Banner Health review: Banner health billing - do not pay upfront

Had an appointment with my PCP and was provided a Patient Estimate of $132.86 at time of check in although my PCP appointments are covered at 100% with my Banner Aetna insurance. I advised the front desk gal that per my insurance Banner Aetna the office visit copay would be $0 but was told well that's not what the Patient Estimate says and that Banner requires some type of payment up front and asked for at least a $25 copay. Against my better judgement, I paid the $25 copay so that I could see the doctor. The bill was submitted to Banner Aetna and EOB stated my copay was $0. I immediately called Banner Billing and was told they didn't have the insurance EOB yet and that it's usually a few weeks after the patient receives, which is a lie per Banner Aetna insurance--they receive at the same time as the patient. I then contacted my PCP's office and Banner Aetna concierge services who then submitted the refund request on my behalf. Two weeks later, I called Banner Billing to check on the status of the refund and no record! The billing representative submitted the request today and advised it will take 30-45 business days to refund my visa card. This isn't the first time I've had issues with Banner Billing. Patient Estimates that are being generated are inaccurate and the entire billing process needs to be reviewed by management, audit, and the state insurance board. If you have an open balance (even if the amount is in dispute) and obtain services again that payment is then applied to the open balance until paid in full so the tracking of a payment is a nightmare as it may be separated into various amounts to pay various bills. In 2025, Banner Billing and Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center could not balance my patient billing account and after 9 months of my persistence with them and escalating to the Banner University CEO, Banner finally refunded me what I had overpaid to them which was approximately $700! DO NOT PAY FOR BANNER HEALTH SERVICES UNTIL YOU RECEIVE THE INSURANCE EOB.