THOMASVILLE, N.C. — Norman Bayse is not one to brag but at 89-years-old he gets around well, “My brother uses a cane, but I don’t need one,” said Bayse.
A few months ago, Bayse wasn’t feeling good for a few days when he decided to go visit his doctor. Unsure what was going on he had a sore throat, “My dad is not a good sick person,” said his daughter Norma Weaver. “He had a cold or virus.”
It was long until Bayse was back to feeling good and doing everything as usual. Part of his daily routine includes getting the mail and that’s when he noticed a bill from his doctor. The statement showed a $40 charge which was unusual because his insurance has always paid for these types of visits, “I didn’t know what to think,” said Bayse.
Bayse called the doctors office and was told it would look into the bill, “Then he gets another bill,” said Weaver. The bills kept coming for about a month. Bayse estimates he received a total of six or seven. He and his sister had been in contact with the doctor’s office, “They are all in agreement this was a mistake,” said Weaver.
It took about three or four weeks, but the doctor’s office eventually called Bayse and his daughter back and told them there was nothing it could do about the billing issue, “They said it was out of their hands.” said Weaver.
The billing is apparently done by Wake Forest Baptist and is not generated by the doctor’s office. Weaver was told the code associated with the doctor is wrong and because of that a bill was generated, “The lady at the doctor’s office says this has happened to about 20 patients,” said Weaver.
Some of those patients paid the bill even though they didn’t need too. Bayse did not pay but after receiving about six or seven bills it was sent to collections, “It has affected his health, worrying about the letter,” said Weaver.
Unable to get this straightened out Weaver called our News 2 Call for Action Team. Our volunteers researched the case and we placed a call to Wake Forest Baptist. A spokesperson told us he would investigate the matter and get back to us. Within a week we were told these issues was being corrected and that Bayse did not have to pay the bill.
Wake Forest Baptist sent us a statement that read: We recently discovered some issues that resulted in some patient bills being processed incorrectly. We want our patients to be satisfied with their experience and we have let them know that we are working diligently to correct these issues.
Norma is happy with the outcome and relieved her dad is no longer having to worry about the collection notice, and bill, “Something that has been going on for five months (you) were able to resolve in two weeks, said Weaver.