Podiatrist refunds patient with $290 of pennies

admin · Dec 29, 2005

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Vero patient refunded $290 in pennies
'Unfortunate incident' arose from dispute
December 28, 2005
TCPalm Local News (registration required)

VERO BEACH — After paying $350 for a pair of orthotics to cushion his fallen arches, Lee Woodard of Vero Beach thought his medical insurance coverage entitled him to more than the $90 check he received in the mail from his podiatrist.

Indeed, Woodard determined by calling Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield of New York that he should have been refunded $290. So he held on to the $90 check and called the doctor to request the $290 refund in exchange for the $90 check.
When Woodard later received a call from Dr. Nicholas Rutledge telling him to pick up his refund, Woodard was stunned by what ensued.
There, in the doctor's front office, was Woodard's $290 refund. In pennies. In cardboard boxes.

Woodard says Rutledge lifted the boxes of wrapped pennies on the front counter and said, "There's your money."

Woodard said he and his brother had to heft the 29,000 copper pennies, which weighed about 200 pounds, and take them to the bank.

"Wachovia was pretty nice about taking them," Woodard said.

Woodard says the doctor's behavior was a cruel and unprofessional joke.

"Nobody in my neighborhood could believe it," said Woodward, 65, who is retired from a long-distance communications company. "They all think it's very penny-ante."

Doctor's side of the story

Rutledge, whose podiatry office is on 37th Street in Vero Beach, admits ordering the pennies from his bank to pay Woodard, but he said he did it because he felt Woodard maligned him by making false claims with Blue Cross Blue Shield.

In the complicated world of insurance billing and reimbursement, disagreements between health care providers and patients are common.

But this was a new twist.

"It's a very unfortunate incident," said Mark Wright, spokesman for Florida Blue Cross Blue Shield, which investigated Woodard's claim.

Rutledge explained that he became "angry and frustrated" by the situation, because after he received a $90 reimbursement from Blue Cross Blue Shield, he promptly forwarded the check to Woodard. After Woodard notified Blue Cross Blue Shield of the discrepancy, Rutledge said he spent a lot of time on the phone straightening the matter out.

Rutledge says he thinks Woodard was upset about the $350 up-front payment and went out of his way to create a problem for him.

"He tried to get me in trouble with the state of New York and Blue Cross Blue Shield, saying we were some kind of scam operation," Rutledge said. "I don't understand why this guy was being a thorn in my side."

Rutledge said he pays a service to do his billing, so he is not aware of insurance details, especially because of the variety of plans and coverages.

"I'm not a businessman, I was trained to do foot and ankle surgery," Rutledge said.

Rutledge said, at first, Woodard told him he never received his $90 check, and Rutledge claims Woodard held on to the check "as a tool to call his insurance company and start a problem for me at the national level. I had every Blue Cross Blue Shield administrator up my butt wanting answers."

But Wright said Woodard rightfully held on to the $90.

"He didn't want to cash it because he didn't want to make it look like he was accepting a full refund of the money," Wright said.

Wright added: "The doctor's contention is that he wasn't paid appropriately, that he didn't get as much as he should. We're going to work with him. Our physicans representative is looking at the situation to see if anything is wrong with it."

No investigation planned

Doc Kokol, spokesman for the Florida Departmant of Health, said the situation does not warrant an inquiry by the state.

"We regulate doctors as to quality of medicine they provide," Kokol said. "We don't regulate the business activities of their office, such as how much they charge, their hours, or how long they make their patients wait."
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Podiatrist refunds patient with $290 of pennies

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Podiatrist refunds patient with $290 of pennies

admin Administrator Staff Member

Sydney Podiatrist wanted

Podiatrist Wanted in Melbourne Australia - Sponsorship Available

Podiatrist Wanted in Melbourne Australia - Sponsorship Avaialble

Podiatrist Wanted in Melbourne Australia - Sponsorship available

Podiatrist relocating to Melbourne from UK

Podiatrist Wanted in Mebourne Australia - International Visa Sponsorship Offered

Podiatrist Position Avaiable - International Visa Sponsorship Offered

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