After I was hospitalized in December, 2013 I was put on a Spend Down with Medicaid even though I didn't qualify. I would be sent the bills. Every month I would send the bills and the money. Medicaid would then pay the rest of the bill.
I told MDHHS that I didn't qualify, nor would I be able to pay the Spend Down anyway. I was told not to worry because the bills wouldn't be paid.
After not receiving any bills I called MDHHS. I was told that St Joe's graciously paid the Spend Down on my behalf. They paid about $2000 so they could get the $25,000- $30,000 that Medicaid would cover of the $125,000 owed. Hospitals accept about 25- 30% as full payment.
Sometime in March, 2014 I was told that I had been placed on full coverage after my second time in the hospital during late January- the middle of February.
It took me until the end of June to finally get the Medicaid canceled.

When I went to the UM Hospital in August, 2016 I was told that someone from Financial Services was going to help me with the Medicaid application. I was told that "Alexis knows how to work the system." When I told Alexis that I would fill out the application when I got home. Instead she filled out the application without my knowledge or permission. She also broke the law because she didn't state that she was filing a third party application. I wasn't even given the username and password to view the application. As soon as I received the letter stating that an application had been filed, I called MDHHS and told them that I didn't file and that is was filed by a third party without my knowledge or permission. The application was canceled. I was told that I would be put on the UM Foundation for uninsured patients.
Two months later another application was filed, but was also canceled. A month later I was informed that the application had been reactivated and I had been approved, even though I don't qualify.
I was able to get the providers to not bill Medicaid as I wasn't eligible.
I was scheduled for cataract surgeries in May and June, 2017. A few days before the first surgery the Billing Office called to say that unless I paid cash or allowed the hospital to bill Medicaid, the surgeries would be canceled. When I told them that I wasn't eligible for Medicaid and could be criminally charged, I was told "We're willing to take that chance." I was told the same thing by MDHHS. Everybody is willing to put me at risk of criminal charges, since they won't be charged.

Health Care providers need to be made to follow the laws when filling applications. They also need to stop circumventing the laws to get paid. They break the laws because they want to be paid. That's understandable to want to be paid. But they break the law and put the patient in danger of criminal prosecution without any regards