KYLE, Texas — A Central Texas woman has been left with thousands of dollars in medical bills that she says should be covered by Medicaid.
Ronika Allen reached out to the KVUE Defenders, saying the company billing her is making mistakes.
Allen's baby, Zayden, was born premature at St. David's in Austin in June 2023.
"He was pretty small. He was really small. He was one pound and 10 ounces, so I didn't know if he was going to make it or not. I was very emotional, I was crying," Allen said.
Arriving more than four months early and spending months in the NICU at St. David's, Allen was left with a hefty hospital bill, totaling more than $2,600,000 that was covered by Medicaid. However, doctors had to run many tests.
"I think a lot of the radiology actually came from, like, they noticed that his stomach was getting bloated at times and they couldn't figure it out," Allen said.
Nearly nine months after Zayden's birth, Allen is still getting bills from ARA Diagnostic Imaging, which have added up to an outstanding balance of more than $10,000.
Allen said she doesn't understand why Medicaid didn't cover these costs.
"The bill was $2.6 million. And they said, they keep telling me, 'You have a zero balance.' And I asked them about, 'OK, so why do I have this 10 grand from ARA?' They said that that's actually a separate like entity or division," Allen said.
Allen said Medicaid informed her that ARA is missing important billing deadlines and submitting incorrect billing codes.
"What we can say is that we take all patient concerns seriously and, as a practice, we are deeply committed to providing high-quality, safe and compassionate care for all patients and families who seek our services," ARA said in a statement to KVUE, not commenting directly on Allen's case.
"I've never had anything go into collections, but this has been over a period of five months and there's still like a, I believe, like an $8,000 balance on the account. And they just can't really get it figured out," Allen said.
KVUE also reached out to state Medicaid services. A spokesperson responded, telling KVUE that the department is working to find out why ARA is still billing Allen.
"Medicaid even told me to not pay the statements because they, they do not reimburse. And they told me that with Medicaid, you don't have a patient responsibility and there isn't a co-payment," Allen said.
Allen said that after months of hospital stays and scares, the entire ordeal has been a constant burden. She's hoping she and her son can soon have this weight lifted from an already trying time.