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In Tampa, Florida, a perplexing medical billing error left a Hillsborough County resident, Gloria A. Valdes, caught in a frustrating situation where her personal insurance details were mistakenly merged with those of another patient sharing her name. Thanks to the intervention of Better Call Behnken, this issue has finally been resolved, bringing relief to Valdes.
The mix-up involved two women with the same first and last names, differentiated only by a middle initial. For weeks, Valdes grappled with the confusion, which all started when she received a bill for an ambulance ride she never took. The charge was from Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, and it soon became evident that the bill was meant for another woman who also went by the name Gloria Valdes, minus the middle initial “A.”
This erroneous billing situation wasn’t just a clerical headache; Valdes discovered that her insurance had also been used to cover part of the other woman’s ambulance transport costs. It turned out that Digitech, the billing company for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, had mistakenly combined her records with those of the other woman, leading to this entanglement.
After weeks of navigating this bureaucratic maze, Valdes finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel with the help of Better Call Behnken. Expressing her gratitude for the resolution, she stated, “I couldn’t have done it without you. You were the key, and I thank you so much.”
Records showed her insurance also paid part of the bill for the other woman’s ambulance transport. Valdes later discovered that Digitech, the billing company for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, appears to have merged her medical and billing information with the other woman’s records.
8 On Your Side Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken called Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and was promised the issue would be escalated. It took many phone calls and partial fixes but exactly two weeks later, this issue was solved.