Team Makena, Irvine CA

My horror story with Restore Motion / Team Makena starts out normal. My physician schedules them to fit me with brace before shoulder surgery. No big deal, I have one of those “gold plated” insurance plans you always hear about. Pricing was never discussed before hand but the appointment setter verified they had checked with my insurance and they would fully cover all expenses at no cost to me. Their technician showed up in October 2017 for a home visit fitting and to deliver the appliance. The hardware was really nice- a Berg Arc 2.0 I found out later retails for about $200. The technician was fast and efficient. At year end 2017 I changed insurance providers from Health Net to Western Health Advantage during annual enrollment (to save about $300/month!) which went into effect on January 1,2018. Unbeknownst to me, Restore Motion at some time in 2018 starts billing Health Net $1200 for the service/visit, but for some reason they annotate the date of service on the billing as January 2018. I didn’t find out for quite a while, but obviously billing Health Net for a service received in October 2017, is not going to work if Restore Motion is inexplicably falsifying the date of service 90 days later in 2018 when tHealth Net is no longer my insurance provider.

I’m not even begrudging them the $1200 invoice for a $200 appliance.

Fast forward to early 2019 when Restore Motion starts claiming I owe them for the service and sending me bills for a January 2018 service I never received. Notwithstanding the fact they never discussed pricing with me and assured me there would be no cost to me before scheduling the appointment, somehow Restore Motion created a phantom service date outside my insurance coverage and were now attempting to get me to pay $1200 for it. I assumed it was some sort of clerical error, but nonetheless spent several hours over the span of 3 or 4 phone calls before I finally got to someone who could comprehend the dilemma. At first they wanted me to forward the billing to my current insurance carrier, Western Health Advantage, with the false January 2018 service date. I obviously was not going to do that so eventually the phone person comprehended that Restore Motion needed to correct the service date to October 2017 and bill Health Net.

It is possible Restore Motion successfully billed Health Net for the October 2017 service and the January 2018 billing is a double billing or some other shady insurance scam that was discovered only because I changed insurance carriers- I just don’t know yet because they have never provided me the actual billing records, just cover letters. I can see no legitimate explanation for fraudulently altering the date of service on billing records by some 90 days.

Fast forward to 2020 now I am getting collection notices from a McKenzie Paul and Associates out of Austin, TX claiming my “account” is in collections. I try to respond by mail to the mailing address EXACTLY as written on the stationery and envelope return address and the USPS kiosk responds that the address is not deliverable. Seriously?

Today, I just received notice from McKenzie Paul and Associates that they have now reported my “debts” to Equifax. So here is my advice- if you are physician DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH RESTORE MOTION OR TEAM MAKENA. If you are a patient, REFUSE TO ACCEPT SERVICES FROM RESTORE MOTION OR TEAM MAKENA.

My next steps are filing in small claims court against both Restore Motion and McKenzie Paul and Associates as I am in the process of refinancing my home and this negative mark on my spotless credit report is sure to cost me thousands of dollars over the life of the mortgage. While the whole situation sucks, the technician was efficient, skilled, and knowledgeable but Restore Motion’s accounts receivable and dispute resolution processes are abominations. Thank goodness for COVID-19 and me now having the ability to devote my full attention to responding aggressively via small claims and spreading the word on the Internet.