Woman cries foul over podiatry bill
by Frank Donnelly
Sunday January 25, 2009, 10:26 AM
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- She thought she was getting a free callus clip and a mug.
But an Oakwood woman's visit to a New Dorp podiatry office last summer turned out to be a very expensive pain in the foot.
Ashley Castagna's medical insurance carrier was billed $3,235 for the 20-minute treatment she says she received at A Call Away Foot Care. The office visit, according to an advertisement Ms. Castagna and her mother, Sandra, showed the Advance, was supposed to be gratis.
Yet Ms. Castagna's insurance carrier was charged for it, including $1,550 for five surgical procedures, according to a billing statement that the Castagnas provided. All the doctor did, Ashley Castagna said, was shave part of a callus, take molds of her feet and write a prescription for foot cream.
While their insurer has paid $616, the Castagnas were told they're on the hook for $224.
"When I got the bill I was so livid about it," Sandra Castagna said last week during an interview in her home. "My daughter never had one surgery, let alone $3,200 of surgeries."
Ashley Castagna, 21, is a college student who lives at home.
Doctors at A Call Away Foot Care, a cramped storefront office off Hylan Boulevard, did not return several messages left last week, both in person and on the phone, seeking comment.
Ashley Castagna said she visited the podiatry office on New Dorp Lane on June 28 after her mother saw an advertisement with a coupon for a free office visit in a local weekly shopping tabloid. Valued at $350, the treatment includes "cutting nails, calluses, corns, whirlpool, moisturizing foot massage, routine care" and "a free gift mug," the ad says.
Ashley Castagna said she presented the coupon when she visited the office, but was told she didn't need it. She then filled out a form, which included her medical insurance information. The policy is in her father's name.
"I just assumed it was standard practice," she said.
Nobody said she'd be charged for the visit, and she was not asked for an insurance co-payment, she said.
Ms. Castagna said she was with the doctor about 20 minutes. During that time, he shaved a section of callus, took a mold of her foot for orthotic shoe inserts and wrote a prescription for a moisturizing cream. She said she had not complained of any pain in her feet and was given a mug before she left the office.
Her mother picked up the inserts a few weeks later after the doctor's office called to advise they were ready. In fact, Sandra Castagna also picked up inserts for herself. She said she had visited the office with a coupon about two weeks before her daughter and received similar treatment. Both women believed the orthotics were free.
Sandra Castagna later returned five times to receive cortisone shots in her aching right heel. She said she paid a co-payment for each injection, but not for the initial visit, which was supposed to be free. She has not received a statement from her insurance carrier for any of her visits.
To her surprise, however, Cigna HealthCare recently sent a benefits statement for her daughter's visit. It listed charges from the podiatrist's office of $1,550 for five surgeries, $250 for physician care and $990 for prosthetic devices. Along with other costs, it totaled $3,235.
Cigna agreed to pay $616 and said the Castagnas owed a balance of $224.
Sandra Castagna couldn't believe it.
"I was irate," she said.
She called the podiatrist's office, but received no satisfaction. All a receptionist told her is that anytime a doctor touches the foot, it's considered a surgery, said Mrs. Castagna.
"She didn't even try to say it was a mistake," Mrs. Castagna said.
Steaming, she told the woman, "You guys are totally screwing people."
Mrs. Castagna said she then called Cigna and was told the company will investigate.
Kathleen Keenan, a Cigna corporate spokeswoman, said the company has "the appropriate people" probing the matter. She declined to elaborate, citing federal and state privacy laws.
Ms. Keenan added that Cigna encourages its members to discuss potential costs with health-care providers and to contact the company to determine what coverage, if any, is in effect, before receiving treatment.
Mrs. Castagna said she has no intention of paying the bill.
"It makes me so angry," she said. "[Ashley] didn't have anything done to her foot."
