billing Scam
(CFN-April 2009) - In May of 2008, Kathy B. of Memphis Tennessee was involved in a motor vehicular accident while traveling west on the 240 interstate near the Lamar off-ramp when another vehicle struck her vehicle from the rear. Her vehicle had thousands of dollars in damage and she needed immediate medical care.
Kathy sought the services of a local Memphis TN attorney who took her case. Her existing physician treated her and referred her to the Faith Rehabilitation Center on Madison Avenue near the downtown area of Memphis.
Beginning in May of 2008 and after almost 30 visits to the Faith Rehabilitation Center and treatments from her physician, Kathy was able to return to her normal duties at her jobsite.
Some 11 months later when Kathy’s attorney was prepared to settle upon her personal injury case, Kathy’s was told her that there was a lien placed against her cash settlement from Faith Rehabilitation Center amounting to thousands of dollars. Kathy did not agree with this and stated that her insurance had paid for all 30 treatments she had undergone at the Faith Rehabilitation Center and wondered why they had a lien against her personal injury case being handled by her attorney.
Kathy’s attorney stated that they are required by state law to pay liens placed against her case. Kathy disagreed with this lien and asked her attorney to inquire as to why Faith Rehabilitation Center had a lien placed against her case when they had already been paid for their services. Kathy’s attorney made a call to Faith Rehabilitation Center and inquired about this lien. They immediately removed the lien from her case without question.
Kathy’s cash payout was immediately increased by thousands of dollars now not having to pay Faith Rehabilitation Center for their services again. If not for Kathy’s diligence and attention to financial details, she would have paid Faith Rehabilitation Center again and would have probably never noticed that they were paid twice for their services.
Why Faith Rehabilitation Center would leave a lien in place when they were fully aware that they had been paid for their services is not hard to figure out.
We attempted to contact Faith Rehabilitation Center about this issue and after several calls to their Madison Avenue office they refused to return our calls.
NOTE: Our advice to fellow Memphians is to not only be leery about who your doctor refers you to but ask for multiple referrals and do your homework. Ask how long has the facility been in business, check for any better business bureau reports/complaints at: http://www.bbb.org and always check over your financial details. Ask for an itemized listing of who payments are going to and how much.
Your lawyer, doctor and others will most times give your money to others without asking any questions. The responsibility to ensure procedure is being followed is up to you.
And last but not least, if you have been involved in an automobile accident that led to settlement through an attorney and you received rehabilitation services through Faith Rehabilitation Center on Madison Avenue in Memphis TN, make sure you were not over billed. Re-contact your attorney and find out if part of your settlement payment went to this facility in addition to them being paid by your insurance plan through your employer. You may very well have $$$ being owed to you by Faith Rehabilitation Center.
If you have any questions about this article or questions for the editor please email: the CFN editor at:
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