http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/34699999.html
Someone screwed the pooch on this one.
MUSKEGO – It’s a TODAY’S TMJ4 exclusive: a woman was charged years after her death for an ambulance call she made.
Now, her husband wants answers.
Anna Smith received a bill for $650 for an ambulance call she made a few months ago. The only problem is, Anna’s been dead for two years.
So how did this happen?"
The bill shows the late Anna Smith's name and address, but the space for who made the call is left blank. Anna's husband Claire was naturally suspicious.
"I'm 82 years old, but I do understand the billing process,” Claire Smith said.
It took a lot of phone calls, but Claire cleared up the error and the bill was cancelled. Now, he wants to know if he was the only one who got a bogus bill.
“Who's going to make sure that doesn't happen again and why did it happen in the first place?" Claire Smith said.
The search for an answer first took TODAY’S TMJ4 to the Tess Corners volunteer fire department. Then to Muskego City Hall. Finally, we got our answer at a company called National EMS Billing in Cedarburg.
In an apology letter to Mr. Smith, the CEO says an employee "assumed the Anna Smith who had been previously registered in our database was the same Anna Smith who recently utilized the Muskego Fire Department."
Smith isn't satisfied with that answer.
"Well, you don't make an assumption when you bill out $659 dollars. That's a guess, and you don't guess. You have to have facts,” Claire Smith said.
TODAY’S TMJ4’s Michael George spoke with a Medicare expert from the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging groups and she says that billing issues like this are actually pretty common. They're usually due to clerical errors. So, it's important you double-check all your bills.
A spokesperson for National EMS Services says since Claire Smith's complaint, they've taken steps to make sure these mistakes don't happen again.
a bill for the dead
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