KYLE, Texas — In early March, the KVUE Defenders shared the story of a Central Texas mother who faced thousands of dollars in medical bills she isn't responsible for.
When Ronika Allen's son was born prematurely, her medical bills reached over $2.6 million. Medicaid covered most of it, but one diagnostic imaging company continues to send her bills to this day, saying she still owes thousands of dollars.
"I kept getting bills from them in October, November, December, January and February. I just kept getting bills from them," Allen said.
Allen's son, Zayden, was born early, weighing 1 pound, 10 ounces. He spent months in the NICU at Saint David's Medical Center. That time in the hospital racked up a significant hospital bill that was covered by Medicaid – except for services from the Austin Radiological Association (ARA).
"I was told on a phone by Medicaid that it was to the point where they actually had to send one of their account management persons out there to one of the facilities to educate them on how to submit and resubmit these claims so they can be paid for," Allen said.
Now, a spokesperson for Texas Health and Human Services, which handles Medicaid services, told KVUE that, "Certain claims were denied for being duplicative of paid claims. Providers are not permitted to balance bill Medicaid recipients."
"There was a mistake made because the bill was coded incorrectly. Therefore, a whole line of defaults and negativities went down the chain and it's cumulative," Belynda Montgomery, a patient advocate and owner of BBM Advocate, said.
Montgomery runs a patient advocacy business that is designed to help patients know their rights. She says usually, ARA is a reliable service provider, but there's often a disconnect between a company's services and its billing department.
"There are people in the world who get a bill, regardless of the price that is on the line, and pay it or work towards paying it. So very few people question what has been submitted to them," Montgomery said.
The Better Business Bureau gives ARA an A+ rating, but customer reviews give the company just one star out of five, with 26 complaints in the last three years.
However, Allen said things are starting to look up.
"Until reaching out to you all, I think I would have been in the same predicament. But it feels awesome to realize that after the first story aired, that the balance came down within two days by like six grand," Allen said.
And today, her son is happy and healthy.
"He's over 15 pounds now. He's very healthy. He's very active," Allen said.
Allen said since KVUE's story first aired, Medicaid reps have checked in with her nearly each day to update her regarding how to clear the rest of her balance.
KVUE reached out to ARA again about these issues. At the time of publication, we have yet to hear back.