Doctors and hospitals listed as “in-network” when he signed up for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Consumer Value Network were actually out of network when he visited them.
For months, he thought he’d have to pay a $24,000 surprise medical bill. And it still stresses him out to this day.
“It really, really just pisses me off,” Craswell said.
And KARE 11 found others, like Joel and Julie Smith, billed thousands of dollars in “out-of-network” costs for doctors who thee Blue Cross website listed “in-network” when consumers signed up. And according to the Minnesota Commerce Department, BCBSMN knew those providers would drop out of network before consumers could use them.
“It’s a shell game,” Joel Smith said. “You have absolutely no control over anything that happens once you sign that contract. They can do whatever they want.”
But the Commerce Department held Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota accountable, fining the insurer $45,000 with the agreement BCBS voluntarily pays back nearly $328,000 in surprise medical bills to at least 400 Minnesotans fooled by the misleading website.
A BCBS spokesperson said the insurer reprocessed the claims and paid back the money in 2016.
“At the end of the day, I think this is a good result for the consumer,” said Mike Rothman, Minnesota Commerce Commissioner.
Some consumers likely had no idea they were overcharged.
“You know, unless you’re OCD like me and you have a yellow pad with everything you checked, you probably just assume that it’s your own fault,” Craswell said.
He wants everyone watching to double-check their medical bills and avoid the stress he had to go through.
Date:April 24, 2017