CAUTIONARY TALE

This morning, I opened a bill from the endocrinologist's office that showed a balance due of $20 for my co-payment under my health insurance. Problem is, I was pretty sure I had paid the $20 when I showed up for my appointment.

I receive a daily statement online from my bank and I check it carefully every morning. I've been phished twice before and I've learned vigilance is a necessity. So I checked my report of the transactions from the date when I paid my co-pay to the doctor's office and sure enough, I had already paid the $20. Then I called the billing company for the provider and suggested they check their records. They did and eventually they agreed that indeed, I had already paid that $20 bill and didn't owe the doctor's office a thing!

Granted, it's only $20 but they add up. One of the reasons health care has become so expensive (Obamacare notwithstanding) is that fraud abounds and honest human error as well. So we must take responsibility for monitoring our own expenditures carefully to be sure none of that happens.