Mysterious Initials: TGFMAI

August 4, 2009 11:30 AM

I process credit cards for a hospital -- mostly statements that patients have paid by mail. Sometimes the patient will write "TGFMAI" on the statement, under the amount. Does anyone know what could mean?
posted by Toothless Willy to Work & Money (19 answers total)

Thank God For My [A-something] Insurance?

(Stab in the dark, I have no idea.)
posted by Phire at 11:36 AM on August 4, 2009

The missing word could be a-hole.
posted by scrutiny at 11:40 AM on August 4, 2009

Thanks Given For My Abrupt Internement
posted by scrutiny at 11:40 AM on August 4, 2009

Thank God For My American Insurance, said sarcastically, if they're paying a lot out of pocket on a regular basis.

Google returns next to nothing for this. Is it consistently the same patient? Maybe it's just a personal code for "The funds are now in my account and I can mail the payment" or some other personal categorizing system.
posted by Phire at 11:42 AM on August 4, 2009

Dumb questions, sorry, since I'm striking out on Google too:

- is there any sort of spacing? "TGF MAI" vs "TG FMAI" vs "TGFM AI," etc.
- are you sure those are the letters? Could F be a P or I be an L or something?
- do the patients have anything in common? Obviously you probably wouldn't want to reveal that but if they're all, say, chiropractic patients maybe that means something.
posted by harperpitt at 11:48 AM on August 4, 2009

"Thank God For My Awesome Insurance", I thought.
posted by Prospero at 11:48 AM on August 4, 2009

Do you notice any trends with the names of the patients who do this? Are they more likely to be male or female? Are they grandparenty age (Dorothy, Mabel, Henry) or parenty age (Cheryl, Jim, Donna) or childless age (Jennifer, Christopher)? Are they white, Latino, black, etc? The demographics might provide clues.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 11:52 AM on August 4, 2009

I'm betting that somebody told people "if you write TGFMAI on the statement then you don't have to pay" or something like that.

snopes doesn't seem to indicate anything about this, though.
posted by madcaptenor at 11:54 AM on August 4, 2009

It could be some sort of prayer. For example, I used to write "JMJ" for "Jesus, Mary and Joseph" at the bottom of my school exams. I didn't really believe it would work (and am an intermittent believer entirely) but my grandmother said to do it so I did ... and mostly it just made me feel like she was sitting next to me while I was taking my test.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 12:10 PM on August 4, 2009

In the context of medical stuff, using acronym finder on the MAI portion lends the following possibilities:

Thank goodness for ...
Medication Assisted Intubation
Mesna, Adriamycin, and Ifosfamide (chemotherapy regimen)

I'd also throw in in Migration and Asylum Initiative, as it might be a remark about welfare or other support.

In short, I dunno.
posted by Smoosh Faced Lion at 12:33 PM on August 4, 2009

In some medical circles, "MAI" stands for Minority Aids Initiative.
posted by goml at 12:41 PM on August 4, 2009

If it's on statements for different patients with no obvious connections that seems pretty strange. Does the handwriting match the rest? Does the ink color usually match? My next guess is someone internal to your office. If you are not the first person to handle those statements (as in you open each envelope) then go ask whoever else is handling them.
posted by 6550 at 12:43 PM on August 4, 2009

From my reading/research: TGF-beta is something given to AIDS patients. So perhaps, the MIA is paying for their TGF-b? TGFMIA?
posted by goml at 12:47 PM on August 4, 2009

As for common traits: I'm going to start keeping a (secret) list of these statements, to see if I can find a pattern. Good idea -- thanks.

Also, thanks for the acronym hints. I could only get as far as Thank God For.
posted by Toothless Willy at 12:51 PM on August 4, 2009

I also think it's "Thank god for my awesome insurance", a google search on that exact phase shows it showing up in that context (though not ever as an acronym)

e.g.This post on twitter "Every time i pay bills, i thank god for my awesome insurance." and on mom's groups (which seem to freaking love acronyms like you wouldn't believe.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 1:08 PM on August 4, 2009

Could the patient be trying to direct the funds for some concrete purpose such as one might do with a mortgage payment by indicating that $X should go toward interest and $Y toward the principal? In that case it could be TO GO FOR something something something?
posted by ellenaim at 1:30 PM on August 4, 2009

Why don't you just call them as a representative of the Billing Department and ask?

(If you have the power to do this, I mean.)
posted by twins named Lugubrious and Salubrious at 1:46 PM on August 4, 2009

Maybe "Thank god for my auto insurance"? In many cases there is a big deductible for medical insurance but if treatment was in relation to an auto accident the auto insurance will cover payment.
posted by white_devil at 2:36 PM on August 4, 2009

Okay, so I tracked the payments, and it turned out they were all from the same household (for different names.) I can't call patients without reason and I have to write a report on every interaction, so I didn't want to call just about the mystery (though by now I figured it was just their personal quirk, and not a trend).

But today I got my chance. I had to call them about their payment, and I asked. She laughed and told me it meant, "Thank God For My Abundant Income," and that it was her way of thanking God for providing enough money for the bills.

Thanks, everybody. :)
posted by Toothless Willy at 1:42 PM on October 16, 2009