By Woodrow Wilcox

On April 18, 2012, a client visited our office and brought some bills and papers seeking my help.  The client is a retired teacher from Hammond, Indiana.

She had phoned me the day before and tried to describe her problem.  But, I told her that I could not climb through the telephone line to see the documents that she was trying to describe.  I told her that she should bring her papers and her problem to our office so that I could review them with her.

Some of the documents that the client showed to me were new to me and I have helped senior citizen clients with Medicare related medical bills for nine years.  With the client present to grant permission for me to ask questions about her case, I started phoning Medicare.  It took me two phone calls to different Medicare offices to get to the bottom of the client’s problem.

Of the nineteen entries of medical services on the forms that the client received, seventeen were erroneous, false, wrong.  That means that Medicare had processed over 89 percent of the claims on the form INCORRECTLY and it was “gumming up” medical claims for our client. Medicare thought that it had the claims right and Medicare was trying to charge our client some money that Medicare believed our senior citizen client owed.

I typed a letter to Medicare for our client to sign.  The letter politely informed Medicare that 17 of 19 medical bill entries on the form that it sent the client were incorrect and requested that all the erroneous entries be corrected.  This will save our client time, money, and worry.  How much is that worth to a senior citizen?

“I am so glad that I brought the problem to you, Mr. Wilcox,” the client told me.  “This insurance and government paperwork is difficult for me to sort and understand.  I really appreciate your help.”

The client that I helped is a smart person.  She is a retired teacher.  But, insurance and government language and paperwork can befuddle most people.  The help that I gave this client was provided free of charge.  The owners and managers of this insurance agency really care about our senior citizen clients.  We know that there are problems with the Medicare system.  When those problems cause money troubles for our clients, we do our best to help our clients to save money by resolving those problems.  Does your insurance agent give this high level of service to the senior citizens that you know?  If not, why not?

Note: Woodrow Wilcox is the senior medical bill case worker at Senior Care Insurance Services in Merrillville, Indiana.  Wilcox has save the clients of that agency over one million dollars by correcting medical bill errors that were caused by mistakes in the Medicare system.  For other articles by Wilcox, visit www.dakotavoice.com, www.americanclarion.com, or the websites of other publications that use his articles.

Written on April 18, 2012 by

Woodrow Wilcox

Wilcox News Service

P. O. Box 744

Griffith, IN 46319

219-736-9450

woodrowwilcox@hotmail.com