“I’m sorry, but because of attorney — client confidentiality rules, I can’t discuss the details of other cases. I hope you understand.”
“I suppose,” Brian said. He didn’t think merely confirming a summary judgment would be a violation, but he let it go. “Have you had a lot of experience with this kind of case?”
“Tons of experience, unfortunately. I’ve got more than twenty open cases right now.”
“Similar to mine?”
“Strikingly so,” Patrick confirmed. “MMH Inwood has been suing many families for outstanding hospital bills, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic began.”
“Have you had some cases where the outcome is a bit better than the O’Reillys’? Grady told me they even lost their house.”
“Absolutely,” Patrick said. “Rest assured, I’ve had many with a significantly better outcome.”
“Okay, that’s encouraging. To be honest, my biggest concern is losing my house.”
“Understandable,” Patrick said with sympathy. “Are you up to date with your mortgage payments?”
“No,” he admitted, feeling a jolt of fear. “Does that make a difference?”
“I’m afraid it does.” Patrick raised his eyebrows. “With the New York State Homestead Act, a home is protected in a bankruptcy filing, but not if the home is in arrears on the mortgage.”
“Shit,” Brian responded. “It’s only been a couple of months’ lapse because of the pandemic.”
“If you can possibly manage it, I’d strongly recommend bringing it up to date as soon as you can.”
“The bank is aware why I’ve not paid,” Brian said. “I’ve certainly been in contact with them, and they actually encouraged it. My wife and I started a new security business at the worst possible time: the middle of December, just before the pandemic hit. We’d been trying to preserve our cash to hold the business together.”
“I understand, but I’m sure the other side will try to exploit it. So, if you can, I’d bring it up to date.”
They then spent a few minutes talking about Patrick’s fees, which he agreed to put off after an initial, modest retainer of five hundred dollars. “Believe me, I can understand your situation,” Patrick said. “We’re all in it, thanks to this pandemic. You can pay me the balance when your company gets back to providing you with an income.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Brian said, thankful and pleased. He felt strongly that such trust was yet another benefit of living in this community.
“Okay,” Patrick said, placing both his hands flat on top of Brian’s papers. “I’ll take care of these with the court immediately. Meanwhile, I’ll need to get the hospital bill. Have you been given one?”
Brian let out a short, disgusted laugh. “With effort I got one, but it’s useless. The damn thing is in code. I can’t make sense of nine-tenths of it.”
“That leads me to another question. Have you considered retaining a medical billing advocate?”
“It’s interesting that you ask. My mother asked the same question. I’d never even heard of a medical billing advocate.”
“It is a sign of the times,” Patrick said. “Many hospitals have become so rapacious because they are being driven by private equity people to maximize profit, and one way to camouflage it is to make the billing process as incomprehensible as possible.”
“How might a billing advocate help my case?”
“He or she would go over your bill with a fine-toothed comb. They understand the confusing language and invariably find all sorts of mistakes and overcharges. Sometimes they alone can reduce the bill by half or more.”
“Who would have thought it would come to this?” Brian said, throwing up his hands in amazement. “It’s so damn ironic. Hospitals are supposed to save people, not cheat them.”
“As I said, it is a sign of the times. The US Congress has been asleep at the wheel, allowing medical costs to go through the roof. And it’s across the board: hospital prices, drug prices, or device prices like artificial joints — it’s all the same.”
“So you recommend I find an advocate?”
“Very strongly recommend it,” Patrick said. “Even if it is yet another expense for you.”
“Do you have anyone specific you recommend?”
“I do. There’s one right here in this building who is excellent in my experience. She’s helped me on a number of cases. Her name is Megan Doyle, and she also went to PS 98 like we did.”
“Megan Doyle,” Brian repeated. “She’s actually the one my mother mentioned. She said she’d helped a neighbor.”
“I’m not surprised. Megan has helped a lot of people.”
“Do you have her contacts by chance?”
“I can do better than that,” Patrick said. “I could give her a shout right here and now. It’s better to start the process ASAP because she’d need to get a complete copy of your hospital record, and hospitals are not cooperative with billing advocates to say the least. In fact, they make it as difficult as possible, creating all sorts of hoops and delays that have to be navigated.”
“I already have a hospital bill, which I could provide her,” Brian offered.
“She’ll get a better, significantly more complete one,” Patrick said. “Mark my words. The bills a hospital gives to patients are never broken down like she’ll demand. Should I call her? She’ll need to see you to start the process.”
“Do you think she’d see me now while I’m here?”
“I believe she will. This wouldn’t be the first time she’s helped a client of mine.”
“Fine, give her a try,” Brian said.
Using the speaker on his phone, Patrick made the call. In contrast to him, Megan Doyle had a secretary who put Patrick through directly to her. The call was friendly, curt, and decisive. Megan would squeeze him in between appointments, and told him he should come down directly after seeing Patrick.
After a short conversation involving another shared client, Patrick disconnected the call, then looked over at Brian. “You’ll like her,” he said. “She’s very personable but very professional, and she’s good at what she does.”
“Even if my bill is reduced to half, I’m going to be hard put to pay it off,” Brian said warily. “But let me ask you something else. What about going after my supposed health insurance company called Peerless? They’ve turned down my claims, denying any fiscal responsibility despite all the premiums I paid. To me it’s a fraud.”
“I’ll be happy to look into it, if you insist, but I can tell you up front that the chances it would be successful are minuscule. Short-term health insurance is a tolerated scam in my experience. They have spent millions in legal fees to protect themselves with their contracts. Did you read your policy?”
“No, I didn’t,” he admitted.
“That’s what they count on,” Patrick said. “They advertise themselves as being inexpensive, and they are. They love to take your premiums but are loath to pay out anything at all, and when they do, it is never even close to being adequate.”
“Why is it tolerated?” Brian asked, genuinely confused.
“That’s a question I can’t answer,” Patrick said with a shake of his head.
“I have one other issue that should be looked into. I think there’s a chance my wife was discharged before it was safe and possibly because I wasn’t paying the bill. I think that Charles Kelley, the hospital CEO, has created a very strongly profit-driven culture that’s willing to put patients in danger.”
Patrick’s eyebrows raised. “Let me understand what you are implying. Do you think there might be negligence involved?”
“I do,” Brian said. “If she had still been in the hospital under a seizure watch, she’d probably be alive today.”