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Health & Fitness

Rohnert Park Urgent Care -- Continuing to Overcharge?

Is St. Joseph's Urgent Care in Rohnert Park continuing to gouge customers by over-billing on the copay?

In spite of promises several months ago to look into the matter, St. Joseph Urgent Care continues to overcharge patients on the copay portion of  their bill.  At least from what I can tell given a bill that has arrived in the mail.

As reported here in May, I had contacted the billing department to dispute the $100 copay that they had billed me for.  My copay, which is listed on the face of my insurance card, reads that my copay for Urgent Care is $35, while my copay for an Emergency Room visit would be $100.
 
This time, a bill arrived for my wife, who had been seen at Urgent Care following an accident at the gym. She is on my health insurance policy and has a similar card that she uses with all of the same information. A bill has arrived asking for $100 for her copay.
 
The problem seems to lay with Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, which is also part of the St. Joseph Health System. All of the bills show that the service was performed at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, which is actually a good ten miles away.
 
I again called the billing department, noting that this case is not unique -- that I have noticed a similar pattern of  billing every time I have had to go to the Urgent Care over the past ten years. The billing department engaged me in an argument that was straight out of Alice in Wonderland's Jabberwocky, attempting to explain away the discrepancy. I finally asked the rep if this kind of complicated billing seemed like something that any patient or customer would want to go through. "No", she said.
 
I called Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital's public relations department, which referred me to the patient complaint line -- where I left a voicemail.  A day later, no response.
 
Stay tuned for the next installment in this saga.  And leave a message in the comments if you have had a similar experience with St. Joseph Urgent Care in Rohnert Park! 

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