Guaranteed Healthcare

My husband Richard was riding his bicycle in January 2005 when a car crossed into his lane and hit him. He was unconscious and has no memory to this day of the accident. He sustained multiple fractures to his face and right wrist.

Paramedics transported him to Scripps Memorial Hospital where he was "stabilized" for 3 days and transferred, non-emergently to Sharp Memorial Hospital for "insurance reasons". Three days later a trauma surgeon repaired his wrist and he was subsequently discharged. He had "follow-up" office visits and x-rays for about a year. We were never informed that the surgeon was "out-of-network" and we would be expected to pay cash for his services.

We eventually paid for in-patient surgery (under protest) but no follow-up office visits, totalling more than $4000. The insurance company reviewed our case and determined that indeed we owe nothing. But the doctor continues to bill us and has since turned our account over to collection. Our credit is ruined. And to make matters worse, because Richard has no memory of the accident, no attorney will touch our case.