University Hospitals in Cleveland has agreed to provide a courtesy refund to a patient who signed up for one year of the health system's membership-based concierge service and later canceled, according to The Plain Dealer.
The concierge service helps connect patients to University Hospitals services, specialists and resources for an annual fee.
The female patient, who wrote to The Plain Dealer's "Money Matters" column as "S.L.," told the newspaper she paid $2,000 for a one-year agreement up front and was told by the health system that she always had the option to cancel the membership and receive a prorated refund.
But she said University Hospitals told her after she canceled months later that the health system would not be able to give her a refund. She said she was told she wasn't eligible for a refund due to the number of physician appointments she'd had, and then later that the health system did not provide refunds.
Then this summer, S.L. received a bill for $2,200 to renew the agreement, and University Hospitals subsequently would not provide her with confirmation she wasn't signing up again or a zero-balance bill, she told The Plain Dealer.
In response to S.L.'s inquiry, the newspaper's Teresa Dixon Murray reached out to University Hospitals. Ms. Murray told S.L. that University Hospitals apologized and said the $2,200 renewal bill was a mistake.
"We are sorry for any confusion that (she) may have experienced," University Hospitals spokesperson George Stamatis told Ms. Murray. "(She) will receive a full refund check as a courtesy, although our contract with her does not require it. We will also send her a letter letting her know that she is no longer enrolled in UH Select and will not be charged any membership fees in the future."
Read the full column here.
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