A simple mistake has meant that the family will need to pay over a million dollars in medical bills.
Kynell Smith and his family have their health insurance coverage through Nevada Health Link, and while the policy provides them with what they need, an issue that has been called an Obamacare typo by critics has caused the Las Vegas family to have to pay $1.2 million in medical bills.
As a result of this mistake, the Smiths are neither able to pay their bills nor add a new child to their health plan.
All it took was one typo on the health insurance identification card of Amber Smith, and the family that thought they had Anthem Blue Cross coverage is now having to pay over $1 million. The reason is that her year of birth has been listed on her ID incorrectly. This has led to a spectrum of different problems as the Smiths attempt to use their health plan. Even though the family has contacted Anthem Blue Cross, the Nevada Health Link, and several other organizations, the issue still has yet to be resolved and the bill remains outstanding in the family’s name.
Much of the expense arrived when the health insurance company refused to pay when Amber gave birth to Kinsley.
Amber had her baby in February but the typo on her insurance identification card has made it so that the insurer will not pay the hospital bills related to that birth. Moreover, the family has been attempting to add Kisley to their health plan but has not been able to do so. This has now lead to a months-long battle in which the Smiths don’t seem to have made very much progress as they continue to owe $1.2 million in medical bills.
The company behind the Nevada Health Link, Xerox, has made the recommendation that the family’s old policy be deleted, so that it would become possible to add Kinsley to the new one. However, at the time that this article was written, a new policy had still not been issued to the family, despite the fact that there was a policy deletion request being processed for the old one.
Now, Amber and Kynell may find that their medical bills are being sent to collections agencies because, at the time of this writing, Anthem Blue Cross still will not pay them. The family has been paying their health insurance company $1,300 in monthly premiums and has kept up with those payments. The entire problem is wrapped around this single small typo.
