MEDGroup Urgent Care ripoff Denied Urgent Care services Fairlawn Ohio

My wife became ill quite suddenly on Friday 5/21/04. She seemed to get worse through the night with what really appeared to be strep throat.

We looked under "Urgent Care" in the yellow pages. We called as we drove. I said that we are on our way, and we're from out of state is there anything we can do to speed up the process? Can we sign in over the phone or anything? We were told No, just come in. I asked how long the wait was currently, and she said It depends on when you get here and how many people there are here. Not really helpful, but we were on our way.

When we arrived, they asked for a photo ID and insurance card. She looked at the card & said I've never seen this one before, and I said It's from Indiana. She said Well, we don't take it. I was very surprised, since we have had to use urgent care centers in Milwaukee, Tennessee, California and on a cruise ship, and never had any problems. She said If it's not on our list of approved insurances, we don't take it, but I'll ask the manager. She left, came back & said He said we won't take it. The manager came out and repeated this. She said It has to have a copay for urgent care preprinted on the card for us to take it, and we said It does have that it says $25. She then said Well, we don't take out of state, but you can pay up front & submit it on your own. I said to the manager There is a phone number on the card for doctor's offices to call will you call it? He said No, but you can call it. I said that it was for doctor's offices, and he said Even if they say they will pay, we won't take it. We're not going to take it. You can go to the ER. I tried to say that this seemed to be too much trouble for a strep test.

My wife had left by this time, and I asked the manager one more time to, since this was supposed to be an urgent / immediate care center, if they could try to call the number. He said No, you can go to the free clinic or to the ER.

I have since asked our doctor, her nurse, 2 pharmacists (one down the road in Akron, one in Brownsburg) and will also call our insurance company: so far, everyone has agreed that an immediate care facility is supposed to take insurance. Their website says that they will file insurance.

If this company insists that they will only take preapproved insurance carriers, I have to insist that they no longer refer to themselves as Urgent Care or Immediate Care, and that they remove their ad from the Yellow Pages. They should be free to advertise like a regular doctor's office, but not as an Urgent Care facility. My wife did have strep, and our insurance will absolutely cover this expense, but due to their lack of any attempt to do what any urgent / immediate care facility is supposed to do, she spent the rest of the weekend sick. This is a blatant example of how a facility such as this is NOT supposed to be run.

From their website:
http://www.medgroup.org/faqs.html

What if MEDGroup does not participate with my health insurance provider?

Your health insurance provider likely offers out-of-network benefits, which may be comparable to your network benefits. If MEDGroup does not participate with your health insurance provider, payment is required at time of service. We accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, cash or personal check. However, MEDGroup will file a claim with your health insurance provider, and if payment is made to MEDGroup, we will issue you a refund. You will receive notification from your health insurance provider advising you of how they processed your claim.

This was never mentioned they flat out said that they would NOT file with our insurance company.

Ken
Brownsburg, Indiana
U.S.A.