Kathleen A. Gagne

Kathie Gagne died 4,511 days ago.

October 25th, 2012 @ 1:13 pm

I just called AR Resources, Inc. of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. I found a bill from them to mom dated January 25, 2012 for $790.00 for “EMRGNCY MEDICINE PROFES”. They’re a collection agency and the bill notes that their client is EMRGNCY MEDICINE PROFESSIONALS, DELAND. There’s nothing on the bill to indicate the date of the service or anything like that, though.

A man named Ray answered the phone and he was very kind and considerate. He told me that he was very sorry to hear about mom’s death, and that if I fax him a copy of the death certificate, he will update their records to show that, “she’s no longer with us.” I told him that I didn’t have a copy with me, but I’d make sure to do that tomorrow, and he said that would be fine.

Update: I faxed a copy of the two-page State of Florida Certification of Death to AR Resources, Inc. on October 26th, 2012 at 9:20 AM PST.

A Long Process

October 25th, 2012 @ 11:45 am

As of October 25th, 2012, I hadn’t heard anything from mom’s lawyer, Steve Phillips of Pincus & Currier, LLP, since he replied to an email two weeks before that. It’s really nerve-wracking to have no idea what is happening, or to feel like nothing is happening.

I sent him this email on the morning of October 25th:

Hey Steve,

To the best of my knowledge, you did not reply to the email I sent you on October 11th at about 2:45 PM ET regarding my outstanding bill with Dr. Wolf for my mom’s autopsy. Did you receive that message? (You did reply to a different email sent on that day.)

It’s been two weeks since the last time we communicated, and two and a half months since my mom died, so hopefully you understand my anxiety.

Can you give me any information at all about the status of things?

Thanks in advance,

dvg

BCA Financial Services, Inc.

October 24th, 2012 @ 10:23 am

This morning I called BCA Financial Services, Inc., a collection agency in Miami, Florida. I have three bills here all dated November 3, 2011 and addressed to mom. Each one lists the physician Brenda H. Salter, a location of HMC Port Orange ED, and a service date of July 17, 2011.

I’ve never heard or seen that doctor’s name, and I don’t recall ever hearing of HMC Port Orange ED, either. One bill is for $207.00, one is for $500.00, and the third one is for $162.00. They all say the “specialty” is Emergency Services, so I assume it’s a visit she made to the ER.

All three have mom’s middle name spelled incorrectly as Albane instead of Albanese.

The man who answered the phone asked me to read him the account number on the bill. Each one has a different account number listed, so I started with the lowest one. He asked for the name on the account and I told him and spelled it for him, and he asked if I was her husband. I said that I was her son and he asked if she was available, because he was only allowed to talk to her.

I told him (nicely) that she had died and she was not married at the time. He said he was very sorry and asked if I was the executor of her estate. I told him that I was her son and that there was no estate to execute; that she died with no savings, no pension, no retirement plan, no Medicaid, and no health insurance. He asked me on what date she had died and I told him August 12th.

He again told me he was very sorry and that he would handle sending the bills, “back to Halifax.” I had no idea that these bills had anything to do with Halifax Hospital, so that was a surprise to me. I asked him if there was anything else I needed to do, and if he was going to handle updating all three of the bills I had, because they all had different account numbers.

He told me that he actually has fifty-five (55!) bills associated with mom’s account, and that he would update them all to indicate that she was deceased and that there is nothing more I need to do. He said Halifax or his company would call me if they needed anything else.

I didn’t tell him that nobody at his company or Halifax likely had my phone number. I probably should have done that, but it’s hard for me right now to worry about the accuracy of their accounting departments.

Cavalry Portfolio Services

October 23rd, 2012 @ 8:48 am

On November 11 of last year, mom was mailed a bill for $1,154.67 from a company called Cavalry Portfolio Services. That company seems to have purchased a debt mom owed to HSBC Bank Nevada, which was almost certainly a Visa or Mastercard that she had stopped paying.

I called this morning and the woman who answered the phone asked for the case number on the bill. Once I gave it to her, I explained to her that mom had died on August 12th of this year and that I was (slowly and methodically) trying to deal with the stacks of paperwork and bills my sister found in her apartment. The woman said she was terribly sorry for our loss and that she would update the account to reflect that mom was deceased and there was nothing more I needed to do.

Atlantic Mobile Imaging

October 23rd, 2012 @ 8:34 am

On August 14 of this year — two days after mom died — Atlantic Mobile Imaging of Daytona Beach, FL mailed a bill to my little sister in Seattle. The invoice was for $159.22 to pay for an x-ray of mom’s pelvis on May 10th, 2012. (In mid-April while she was at Halifax Hospital, we learned her pelvis had been broken at some point, most likely during her twenty-six day stay at Grace Manor.)

I called Atlantic Mobile Imaging this morning and the woman who answered the phone was incredibly kind and — after confirming that mom had no health insurance and was not receiving Medicaid on the date of the x-ray — told me she would simply cancel the bill. I asked her if I needed to do anything else and she said she would handle it, and that she was sorry for our loss.

Social Security Disability

October 16th, 2012 @ 8:23 am

I called Shay Murphy from the Florida Department of Health again this morning. Unlike yesterday I actually managed to get her on the phone, and she seemed to be a very sweet and caring person. We spoke for twenty-four minutes, and she explained to me how she had been unable to convince anyone at Halifax Hospital, Stewart-Marchman ACT, or Woodland Terrace to release mom’s medial records to her, even though she is a representative of the State of Florida working on mom’s Social Security disability claim.

I explained mom’s history to her — including the disgusting, horrible circumstances surrounding her untimely demise — and she was quite sympathetic. (It is nearly impossible for me to discuss the last week of mom’s life without breaking down.) She told me that she had dealt with many of the exact same situations with both of her own parents and the healthcare system in Florida. She said she was going to speak with her supervisor and promised to call me by two o’clock (her time) this afternoon.

Autopsy Bill

October 16th, 2012 @ 8:16 am

I called Dr. Wolf on the morning of October 16th, 2012 because apparently she was concerned about the status of my bill with her for performing the autopsy on mom. I explained that I had unfortunately completely misunderstood Steve Phillips, my attorney; I had thought that his law firm was going to remit the other half of the payment to her on the assumption that they would recuperate it based on the outcome of any case they were able to bring.

Dr. Wolf was very understanding, but made it clear to me that — because of the expenses she had incurred with a toxicology lab — she would be unable to finalize the autopsy and provide results until the balance was paid in full. The total bill was $4000.00, and I had paid her 1/2 of that when she agreed to do the autopsy. So I had to find another $2000.00 as soon as possible.

Central Florida Podiatry

October 15th, 2012 @ 11:25 am

My sister sent me a bill addressed to mom and dated August 21st, 2012. It’s from Central Florida Podiatry for — as far as I can tell — a pedicure mom received on March 20th. She was at Grace Manor at the time.

The bill is for $100.00 due to Dr. Agnes K Bartoszek. I called the (866) 329-9009 number on the bill and was routed to someone in charge of billing for that doctor. I explained to the woman that my mother had passed away on August 12th, and that she died penniless. The woman asked me who was responsible for paying the bill, and I replied, “Nobody.”

She told me that there was no insurance listed, and I told her that my mother did not have any health insurance. She asked if she had been receiving Medicaid or Medicare. I told her, “I did my best for over nine months to try to get Medicaid or Medicare for my mother, but she never got it.”

So then she asked me (again) who was responsible for paying the bill. Again I replied, “Nobody.”

She asked who had power of attorney because that person would be responsible for paying bills. I told her that nobody had power of attorney, and — even if someone did — that was irrelevant because having power of attorney over someone doesn’t make you liable for any of their bills.

The woman then asked me again who was going to pay the bill. I replied, “Nobody is ever going to pay this bill. My mother is dead.”

She told me she was sorry for my loss, and that she would talk to the doctor about it and decide what to do. I asked her if she wanted my contact information because there was certainly no point in sending another bill to my little sister in Seattle. She said she did, so I gave her my name and phone number and she thanked me and I hung up.