Wayne owes chiropractor $270,000 for services, lawsuit says

By: Philip DeVencentis
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

WAYNE - The township owes a Bergen County chiropractor hundreds of thousands of dollars for services provided to a municipal employee and family, according to a new lawsuit.
..... Chiropractor Blanca-Alexis Ilarraza, whose primary office is at The Spine & Health Center of New Jersey on South Kinderkamack Road in Montvale, claims the township owes $270,000 for services rendered to four patients on a total of 340 dates as many as four years ago.
.... To date, the doctor's lawsuit stated, the township has not paid a dime.
.... The 12-page lawsuit, field in state Superior Court in Hackensack, seeks compensatory damages plus interest.
..... The patients are identified in the lawsuit only by their initials.
..... Eric Katz, an attorney representing Ilarraza, said his client had "no alternative" but to take legal action. "before we were compelled to file a suit," he said, the doctor tried to get the township to reimburse her, but it "fell on deaf ears."
..... Township Attorney Matthew Giacobbe did not return a call placed to his law office in Oakland on Wednesday. [04/12/2023]
..... the lawsuit claims Ilarraza rendered services that included chiropractic manipulation, electric stimulation and therapeutic exercises.
..... The Doctor billed the township a reasonable sum - an amount, the lawsuit state, which an out-of-network health care provider would customarily charge to a patient in the free market.
..... The fees were based on charges by providers with similar experience in this area, the lawsuit states.
.... The township underwrites its own health care plan, allowing annual coverage for chiropractic services of up to 36 visits per insured, the lawsuit states. It pays for such services at a rate of 80% of the "reasonable charge: it stated.
..... None of the patients exceeded the maximum number of visits per year, and the lawsuit states, neither the township nor its claims agent, Oakland-based Insurance design Administrators, said the services were anything other than medically necessary.
..... The township's refusal to reimburse Ilarraza is a breach of its Health care plan, the lawsuit stated.
..... The claims agent asked Ilarraza to send medical records and an affidavit validating she is not related to the patients, and the lawsuit stated that she comp;lied.
..... "Despite following up with defendant's agent for over a year," the lawsuit claims. "Wayne and IDA never responded, never made payment and never issued explanations of benefits."

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