Geode Health drained my bank account to $0 — here’s how

How I discovered Geode Health

My primary care physician (PCP) referred me to Geode Health per the Baylor Scott & White Health partnership.

When researching the company, I used queries like

• “geode health scam”
• “geode health problematic”
• “geode health patient reviews”

and found little beyond someone being charged $300 as a “surprise”.

My experience with Geode Health providers

I had a psychiatrist and therapist through Geode Health, who helped me see the importance of good-fit mental health care providers.

I was most concerned with finding a nutritionist/dietician, as Geode Health advertises eating disorder treatment — it’s why I was referred.

However, all I could search for were psychiatrists and therapists.

Geode Health offers nutritional therapy via therapists, not registered dieticians. So them attracting patients and getting referrals from doctors for their eating disorder treatment is false advertising.

I started with a psychiatrist; from there, I got a therapist.

Few psychiatrists and therapists employed by Geode Health specialize in eating disorders, let alone complex trauma.

The virtual visits did not feel too fragmented, but I did think, “I need someone who can unpack my severe, complex trauma with me,” frequently.

My trans therapist taught me what feeling safe in therapy is like, so it’s not something I’ll forget.

Both my care providers through Geode Health were good. I have no problem with them.

But after blood work revealed hormone imbalances, and my PCP was concerned about my amenorrhea, I realized I needed more specialized care that consistently unpacked my trauma in relation to my eating disorder.

During this time, I had an outstanding balance of nearly $1500 at Geode Health due to my insurance pausing while on leave of absence (LOA) because I forgot my premiums were biweekly, so they were catching up.

And that pause revealed predatory billing practices Geode Health engages in.

Microtransactions pulling exact amounts from my account

I maintain two checking accounts:

1. Debit card account (main)
2. Money safe account (where all my money sits)

Unlike my savings account, checking accounts don’t have withdrawal limits. I started holding my money in my safe account when Audible continued randomly charging me a few years ago despite my cancelling.

I usually keep $10 in my debit card account, plus however much is needed for an upcoming withdrawal. On my LOA, I’ve been keeping up to $2 in my account.

I woke up one morning to a notification that Geode Health charged my account $1.23 — the exact amount in my account.

Within a week, I had 5 microtransactions all matching what I’d put in my account, bringing it down to $0.

Every single time, they charged the exact amount in my debit card account.

Every single query I searched about this came back as like, “Merchants cannot see how much is in your debit card account, yada yada.”

I even consulted Claude.ai and ChatGPT because I know sometimes they catch the nichest parts of Reddit or at least hallucinate something searchable.

Then I searched “company billed my debit card for exact amount in my bank account” and while I hate AI Overviews, this one was on to something:

Contact your bank immediately to report the transaction as fraudulent or unauthorized. A company taking the exact amount of money in your account is a common indicator of fraud, often referred to as “card on file” scams, where attackers use automated tools to drain all available funds.

And this is what started the investigation that led to me realizing I needed to blog about this because it’s ungoogleable.

Predatory billing targets vulnerable patients

This billing behavior makes people come off as paranoid when they report it.

Mental health clients are some of the most vulnerable patients care providers can have, next to seniors.

Paranoia is a symptom of several mental disorders, and Geode Health banks off behavioral health.

When I became a patient, I couldn’t download the billing “contract”. I thought about screenshotting it after continuing.

The “back” button on the web page took me back to a blank page, and I had to reenter the signing process from where I left off. I could not return to the billing page.

Geode Health doesn’t tell you the specifics of how they’ll bill you — only that they will. Their terms mention nothing about billing. So you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into until you’ve got an appointment, become a patient.

How does Geode Health know how much is in a debit account?

Geode Health uses Elavon Commerce as a payment gateway.

Elavon Commerce includes balance inquiry capabilities for their merchants. Scammers often take advantage of this service to avoid denied charges.

But…balance inquiries are only supposed to be possible with PIN entry. I never inputted my PIN upon submitting my debit card to have a card on file (considered normal in telehealth, so this didn’t raise red flags).

Yet, it’s the only way they could have “drafted” my debit account for the exact amount I deposited into it without having charges denied.

Overdraft protection is definitely on, not that that would be the problem here.

Disputing the transactions

I called Capital One to dispute the transactions and ask to freeze the merchant from continuing to charge my account.

Getting in touch with Geode Health’s billing department was impossible because they kept directing me to my therapist’s office, who had nothing to do with it because Geode Health is a private equity firm.

I explained to the Capital One support dude and he said he’d block the merchant from charging my debit card at all, that it’d take up to 3 biz days.

Capital One decided in my favor. Shortly after, Geode Health emailed me 5x about new bill amounts being $0. Odd how it took a week for my Geode Health insurance claims to reprocess — for them to finally stop trying to charge my account — once I got my bank involved.

Geode Health red flags

Is Geode Health a scam? Are they problematic?

I have no idea. I’d say YES, due to the lack of transparency.

It reminds me of last year’s LBEE Health scandal, a private equity by an entrepreneur who wanted to make autism and ADHD assessments more “accessible” and “affordable”

I’ve learned “accessible” and “affordable” are buzzwords for entrepreneurs. It’s probably how they get us.

False eating disorder treatment advertising

Geode Health may have a few providers specializing in eating disorder treatment, but this is limited to

• psychiatrists and
• therapists.

A patient, or their caregiver, seeking treatment may associate mentions of “nutrition counseling” with “nutritionist” or “registered dietician” — and that is where the problem lies.

The worst part is, on the anorexia nervosa page, they describe nutritional counseling. I wonder if this is how they got the partnership with Baylor Scott & White Health.

As an online business owner myself, I know how easy writing copy is in comparison to actually delivering the service you claim to offer.

Psychiatry and therapy is only one piece of the eating disorder puzzle. Eating disorders are both physical and mental illnesses, not just mental health. Talk therapy only does so much. Medication is not always necessary.

Their grid simplifies eating disorder treatment in the same ways other telemedicine private equity firms do by reducing it to something you can maximize for profits through efficient treatment.

I have severe, complex trauma AND eating disorder history. AND I need therapy for basic, everyday life goings-on. Like, I need two different types of therapists. But at this point, I need providers who aren’t through Geode.

Geode Health was formed by a private equity firm

Private equity has taken over U.S. healthcare.

It also controls most eating disorder treatment centers in the U.S.

Sit with that for a minute.

Private equity firms are capitalizing on mental health care, especially eating disorder patients whose survival relies on treatment — by owning and controlling most of the eating disorder treatment centers in the U.S.

For why? Recession-proof profit.

Finding that out as a patient is terrifying.

Wait, it gets worse. And I sooo know exactly how I sound right now.

Geode Health was formed by the private equity firm, KKR & Co., Inc.

KKR & Co., Inc. also owns Therapy Brands (practice software) and invested in Brightline (pediatric virtual care) and Brightspring Health Services.

Private equity firms are attracted to behavioral healthcare ventures because they are recession-proof. People will always need behavioral health, especially with everything going on in the world today.

Firms like KKR are scrutinized for creating roll-up monopolies, where investors (usually private equity firms) buy and merge several small companies to dominate the market.

Private equity is difficult to regulate due to its private structure. These firms exempt from disclosing because they’re not publicly traded.

KKR healthcare companies turn bad like Portland General in Grey’s Anatomy after Pegasus took it over.

Which reminds me of how I felt at Medical City McKinney (for-profit), where they failed to accurately address WHAT brought me to the hospital for two months.

It’s one thing when doctors get paid for their job. It’s another when the company behind them is paid to make the company/investors/etc. wealthier.

Knowing behavioral healthcare for one of my chronic illnesses puts money into investors’ pockets makes me feel so gross. Learning how private equity firms operate in the healthcare industry feels so predatory, like I’m in a Black Mirror episode.

My doctors’ employer is not-for-profit. Extremely different feel compared to Medical City’s for-profit structure.

KKR is notorious for aggressive financial practices

In the name of increasing their own profits, KKR throws under the bus employees and customers of their portfolio companies.

Especially their healthcare companies.

Surprise medical billing? That’s their specialty!

Will I use Geode Health again?

No.

I decided to find a local private practice instead of *motions* all of this. (Yes, I’m aware I used “chat speak” with you.)

In my experience working with private practice behavioral health providers, they are transparent about how much you’ll be billed and do not surprise bill you. They usually work with their patients, without piling up $1500 worth of bills.

Geode Health’s providers are paid to work there, and I’m not faulting them for that. Based off Reddit posts, I think they’re somewhat exploited.

Finding a local private practice will be a pain, especially while dealing with everything I’m already dealing with, but I already have a few names to check out. I’ll probably focus on it in 1-2 months.

Geode Health knowing the exact amount in my account re-traumatized me

I grew up being surveilled. My stepfather tracked keystrokes, could watch my computer screen from his computer.

My childhood was filled with being told I was paranoid and delusional, thinking someone was out to get me or that people were spying on me because they’d know stuff I hadn’t told them.

And it was all true. They did spy on me. I had little privacy; I was raised to believe I wasn’t entitled to it.

In middle school, I would search random usernames in DiaryLand I’d seen but hadn’t interacted with and be asked about them. That’s when/how I knew.

I’d type phrases into a textarea, then close the window. The next day, I’d be asked about the phrases I’d typed while wondering how they knew about them.

I don’t know exactly how Geode Health did it, but they knew the exact amount I kept in my bank account and charged it. Coincidences do not happen 5x like that.

This kind of thing, it’s what contributes to bad mental healthcare experiences.

And it only happened to me because my insurance briefly paused due to my LOA.

And the worst part is how this experience can be pathologized as paranoia, treated as a symptom instead of a consequence.

I grew up with my legitimate fears, anxiety, etc. being pathologized by my abusers in the name of me being mentally ill, and it feels like the mental health company I get mental health treatment through did that to me.

Mental health clients are some of the most vulnerable patients care providers can have, next to seniors. Private equity firms know and exploit this.