Minneapolis man receives $29,000 check in insurance mix-up

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - How would you like to have more than $29,000 show up in your mailbox? A Minneapolis man says it happened to him.

His insurance provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield, has now sent him three checks in the last month for medical care he never received.

"Other than the birth of our child, very rarely do we use the insurance," said Keith Miller.

He's had routine doctor visits here and there, but certainly nothing that would warrant this.

He couldn't believe it when he received a $29,544 check for treatment he never received.

"It was basically, 'holy crap,' we just started our kids college fund," said Miller.

Under his name, address and policy number, he has received three checks in the last month all attached to a detailed explanation of a stay at a medical facility on the East Coast. One check was for about $1,000 and the other for more than $3,000.

"I've called them and I give them the claim number and they can see everything that I see, so it really is Blue Cross, it's not some internet scam," he said.

Worried that another customer is waiting on that money, he says he's called Blue Cross several times, but each time it goes nowhere.

"They were kind of confused as to how to handle it," he said.

And the checks kept coming.

"The third one came last week and I've stopped calling," he said.

He's just hoping for good karma in return.

"Now it's just more of a joke to us," he said. "I'm just going to hang it on the wall and look at it."

On Thursday, Blue Cross Blue Shield responded with the following statement:

"This was a highly unusual case involving two unrelated people with the same name. We incorrectly identified the wrong person when processing a series of claims, leading to multiple inaccurate mailings. We have contacted Mr. Miller to correct our mistake and to thank him for his honesty and perseverance in bringing this to our attention."