Friday, November 24, 2006
Medical Billing Opportunities: Not What the Doctor Ordered
To get everything he needed to launch a lucrative medical billing business from home, including a software program and the names of doctors who wanted the service. If he wasn't completely satisfied, he could return the package within 30 days for a full refund.
As it turned out, this consumer wasn't satisfied. And he hasn't been the only one. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has received hundreds of complaints from consumers about medical billing opportunities whose promoters have advertised far more than they've delivered. In one case, the promoter claimed that for $325 to $495, consumers could make as much as $50,000 a year running a medical billing business from home. As the FTC alleged, most of the consumers didn't earn a dime.
In the last few years, the FTC has filed more than eight cases against medical billing scams. Yet, as quickly as these companies are put out of business, others appear to take their place, says Katherine Romano Schnack, an attorney in the FTC's Midwest Region. In a surf of websites and print advertisements by the FTC and the Better Business Bureau in summer 2001, investigators found more than 500 promotions for medical billing opportunities, many of dubious value.
Fraudulent medical billing business opportunities are a type of work-at-home scheme advertised on the Internet and the classified sections of local newspapers and "giveaway" shopper's guides. In the "Help-Wanted" classified sections, the ads often appear alongside legitimate ads for hospital medical claims processors, leading consumers who respond to think they're applying for a job. "Consumers don't realize what they're getting into," Schnack says.
The ads may lure consumers with promises of substantial income for full- or part-time work with "no experience required." A toll-free number directs consumers to call for more information.
When they call, they get a high-pressure sales pitch that promises big bucks for a relatively small investment. "But the chances of making the money claimed are slim to none," Schnack says. "Newcomers to the medical billing market - especially those with no experience and no contacts in the medical field - face fierce competition."
And the programs do little to help consumers succeed. Once consumers pay, Schnack says, "all they get is an out-of-date database of doctors who haven't asked for medical billing services, a sample letter to use to find their own clients, and a money-back "guarantee" that's barely worth the paper it's written on. Only a few people ever get a refund and then, it's after repeated phone calls to the company, or complaints to their credit card companies or government agencies and consumer groups."
As it turned out, this consumer wasn't satisfied. And he hasn't been the only one. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has received hundreds of complaints from consumers about medical billing opportunities whose promoters have advertised far more than they've delivered. In one case, the promoter claimed that for $325 to $495, consumers could make as much as $50,000 a year running a medical billing business from home. As the FTC alleged, most of the consumers didn't earn a dime.
In the last few years, the FTC has filed more than eight cases against medical billing scams. Yet, as quickly as these companies are put out of business, others appear to take their place, says Katherine Romano Schnack, an attorney in the FTC's Midwest Region. In a surf of websites and print advertisements by the FTC and the Better Business Bureau in summer 2001, investigators found more than 500 promotions for medical billing opportunities, many of dubious value.
Fraudulent medical billing business opportunities are a type of work-at-home scheme advertised on the Internet and the classified sections of local newspapers and "giveaway" shopper's guides. In the "Help-Wanted" classified sections, the ads often appear alongside legitimate ads for hospital medical claims processors, leading consumers who respond to think they're applying for a job. "Consumers don't realize what they're getting into," Schnack says.
The ads may lure consumers with promises of substantial income for full- or part-time work with "no experience required." A toll-free number directs consumers to call for more information.
When they call, they get a high-pressure sales pitch that promises big bucks for a relatively small investment. "But the chances of making the money claimed are slim to none," Schnack says. "Newcomers to the medical billing market - especially those with no experience and no contacts in the medical field - face fierce competition."
And the programs do little to help consumers succeed. Once consumers pay, Schnack says, "all they get is an out-of-date database of doctors who haven't asked for medical billing services, a sample letter to use to find their own clients, and a money-back "guarantee" that's barely worth the paper it's written on. Only a few people ever get a refund and then, it's after repeated phone calls to the company, or complaints to their credit card companies or government agencies and consumer groups."
# posted by Medical Information : 3:03 AM
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