Dr. Joel J Rock, DO

I recently received a bill from Rock Associates, the anesthesia office that billed me for my last surgery. I have had numerous surgeries over the past 4 years, and the medical bills just keep adding up. I cant imagine how people do it without any insurance. I have coverage; however, its still thousands of dollars out of my pocket. So, I called and tried discussing a payment plan with Rock Associates, in an effort to pay all my other medical bills, and at the same time get them their money. The office manager literally had me in tears because she was unwilling to accept anything less than $50 a month. I tried explaining to her that I want to pay them, but with all the bills I have, I am unable to afford more than $20 a month. All she did was continually repeat the same thing; that this would not be acceptable. She acted like I was trying to negotiate a discount. I understood what I owed and why I owed it. That was not the issue. I just wanted to work out a way to pay them… without going broke or ruining my credit due to all my other bills. When I asked what would happen if I only sent the $20 I could afford, she explained that they would just send the payment back to me and my bill would eventually go to a collection agency. Basically, instead of accepting my payment, they would rather waste money on an envelope and a stamp (which she also stated was part of their office expenses and why they wouldnt be able to accept my offer of $20 in the first place), and ruin my credit anyway. Its really heartbreaking how a doctors office, which Im positive is not struggling for money, can be so difficult during a very hard time.