Memorial joins health-care providers paying refunds via debit cards
Customers of
"We've decided that this is the process we're going to use going forward," according to Davis, who said the new process provides better service to customers.
The debit cards can be used the same as cash when patients use them to buy groceries and pay bills, he said.
Not everyone is happy with the change, however.
She was surprised on
Accompanying letters said the cards would give her access to refunds for bills she later learned she overpaid for her two step-grandsons, who live with her and her husband and are covered by her health insurance as a state government retiree.
She said the letters were confusing and made it sound like she would face multiple bank fees for getting access to her own money.
"A little explanation goes a long way and would have been helpful,"
Davis acknowledged that the letter accompanying the cards can be improved, and some of the fees listed on the letter are inaccurate. Fixes and improvements are in the works, he said.
But paper checks won't be issued anymore, Davis said. If patients have issues with the debit cards, he said, "We will do our best to resolve those issues."
Davis said
The number of patients receiving refunds each month represents less than 1 percent of
The organization switched to debit cards because working with PNC, rather than using the internal process of issuing paper checks, gets refunds into patients' hands at least one week and sometimes several weeks sooner, Davis said.
Memorial receives "no compensation or kickbacks" from PNC, he said.
The use of debit cards for refunds has been prevalent in
Memorial has received "less than 10" complaints from patients since the new system began, he said.
When
She wasn't able to retrieve her PIN for the cards the first time she called. She was able to receive a PIN on the second try. That's when she reached a live person and was told that callers face a
PNC wasn't able to tell
The PNC letters, she said, made it appear that the card balances would be assessed a
Though small, the fees bothered
The call-center attendant told her some of the information on the letters was wrong. And the attendant said there is no fee for ATM withdrawals if a PNC ATM is used; that detail actually was at the bottom of the letter and identified with an asterisk.
The attendant also told
The cards each have a daily withdrawal limit of
For years,
Once she received a refund check, she said she would deposit it directly into her bank account, which happens to be at PNC.
"It's your money, and you're not being encouraged to be responsible and save it for an emergency,"
A few patients have requested checks instead of debit cards, she said.
The system's business department, which can be reached at (888) 477-4221, issued checks to those patients and will do the same for other patients who request, she said.
According to
She said she would rather wait another week or two for her refund than deal with more frustration.
Contact
Patients of
___
(c)2018 The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Ill.
Visit The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Ill. at www.sj-r.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Fire Chief Joe Holomy reflects
‘We have nowhere to go’: Vass family faces homelessness after fire
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News