THERE AIN'T NO COPAY! (a bit long)

[Deserted]

This just happened yesterday. God help me, Saturdays are getting worse.

So I pick up a wheelchair customer and what turns out to be his wife. (I thought she was one of his nurses, but whatever.) I've driven the man in the chair before, but not his wife. The man is very pleasant; his wife...

They seem to be in a hurry, so I just move with that patented Deserted Efficiency[tm] and get them where they're going. The trip is paid for by Medicaid (government health care payment assistance program), but there's a $2 copay. I forgot to mention the copay at the start of the trip, which is usually no problem, but you're damn straight I remembered to tell them at the end.

The wife said, "No there's not," and pushed her husband into the clinic. These are not the droids I'm looking for... I followed them in, and the husband was already in to see the dr, so I repeated myself to the wife, who proceeded to freak out about it, claiming that Big Green Cab Co is always adding the copay on, even though their Medicaid provider has supposedly told Big Green Cab Co that there are in fact no copays.

Well, excuse me for living, lady, but those copays come from your provider! They have their own little interface to Big Green Cab Co's dispatch computers, and they are the ones that enter any copay... not us.

I was forced to break out the I don't care on her. To paraphrase myself: "Lady, I'm a driver. I don't set policy and I don't set the price. You can pay me the $2 or I can call this is as refusal to pay, and then you will never get another Medicaid ride again." She continued to refuse, even after I pointed out that one of us was paying that $2, and it sure as hell wasn't going to come out of my pay.

Finally, I told her that I was calling it in to my dispatch, and went back out to my van. She followed me... shrug. As I was dialing, Satan the woman whipped out her phone and dialled. She got through to (I assume) Big Green Cab Co's Medicaid call center and screamed (screamed!) "LET ME TALK TO A SUPERVISOR -- NOW!!!" She's lucky it wasn't me on the other end; I would've hung up.

Dispatch finally answered and I told the girl (calmly, even) "Passenger says there should be no copay." Dispatcher checked the ride history... copay, no copay, copay, no copay... it was an pretty even mix. All the while, the dispatcher could hear crazy lady screaming at the poor schmuck on her phone... two feet away from my head. (I was sitting in my cab; she was standing right next to my open door. I should've closed it when she approached...)

The dispatcher finally told me she's gonna credit me with the $2 just so I could get the hell away from the nutjob. I thanked her and hung up, turned my head and said to the frothing hellbeast: "Move." Have I ever mentioned that people tell me I'm scary in person? She shut right up and practically jumped back. I closed my door, started the van, rolled the window down, and blasted some VERY loud death metal right in her face. Petty, but satisfying. Yeah, I'm expecting a complaint about this call. That's fine; I'm refusing to drive her ever again. (Her husband -- the guy who's actually in the wheelchair -- sure; he's quite pleasant. But I can refuse anybody, and I'm refusing her.)

[fireheart]

Is the wife the one who's getting the copay or the husband? (it's 10:40pm here at night). If it's the wife, you may want to raise the point that technically the husband is the one who is getting the funding, so you're not discriminating

[otakuneko]

Over two frikkin bucks. What a bitch.

[Shalom]

Medicaid copays in pharmacy are apparently different. If they (claim they) can't afford to pay it, you are not allowed to withhold the medicine. Doesn't mean they don't owe you the money, but good luck collecting it.

Used to piss me off royally, back when I worked for Aid of Rite, when the patients swore they couldn't afford the dollar copay on their meds, then walk to the front register and start purchasing lottery tickets.

There was once a situation in Massachusetts where the state, trying to close a hole in their budget, announced that they were upping the Medicaid copays to $6 (brand) and $3 (generic). Since there's not the chance of a fart in a hurricane of this ever being collected, this means it comes straight out of the pocket of the pharmacy. Unfortunately for the government of the state of Massachusetts, both the Green Wall and the Chain of Verylarge Stores (who between them represent 75% of the pharmacies in that state) independently announced that if this passed, they would stop accepting Medicaid prescriptions . . . which would mean that there would be large swaths of the state where there would not be a single pharmacy filling Medicaid scripts. State backed down.

I could fratch about this all day, but this isn't the place.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I know here in my area, we have a specialized transportation system provided by the city as part of their mass transit that provides trips for persons with various types of disabilities including mobility (ie, requiring a wheelchair.)

My mom utilizes these services reguarly, as they're more dependable and drive safer than some of the privately owned companies in the area (some of those drivers are HORRIBLE and the vans shake so bad to the point where it's a miracle they don't start leaving a trail of parts along the roadways!)

There is a charge to ride these special transport vans - currently set at $1.50 each way (same as riding the local mass transit bus line.) You can either put cash in the meter when you board the van or purchase a punch card (which is good for 10 trips/$14.00 currently, which is a good deal and the option my Mom usually uses.)

Not once have we argued over a copay - only time we've had an issue is when one particular driver (who also had the audacity to complain the entire way on the return trip ) had to raise a stink saying she had no notice of a PCA traveling with my Mom (Personal Care Assistant, who can accompany a wheelchair bound person for no charge.) After Mom explained that it should be in her file with the office, the driver begrudgingly called the dispatch and asked - only to be told there was one on file and that they were to be allowed on the van.

Bitch would not shut up about it the entire way back to our house - she's lucky I didn't call and complain on her (Mom didn't want to make a fuss - had this been 20 years earlier and Mom was more her old self, that complaint would have been filed as soon as she got in the house and she could grab a phone!)

Bitch is lucky she didn't get Deserted . . .and the driver would have had EVERY right to do so with the amount of belligerence she showed.

It also sounds like to me from what your dispatcher said going over the notes, that's she's pulled this no copay scam before - meaning she's a frequent flier of sorts. She's costing your company not only money but also time that could have been utilized picking up another fare that wouldn't have been so high maintenance, in which case it's a shame she can't be banned completely.

[Eireann]

Send the paperboy from Better Off Dead after her. He never gives up on his two dollars.

[Silent-Hunter]

She's costing your company not only money but also time that could have been utilized picking up another fare that wouldn't have been so high maintenance, in which case it's a shame she can't be banned completely.

I think she has. He did say he was refusing to carry her anymore, but that he would still take her husband.

[eltf177]

Medicaid copays in pharmacy are apparently different. If they (claim they) can't afford to pay it, you are not allowed to withhold the medicine. Doesn't mean they don't owe you the money, but good luck collecting it.

Used to piss me off royally, back when I worked for Aid of Rite, when the patients swore they couldn't afford the dollar copay on their meds, then walk to the front register and start purchasing lottery tickets.

This would tick me off to no end. And if they claim they can't copay and then try and buy lottery tickets? I would take their money and immediately apply it to the copay!

I think she has. He did say he was refusing to carry her anymore, but that he would still take her husband.

This sounds fair. He's not the problem here although he could (and should) have said something. And I certainly would get the word around about this, see she's banned everywhere...

[Deserted]

Is the wife the one who's getting the copay or the husband? (it's 10:40pm here at night). If it's the wife, you may want to raise the point that technically the husband is the one who is getting the funding, so you're not discriminating

The copay is for the trip, not for any given person. (The husband was the one named on my terminal; the wife came along to assist & care for him, just like the nurse on previous trips.)

Over two frikkin bucks. What a bitch.

The argument could be made the other way: "It's only $2, Deserted, you'll make that back on the very next trip."

Had she been calm and rational about it, instead of going from zero to raging bitch in less than a second, I wouldn't be posting this. I would've called dispatch, they would've spent a few minutes investigating, then the trip almost certainly would've been updated with "no copay".

My mom utilizes these services reguarly, as they're more dependable and drive safer than some of the privately owned companies in the area (some of those drivers are HORRIBLE and the vans shake so bad to the point where it's a miracle they don't start leaving a trail of parts along the roadways!)

Yikes. My van gets serviced monthly, and it includes a very thorough inspection. About the only thing they won't fix is cruise control. (Luckily, my van's cruise control works -- but I've had regular cabs in the past without it, and I rely on CC to improve gas mileage.)

It also sounds like to me from what your dispatcher said going over the notes, that's she's pulled this no copay scam before - meaning she's a frequent flier of sorts. She's costing your company not only money but also time that could have been utilized picking up another fare that wouldn't have been so high maintenance, in which case it's a shame she can't be banned completely.

Honestly, I don't think this is a scam. Based on what my dispatcher told me, and what I heard from loving wife's screamfest, I think it's the Medicaid provider f*cking up. (It's the largest one in Desert Hell, so yeah, mistakes happen.)

Send the paperboy from Better Off Dead after her. He never gives up on his two dollars.

I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!!! I haven't watched that movie in yeeeeeeears....

I think she has. He did say he was refusing to carry her anymore, but that he would still take her husband.

Upon giving this detail further thought, I don't think I can. The fellow really needs a full-time caretaker present at all times, and I can't refuse to transport the caretaker for... well, pretty much any reason. I may just have to refuse to accept calls to drive him.

This would tick me off to no end. And if they claim they can't copay and then try and buy lottery tickets? I would take their money and immediately apply it to the copay!

You and your "perfect world" dreams.

[Ben_Who]

Over two frikkin bucks. What a bitch.

Some people are...very strange when it comes to money. We talk about "penny wise and pound foolish," often taken to ludicrous extremes, but this isn't quite that, nor is it a matter of being unable to budget. It's the person freaking out that her ten cent soup coupon wasn't accepted, walking across the parking lot, and hopping into a Lexus.

Naturally, we wonder why they lose their minds over small amounts while they're sitting on gold; I heard one of them say that the reason he was rich was because he haggled the pennies, but all the pennies he'd ever haggled over, added up, wouldn't have put a dent in the price of his house, his car, or the amount he pays to private schools, so that's a rationale, not a reason. (Ironically, the reason he was rich was because he was a brilliant entrepreneur.)

So I developed a new theory: this theory is that people are more likely to freak out over money they "have to pay" than money they "want to pay." If you're buying a book at a bookstore, the $12.00 is money you want to pay; the 6% sales tax is money you have to pay. Ditto for delivery charges, driver fees, add-ons, and other things not necessarily included in the base price. My roommate and I pay $120 per month to Time Warner Cable; he once spent three weeks playing phone tag to chase down some 15 cent surcharge they'd tacked on.

So these people are just fine paying $35,000 for a car or going to the nail salon every weekend or going on vacation to Disneyland, but hand them a bill with a ten-cent local surcharge and they blow their stacks. Even when the surcharges and add-ons are mentioned up-front, they still only see the base price until it comes time to pay.

[Sapphire Silk]

Over two frikkin bucks. What a bitch.

You should see prison inmates flip out over the four dollars they had to pay for sick call. Technically, they had to pay it, but some of the nurses got very poor about submitting the paperwork required to collect it because the inmates would refuse to sign it . . . especially the EW's who thought their routine follow ups for their chronic conditions entitled them to free health care for EVERYTHING.

If you had high blood pressure, heart problems, were diabetic, or had another serious medical condition and were in general population, the doc saw you every three months for routine follow up for free. Complications of your chronic health condition were also treated with no co pay charged.

But if you got a cold, had allergies, cut yourself or wanted health care for any other reason, you had to pay. And these guys would just flip out. So the nurses wouldn't do the form because they just got tired of the arguments.

Then they hired me. My previous jail job we had the same setup: four dollars for a visit and you paid it whether you wanted to or not. So I started collecting the forms. I would simply tell the inmate: you can sign the form or not. If you refuse, I will write, "refused to sign," and submit it anyway. Since we have a medical record of today's visit, you will be charged.

Many refused to sign, but they all paid. That made the company I worked for (we were subcontractors) happy; they wanted these collections done. So my boss put me in clinic permanently (normally we rotated between clinic, infirmary, and med room) because I was the only one who'd collect.

How the payments worked was like this: if you were seen, the four dollars came out of your prison account. If you had no money in your account, we'd still see you but the balance would accrue and any money deposited would pay your bill before you could use it for commissary. One way or another, the company got its money.

Medicaid copays in pharmacy are apparently different. If they (claim they) can't afford to pay it, you are not allowed to withhold the medicine. Doesn't mean they don't owe you the money, but good luck collecting it.

We had a similar issue in the ER when I worked in California. There was a 5 dollar copay for ER visits if you had Medi Cal, due when you visited. We still had to see you if you claimed not to have it, but a balance would accrue and eventually the state would take it out of your food stamps or other state benefits. Oh how they'd bitch about that five dollars.

Or they'd want a prescription for Tylenol for their kids fever or sudafed for their colds when the Medi Cal rules clearly forbade scripts for OTC meds. For awhile the docs wrote them just to get the asswipes out the door, but the state cracked down and the docs had to stop.

Oh, how the wailing ensued. "I waited six hours and I get nothing? How dare you!"

Well, if you can afford smokes and beer, you can afford a few bucks for Tylenol or Sudafed, asshole.

[Deserted]

So I developed a new theory: this theory is that people are more likely to freak out over money they "have to pay" than money they "want to pay." If you're buying a book at a bookstore, the $12.00 is money you want to pay; the 6% sales tax is money you have to pay. Ditto for delivery charges, driver fees, add-ons, and other things not necessarily included in the base price. My roommate and I pay $120 per month to Time Warner Cable; he once spent three weeks playing phone tag to chase down some 15 cent surcharge they'd tacked on.

So these people are just fine paying $35,000 for a car or going to the nail salon every weekend or going on vacation to Disneyland, but hand them a bill with a ten-cent local surcharge and they blow their stacks. Even when the surcharges and add-ons are mentioned up-front, they still only see the base price until it comes time to pay.

That actually makes a lot of sense. We shall call it "Ben Who's Law of What do you mean, $2 copay?!"

[Ree]

I could fratch about this all day, but this isn't the place.

No, it's not the place. But we do have an entire forum just for that purpose.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!!! I haven't watched that movie in yeeeeeeears....

I thought it was tree-fiddy. (Oh wait, that was in a different show.)

[Eireann]

And remember what happened to the paperboy?