Complaints

This profile includes complaints for HEMSI's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  HEMSI

  2700 6th Ave SW Huntsville, AL 35805-3755

  
• 

  HEMSI

  1057 Oakwood Ave NW Huntsville, AL 35811-1633

  
• 

  HEMSI

  PO Box 7108 Huntsville, AL 35807-1108

  

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/06/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Date:June 14,2023-Now Business: HEMSI HUNTSVILLE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES and now **********************(collection company)Car accident last year (hit by another driver) had to be taken to hospital. (Accident happened in the intersection maybe 60 yards from Huntsville hospital doors.) They (Hemsi) drove me to said hospital. This complaint is not due to the services I received. Hemsi did a wonderful job in getting me to the hospital quickly and safely and were nothing but kind. My issue is with the billing department. I have been sent maybe 7 invoices stating I owe them $662 for their services and havent been able to get coverage from my CAR insurance and needed me to fill out a little form on the back with either changed car insurance information or healthcare insurance information. My car insurance does not cover anything of the sort. My health insurance does. So indicated that on the back as they asked with the proper information and sent it back in the mail. The same thing happened six more times of them asking me the same thing and I then repeated the same process. Now the bill has landed in collections and theyre saying Im refusing to pay it when I have told them countless times now via mail, my health insurance covers four Hemsi rides a year whether it is via helicopter, boat, or vehicle, it is covered. I have tried to call these people on several occasions to try to straighten this out and i never got a response. If they sent me some kind of letter explaining why they wont allow my health insurance to cover it, that would be one thing. Im just trying to get them to actually process the payment with my health insurance. It would be easy for me to just pay the $662 and just go about my life, but thats not fair. And pointless considering I pay almost $200 a month for health insurance that covers this exact situation. I would be more than happy to disclose whatever further information needed.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/06/2024

  We are sorry there has been confusion about the invoice.  We do have the various insurance information.  Per law, HEMSI had billed the auto (liability) insurance and have not had a reply.  On our side this usually means there is an open claim since we have also not received a denial.  If there were an open claim, which is all we can conclude based on the paperwork (or lack of paperwork) from the auto plan, we are not legally able to bill health or any other insurance provider.  We kept sending the invoices so the patient could see the claim had not been paid and there was no denial from the auto insurance.  Often auto accidents take a long to time to resolve so the timing was not odd or an indication of something wrong.  We are sorry the patient did not know the denial was needed.  If the patient will please send the documentation of non-coverage under the auto plan, we will use that in place of the denial and proceed with the health billing.  (The fax is ************ if that is preferred.)  Without the proof of the non-coverage or a denial from the auto policy, it would appear HEMSI is trying to bill two policies for the same transport which is not allowed.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/06/2024

  Good news for the patient - we were able to speak with the auto insurance adjustor at Progressive (***** **********) and he said that Progressive paid the patient for the HEMSI claim on 07/18/2023 for the full amount of $662.00.  The disbursement number is 504404538on. 

  The other medical bills were settled on 07/13/2023.  Any payments made to the patient were at the request of the patient who indicated she would pay her bills herself (per the notes at Progressive).  This explains why HEMSI has not received a denial. 

  The claim still resides at *** collection agency where the patient will be able to settle it.  The notes at *** mention that the patient indicated she was paid directly so we believe there was  just some confusion and hope this information from the auto plan will help the patient sort out the payments and information she has received.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 22647175
  
  I am rejecting this response is because: 

  It doesnt explain why they never ran the claim through my health insurance the first or second go roundI know I was paid by ********************** because the man who caused the car accident didnt have medical coverages in his policy. So they had to do a pay out instead. It was never discussed what the money had to be used for, it was whatever I needed whether it was medical, financial coverage(because I was out of work for two months due to the accident and surgery recovery), towards a new car (since mine was totaled), physical therapy (that I had to pay out of pocket for). All inconveniences that were brought onto me because a man couldnt simply wait another minute at a caution light. 
  

  I am not asking for a handout or trying to get out of paying. Nor am I trying to play victim here or point fingers. When I was at the hospital, I was asked by every nurse or doctor that came in the room to verify my name, dob, and health insurance provider. At first I didnt want to run anything through my health insurance, but it was going to be ran through my Insurance whether I liked it or not. I didnt have a choice in that moment. But why not, I pay enough for it every month. I was advised to let my health insurance cover what it can and whatever couldnt be covered (physical therapy being an example) came out of the pay out money.
  

  Please understand the only thing I am asking is that Hemsi take the total invoice back from the collection company (***) and submit it with my health insurance. What they should have done in the first place. If Im being honest, money that I got from another persons car insurance company (because their driver made a poor decision) is none of Hemsis concern nor does it seem like they even knew about it until I submitted a dispute against the collection notice from *** a few days ago. With all of this being said, that is truly the only way I am going to be satisfied in this issue. Whatevers decided is decided I suppose, but I hope this helped set the perspective for where I am coming from. God Bless and thank you for all of your help.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********* *******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/10/2024

  HEMSI is unable to bill health insurance because the liability insurance has paid the claim.  The adjustor said specifically that they paid the HEMSI invoice and noted the amount, so we are not allowed (by law) to invoice another provider since payment was made by the auto plan.  Since the patient received the payment directly for the invoice and HEMSI did not receive the payment, we are correct in billing the patient who received the funds for the invoice.  We are sorry we can't invoice anyone else.  Legally we can only seek to bill the party that has the payment.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/10/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********* *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/05/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My son was diagnosed with RSV. We took the proper steps called 911 they brought him by ambulance to our local emergency room. Our local emergency room wasn't equipped for the neo natal care her required. The hospital transferred him out to Huntsville ******* where he was hospitalized. Hemsi sent me a bill for $693 dollars to which I called my state insurance and they spoke to HEMSI themselves telling them I was not responsible for this bill since my son receives state insurance. They keep on sending the bill to collections and I would like it removed off my collections account.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/26/2024

  Unfortunately, HEMSI was never contacted by the insurance company and did not receive any paperwork from the provider to direct how the claim should be handled / adjusted.  Often out of state insurance for ambulance transport requires patient coordination they are generally required to provide additional information to their insurance company for the transport service that was received out of network (so it was not unusual for HEMSI to not be contacted).  If the patient's guardian will please provide the paperwork indicating the adjustments HEMSI should make, we will be glad to resolve the issue.  Thank you for making us aware of the issue and we look forward to receiving the paperwork and making the needed adjustments.  We are glad to have helped your son and will process the paperwork you send as soon as it is received so the matter can be resolved.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/26/2024

  We are sorry we did not know there was information on the invoice and look forward to helping resolve the issue.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/26/2024

   
  Complaint: 22094454
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  You did know this was an on going issue and it was for my son his name is *******************. The bills I have been receiving are under the name ******* which isn't even our last name. It was illegal what they did and I want to make sure that this is removed off my credit report promptly. 

  Sincerely, *************************

  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/27/2024

  We are happy to assist with this but are sorry that we do not have the information you state that you have that we need.  You mentioned your insurance company said there are adjustments to be made to clear the balance.  We do not have any communication from your insurance or would have made the adjustments they indicated are to be made.  Please provide the paperwork you mentioned so we can resolve this for you - we understand your desire to have it corrected, we only need the adjustment information to do that.  We have not received it so far and that is the missing piece.  We depend on communication from the insurance company or the patient's paperwork from their insurance company to know what to do with any invoice and will gladly comply with the information once we have it so we can post everything properly.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/28/2024

  Date Sent: 8/27/2024 2:57:24 PM
  We are happy to assist with this but are sorry that we do not have the information you state that you have that we need.  You mentioned your insurance company said there are adjustments to be made to clear the balance.  We do not have any communication from your insurance or would have made the adjustments they indicated are to be made.  Please provide the paperwork you mentioned so we can resolve this for you - we understand your desire to have it corrected, we only need the adjustment information to do that.  We have not received it so far and that is the missing piece.  We depend on communication from the insurance company or the patient's paperwork from their insurance company to know what to do with any invoice and will gladly comply with the information once we have it so we can post everything properly.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/29/2024

  The claim ID number is: ************ 

  The bill in the amount of $1,118.00

  It was denied by Tenn Care for being out of network and HEMSI should have contacted *********** for ******** and ********* they refused the claim as well because of HEMSI's refusal to timely comply with protol by contacting CMS ****** was seen September, ****** and the bill wasn't sent into insurance until January, *******. It is illegal for the state of ******* to put this on my credit knowing that ****** was a Tenn Care member and they chose to accept him. There is a Tax ID number of ********* if the BBB can pull this information up. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/30/2024

   
  Complaint: 22094454
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I did not state there were going to be any adjustments made by my insurance! I will provide you exactly what the the insurance company stated to me and why your claim was denied. The claim ID number is ************ and it was billed in the amount of $1,118.00 it was denied not only due to out of service network but also because the proper protocol was neglected by HEMSI ******************* was seen on Sept,3, 2022  and HEMSI did not send out the bill within the proper time frame HEMSI sent out the bill on Jan,20,2023 which is outside their window for timely filing. HEMSI should have called CMS which stands for center for ******** and ******** services since it was out of state but due to HEMSIs negligence this is illegal to fall back on the responsibility of a TennCare member. The Tax ID for this claim is 630799285
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/30/2024

  I am sorry - your insurance company provided the initial denial that states we are out of network (as we would be since we are not in your home state).  This denial did not indicate we were to adjust off the balance as you indicated in your earlier comments so that is why we thought you had additional paperwork that we will need to take care of it.  An out of network denial means the work falls to the patient to coordinate payment as medical providers cannot enroll with every out-state insurance.  They do provide a mechanism for the patient to work it out.  HEMSI did not miss any process steps and is not responsible for obtaining any prior authorization as we are not caring for the patient at the time the transport is arranged.  We are never in possession of the full medical records that have the information needed for the pre-authorization to be granted.  We only filed upon request for the denial as we know we are not a provider and don't have standing to file which is why we sent the bill so it could be worked out by the patient.  HEMSI is following the rules as explained by your insurance provider when we previously called to make sure the denial that was received was accurate.  We were informed it was accurate and were not given any instructions to adjust off the balance since a transport being out of network does not mean it is not still owed.  That situation happens a lot and we were informed you would be able to work with them to obtain payment.  (Sometimes the patient is paid and then in turn pays HEMSI.)  We have recalled the claim from the collection agency in good faith that you had information regarding adjustments from your insurance company.  We are sorry you are getting one story and our paperwork is telling us another (unfortunately this is not unusual in more complex billing situations).  Do you have someone we can contact since you do not have the paperwork that is needed by HEMSI (to override what we have) and the only paperwork we have from your insurance indicates that you owe the invoice?  We will call again but our contact number (for providers) is giving us the same information as before.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/30/2024

  I have called the insurance company again and they are sending HEMSI a cease payment request. They have been contacted prior to this on a three way call which I was on and told that it was illegal for them to charge patients on state insurance but apparently failed to comply with that fully knowing they are in the wrong for this. The insurance company is now going to be involved as well with helping come up with a resolution seeing as I had no choice in the matter to where he was transported. The ******************************** wasn't equipped for my son's needs and Huntsville had an available bed to suit his care needs. I don't know why Huntsville was their choice because if I knew all this I would have advocated for him to go to ******************* instead if they had a bed available.