Medical Bill Responsibility

What is the name of your state? Florida, but bill in question is from Alabama

Hello all. We have obtained a tri bureau credit report, as we do about every 6 months to be sure that they are noting what has been paid off. In the Credit Report, we discovered a bill from "Slocumb Medical Center." We were not sure what this was, other than we knew that it was in the same town that my step-son lives. We called the hospital and they told us that the bill was for a visit that my step-son made to the ER in last February! We didn't even know that he was in the ER. (We lived in VA at the time this occured, my husband is military) They told us that my husband was listed as the responsible party because his son has medical insurance under my husband. We called my husband's ex and she says "Oh yeah, we took him in because he was throwing up a lot and I didn't tell you or anything because it was not a big deal" The hospital told us that we were responsible because the visit did not constitute an Emergency and Tricare would not cover the entire cost. The bill is only for about $200, but I really don't understand how we can be held accountable for something that we didn't even know about? Can they legally hold him responsbile for something if he didn't sign anything, was not present and had no knowledge of the debt? If not, how do we go about getting this taken off of his credit report? This is not something we want on there when we are trying to rebuild his credit!
And and all replies are welcomed and thank you for your help.
KC

[Ladynred]

If your step-son is covered under your husband's military coverage, then it doesn't matter whether he knew about it or was there or not.

Does your DH get statements from Tricare when there is a claim ? Does he get any copies of the EOB's (explanation of benefits) ?
There should have been some indication that there was a claim. I'd check into that. I'm not familiar with how TriCare works, but it can't be alll THAT different from other carriers.

My husband does not get anything from Tricare when a claim is initiated. All of the claims information and insurance information for his son is sent directly to his mother. She is the primary caregiver, so Tricare sends claims to the address that the patient lives at. We can access his claims on the internet, but other than that, we do not know when he is treated.

Thank you for your help.

Kristy

[denverb]

so, lady in red, you're saying that whoever has the medical insurance is responsible? my wife has insurance coverage over our family and my daughter from a previous marriage. my ex does all of the dr. visits and so if she decides she's not going to pay then my wife is responsible for this debt just because the insurance is in her name? that's a load of crap if that's the way it is i think. whatever happened to whoever signs the form to accept service is responsible? you shouldn't be able to just name whoever you want as the guarantor! how can that be? or am i missing something here?

Denverb,
That's the problem that I had with this. When I was younger, I worked in an ER and the person that authorized treatment...the parent or guardian that was there...was responsible for payment. I do not understand how we can have something reflected on our credit report as a delinquency if we never knew that the charge existed, never recieved anything from our insurance or from the hospital.
We were also sent a bill from a dentist's office for treatment of my step son for $103. It was the remainder from what the military dental plan would not cover and they sent it to us, not his mother...although she is the one that took him to the appointment, the one that filled out all of the paperwork, etc. So, we paid this. It's not that we don't want to pay for the things that he needs. We pay a fairly large amount of child support every month, and provide anything that he needs. The problem that I have with this is that I don't think it is ethical practice when something is reported as a delinquency to the credit bureaus if you didn't sign an agreement saying that you would be responsbile for payment. It's sad if ladyinred is correct and this is perfectly legal.

[djohnson]

There should be something in the custody order about who is responsible for medical bills or it is to be split. It should also say something about notification. What does his paperwork say?

[denverb]

i'm definitely no expert on any of this, but i do know that on my own medical billing statement that i get it says that payment is due upon receipt of the bill. (it may be different for that hospital-check into it) maybe you should call them up and see how you could be responsible since you never received a bill. they should have in their system where the bill was sent to. if it was sent to the mother than either the mother should be responsible (in my mind anyways) or else technically you never received it and therefore the payment isn't late! check into the exact wording and stuff like that to see if there some sort of "loophole" like that. as i said, this is only my opinion and suggestions of what maybe to do but i certainly have no legal background.

They were never married, so there was no divorce proceedings and they do not have a certified custody order. They only have a child support agreement that is court certified and they have a written visitation agreement that is not court certified.
The issue isn't so much as to which parent is responsible. The problem is that we were held accountable for something and did not sign for anything nor did we know that he had been treated. I thought in order for someone to be held responsible for a debt, they had to initially take responsibility for it. From what I am gathering here, he is automatically responsible for it because he has the insurance. You know, we are not trying to get out of paying something if we are responsible for it, which seems to be the general attitude. We will pay it if we are really and truly responsible. I just want to know if we are, and if we are is there any way to clear it up on the credit report. I just want the delinquency gone. Paying it won't make it go away from the credit report, but if we can prove that it shouldn't be on there, then it would. I am not going to waste my time trying to get it removed if it is a legally binding debt.

[djohnson]

I understand your problem with not signing for a debt. The problem is as a parent (is actually legal parent) they are both responsible. This is one of the many great reasons everyone should have a custody order that details some of these issues. I think he is going to be stuck paying it unless he says he isn't legal father (if he isn't). then he may have something.

[denverb]

this is what i was told when i posted previously about them same type of thing (minus the credit problem - so far)

**Holding the insurance policy doesn’t automatically make you liable for the bills incurred... Unless you signed the forms, you (your wife) can’t be held responsible. It’s illegal to bill a third party, it's considered mail fraud and/or forgery.**

posted by kat1963

this is the post if you want to read it:

[url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=168960[/url]


according to that he wouldn't be responsible. but, getting conflicting answers, who's right and who's not?

[bigun]

Contact the healthcare provider and explain the problem and ask if they can remove it from your credit report upon receipt of payment. Get the deal in writing {if they'll deal}.