Medical Service Complaints More Frequent in 2018

There is no way around it: medical billing is complicated. Even a simple medical procedure could involve pre-approvals and invoices from hospitals, independent clinics, specialty providers, insurers and more. It is no wonder that medical services complaints to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer protection (DATCP) increased 30% in 2018, rising to fifth on the annual list of the top consumer complaints received by the agency. Telemarketing was again the top consumer complaint category for the DATCP in 2018. Already this year, many of the illegal robo-calls reported to the DATCP by Wisconsinites are phony pitches for Medicare-related services, discount drug plans, and government-funded braces and medical devices.