Arizona hospital apologizes for $60K billing error

Kelly Gooch -

Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale, Ariz., is apologizing for incorrectly billing a patient's insurance company $60,000 and sending her account to a collections agency, according to azfamily.com.

Lyanna (Mangus) Craig said she visited the hospital emergency room after experiencing severe pain and was released after eight hours. But Banner Thunderbird ended up billing her insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield, $60,000 for a 10-day hospitalization.

She told azfamily.com her out-of-pocket costs totaled about $4,000 for a deductible, and her charges were sent to collections for lack of payment.

After reviewing the situation, Banner Thunderbird has apologized for the billing error.

"Banner Thunderbird's patient billing office has been working closely with Ms. Mangus to help resolve this issue," the hospital said, according to azfamily.com. "We are correcting the billing error and adjusting the amount owed by Ms. Mangus and her insurance company. Our apologies to Ms. Mangus for this error and the frustration this issue has caused. We are reviewing our processes to determine how we can prevent it from occurring again."

 

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