A1 Open MRI

I receive an MRI once a year and I usually get them done at UM’s Applebaum center in downtown Miami. Because Applebaum is technically a hospital according to insurance companies, my new insurance company called and said that although Applebaum is within the network, it may cost more since its categorized as a hospital. They sent me a list of MRI centers close to my house and I selected A1 Imaging of Pines. My primary insurance company even made the appointment for me and I followed up by providing my secondary insurance information to A1 and was assured that BOTH insurances would be sent the request for approval and that if anything else was needed they would contact me. Fortunately, when they called to confirm my appointment the day prior I decided to ask if both the primary and secondary insurance company approved the MRI. The receptionist asked if I had wanted to send the request to the secondary as well. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Of course, I want to charge both insurances. that’s why I provided you both policy numbers! As a result, I had to delay my MRI appointment and my doctor appointment because of this display of incompetence that would take 5 – 7 business days to process.
When I finally arrived at the facility for my MRI, I ended up having to wait for OVER AN HOUR past my scheduled appointment time because they were running on a delay. You would think someone would call and tell the clients, «hey, I know it’s rush hour so there’s no need to stress about getting here on time in the rain because we’re running over an hour late.» The MRI experience was standard; nothing special to write about there. However, the billing mess that they have created and have been unwilling to address after the fact is beyond ridiculous.
Instead of charging my primary, they charged my secondary. They keep saying that my primary denied the request, which is impossible because my primary insurance made the appointment at this facility. Instead, when I call my primary insurance provider they informed me that A1 never submitted a claim at all and that they never denied anything. I can see that nothing was denied on the claims and benefits section of my online insurance account. A1 Imaging Center knows absolutely nothing about what’s going on because their billing is outsourced to some company in Sarasota that keeps repeating the same response over and over again. My primary insurance provider has no idea why they won’t submit the claim and have tried to reach out to them as well. It’s just one huge mess that takes a lot of time to try and clean up. Next time, I’m just going to pay extra to have my MRI done at UM. I would NOT recommend this place to anyone and I regret coming to this facility. It is nothing but a HUGE waste of time inside and out of their waiting room.