When consumer advocate Pat Palmer formed MBAA in June 1997, her goal was simple: strengthen the networking possibilities of businesses established to review medical billing errors and correct insurance mistakes. After spending 11 years working to solve the growing problems with medical billing and the millions of errors that went undetected, Pat had founded Medical Recovery Service, Inc., a research company, in Salem , Virginia in 1994. Within six months, she received calls from individuals and companies in more than 30 states. Since medical billing research and advocacy was—and continues to be—a relatively new field, strong evidence underscored the need for an interactive network to support the growing number of individuals and businesses looking for assistance, and MBAA was born.

 Palmer is often asked what inspired her to become a consumer advocate, and her reply is always the same. She believes it is her destiny. Her personal experiences overcoming the many obstacles and difficulties in correcting her own family’s bills convinced her that the greatest service she could provide the public would be to insure that others would only pay their fair share when it came to medical bills.

 The rest, as they say, is history.

Prior to becoming a consumer advocate, Pat Palmer worked for a major healthcare insurance company. She saw thousands of errors going undetected, thousands and thousands of dollars being paid in error, and thousands of unjustly rejected claims.

She saw such errors hit people hardest when it hurt the most, often when they were recuperating and unable to work. Since even people with insurance often pay all or part of their medical expenses out of pocket, she saw the need for affordable help. 

As word about her business got around, she began receiving national publicity.  She was featured on NBC Nightly News, ABC’s Prime Time Live, and most recently, NBC’s Dateline. Pat has done many interviews and has been quoted by national publications, including Newsweek, Modern Maturity, Self, Consumer Reports, Money Magazine, Reader’s Digest, National Enquirer, Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post, and numerous radio shows and news segments. Her book, The Medical Bill Survival Guide, published by Warner Books in August 2000, led to even more attention to the issue of medical errors and overcharges, and the press continues to seek Pat’s advice today as the healthcare crisis continues and grows in America .

The response from this and other publicity was overwhelming. Calls came in from all across the nation. The demand was so great, Pat simply couldn’t handle the volume of people desperate for help.

That’s why in June 1997 she created MBAA and began to offer this business opportunity as a helping hand for others around the country.