Consumer complaint received 2023-11-01
Company: Affiliated Collection Services, LLC
State: NJ
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
I went to the emergency room of XXXX XXXX XXXX  at XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX late night due to XXXX pain which I thought might be caused by XXXX. I was given pain relief medicine and my pain lessened. The pain was actually caused by the known XXXX XXXX and I do not have XXXX. After only a few hours in the XXXX XXXX, I was told that I was admitted to ( without my prior consent ) the in-patient hospital bed stay for XXXX to remove the XXXX XXXX. It was not explained to me that it was not considered an emergent situation to make XXXX in XXXX likely. I also overheard that there is not enough XXXX XXXX. Naturally you would wonder why I was the one picked to be moved to the in-patient hospital room. I would definitely decline to be admitted as in-patient hospital stay had people told me it is just observation and there is a lack of physicians which makes XXXX unlikely, because I knew what I need is XXXX, not observation. Without XXXX, the most you can do is to use pain relief medicine. A reasonable person would think the same way and it is well known how expensive in-patient hospital stay is. To my surprise, no matter how many times I asked for XXXX or the date/time of XXXX in XXXX in the hospital room, they did not give me the XXXX or schedule it for me. So I requested leaving the hospital the next day. Had I not requested to leave myself, they would have kept me in the hospital for the remainder of XXXX. The in-patient hospital stay did no benefit to me at all but exacerbated my situation because I was not able to sleep due to lights on, a lot of noise and being interrupted. The hospital stay and observation is just additional suffering to me. Even with observation, XXXX is not possible because they need to be scheduled as I was later told and there is not enough physicians at that time. Had people told me the truth or explain things in good faith, I would have gone home right after being given the pain medicine. To my bigger surprise, a huge amount ( more than {$10000.00} ) was charged for the in-patient hospital stay. Given the situation, people should have let me go home directly without admitting me to the hospital. The service is not deemed necessary and the insurance company denied it for quite a few months. Please see the attached for the explanation from the insurance company. I am guessing the medical records can be worded slightly in a way favorable to the hospital and the decision made. Due to these reasons, I do not have a responsibility to pay for service that I even did not agree to. To make an analogy, patient blood was drawn and was told to test the blood type, but genetic testing was performed instead. Do the patient have to foot the bill for the genetic testing? Obviously not. Before I submitted this complaint, I have called multiple times in the week of XX/XX/XXXX to have this bill be put on hold because it is under investigation by government agencies. But this request was denied. If this bill is sent to collection and if there is any adverse impact to me. I request to be paid for such impact and mental suffering. By calling their patient financial services, I was told that if I do not make the payment, it will be sent to collection and their attorney which is XXXX XXXX XXXX through which they will sue patient and get the payment through their bank account or some other way. This is a scaring practice. I am not responsible for the bill. Whoever made the decision to move me to in-patient hospital stay is responsible to pay for it. Please also note that medical records were created by the provider and I could not change it although I can call that department and explain what happened ( the same as what I said in this complaint ). I did have the XXXX in early XXXX which the hospital reaped a huge revenue already. Charging me both in XXXX and XXXX for the same reason just due to inability to give me a XXXX in XXXX does not make sense. So I request waiving the bill of {$1100.00}. I also called patient relations department multiple times, but XXXX XXXX refused to waive or adjust the bill after my detailed explanation. She claimed she reviewed the records. But records are created by them. Wording can be phrased/modified to their benefit, not mine. My request to put the bill on hold while it is in dispute was also denied. 

If the business does not respond, it is considered that the bill was waived and no contact from the group or their representative should be allowed. 

The government agency reserve the right to publish this to the public for other people to be aware of shaded practice by this business.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation