APRIA Billing me, despite Medicare

Not yet ready to use the C-word, Crapria, as they have been helpful to this newbie. But got a bill for a few small charges a couple of weeks after getting new CPAP,etc. When was forced to give a credit card at pickup, and before ordering, they assured me Medicare and my high-end supplement to Medicare would cover it all.
Called Apria, where the voicemail was filled up, and couldn't leave message, and finally got through later in the week after being on hold a long time, and was told I wasn't supposed to be billed, as it was being submitted to Medicare. What's going on? I suspect most just pay the small amount ,$30. Do they ever pay you back, or just keep the money? Why not use the credit card? What are they charging for anyway? Waste of time and effort.

BTW does Apria have other chinstraps?

snorebeard wrote:What's going on? I suspect most just pay the small amount ,$30. Do they ever pay you back, or just keep the money? Why not use the credit card? What are they charging for anyway? Waste of time and effort.

File a dispute with your credit card company, unauthorized charge.

This is the reason no one should ever give their credit card info to Crapria for any reason. They will bill you. They will charge your card. Doesn't mater if insurance/Medicare pays or if you even ordered anything.
After you file the dispute with your credit card company, you should cancel that card and have it replaced by one that can not be accessed by Crapria.
This is a condensed version of what you will find if you search this forum. If you Google Crapria or Apria you won't believe the number of hits.

It is my honest opinion that the ability to get paid for the same item
TWICE
is an integral part of Apria's business model.
For this reason, they are no longer my supplier.

An easy way to deal with this, tell them that billing you, and then billing Medicare for the same item is literally straight up Medicare fraud, and if they don't want to be reported and investigated they will refund your money and never do that again.

It is very much against the law to bill the patient and medicare for the same item. It is one of the cardinal definitions of Medicare fraud.

I simply refused to give them my card; they refuse to do business with me without it.
I'm perfectly OK with that. They are not worth fighting--for or against.

Cancel your card and NEVER give Crapia your card again. They asked be a few months back for my card and I just laughed and laughed...

Sheriff

What makes you think Crapria will be happy getting paid only twice?

Crapria asked me for my card a half dozen or more times the day I picked up my ASV machine.

They asked a couple of times on subsequent visits.

Now, when I pick up an item I see the receptionist almost ask, catch herself and move on.

They have never refused to provide what I requested without the card. They threaten and move past it.

Paralel wrote:An easy way to deal with this, tell them that billing you, and then billing Medicare for the same item is literally straight up Medicare fraud, and if they don't want to be reported and investigated they will refund your money and never do that again.

It is very much against the law to bill the patient and medicare for the same item. It is one of the cardinal definitions of Medicare fraud.

OP: WHY HAVEN'T YOU CALLED MEDICARE??? That would quite nicely take care of the whole issue.


Edit: I would think calling Medicare every time someone has this issue would finally take care of the whole issue!

They absolutely cannot require you to have a valid credit card on file to get equipment and/or supplies that are being paid for by a third party and there is no balance. They can ask all they want, but they cannot insist. If they do insist, they have run afoul of several regulations preventing such predatory behavior.

Apria did it, charged me, again. I had reported receiving a bill, earlier, for small charges, which were not to be charged, Spoke with Apria, and they said to ignore, Medicare supplement would pay.

Now, notwithstanding all of this, not only did they send a bill asking me to pay the charges which they are not entitled to, they also CHARGED MY CARD they have on file.

I see why the people here rile and call it CRAPRIA, and talk of multiple payments and charges, and Medicare fraud. How does one report this to medicare and what good would it do?

The local Crapria is downsizing. Two full time RRT's have been cut to 25 hours each,
And made to serve multiple locations at least 50 miles apart. --and this after at least a decade of service.
Bad employer as well as lousy provider.

File a formal, written, dispute with the credit card company. Follow the legal procedures carefully, such as contacting the merchant first.

If the credit card company gets enough formal disputes with a particular merchant, they will lean on the merchant, sometimes even fining the merchant.