Collection for Medical Services

[kking]

What is the name of your state? FL

Yesterday I received a letter in the mail from a local Attorney's office "Demanding" payment for bill. I was unaware of any outstanding bills and contacted the offices regarding the collection notice. After a long conversation with somebody at the law office, I came to realize that this is a collection for a visit that occured in early 2003. The Dr's office claims to have billed my insurance who erroneosly replied back saying my insurance coverage had been cancelled. At this point no attempt was made to contact me and the dr's office soon after went into bankruptcy. For the past 3 years by account has been in the posession of a trustee who was supposed to have made attempts to collect on the bill. I have never recieved any information regarding this outstanding bill until this collection notice. I contacted my HR department and obtained proof that I had insurance coverage during this period. I also requested all documentation the law offices have regarding this issue. I also contacted my insurance company requesting documentation as to why they initially denied the claim. According to my insurance company they never received a bill for this and have no record of ever recieving a bill.

i understand that the patient is financially responsible for all charges incurred when visiting a dr, and that the dr only bills the insurnace as a convenience or courtesy. My Question is does what rights do i have regarding the amount of time it took for this bill to be brought to my attention, and can my incurnace company still be help responsible for payment of this bill? Any addtional information or advice somebody can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Kevin

[lealea1005]

Originally Posted by kking

What is the name of your state? FL

Yesterday I received a letter in the mail from a local Attorney's office "Demanding" payment for bill. I was unaware of any outstanding bills and contacted the offices regarding the collection notice. After a long conversation with somebody at the law office, I came to realize that this is a collection for a visit that occured in early 2003. The Dr's office claims to have billed my insurance who erroneosly replied back saying my insurance coverage had been cancelled. At this point no attempt was made to contact me and the dr's office soon after went into bankruptcy. For the past 3 years by account has been in the posession of a trustee who was supposed to have made attempts to collect on the bill. I have never recieved any information regarding this outstanding bill until this collection notice. I contacted my HR department and obtained proof that I had insurance coverage during this period. I also requested all documentation the law offices have regarding this issue. I also contacted my insurance company requesting documentation as to why they initially denied the claim. According to my insurance company they never received a bill for this and have no record of ever recieving a bill.

i understand that the patient is financially responsible for all charges incurred when visiting a dr, and that the dr only bills the insurnace as a convenience or courtesy. My Question is does what rights do i have regarding the amount of time it took for this bill to be brought to my attention, and can my incurnace company still be help responsible for payment of this bill? Any addtional information or advice somebody can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Kevin

Hi Kevin...Unfortunately, your insurance company is no longer under any obligation to pay the claim since it's probably well past their "timely filing" period. Do you possibly have any kind of proof that the insurance company initially stated you wre not covered at the time of service? Having that proof and proof that you were actually insured at the time of service may be your only hope of getting them to pay. Try to get a copy of the EOB (explanation of benefits) the person at the Doctor's office was referring to.

Best of Luck.

[kking]

Thank you for the quick response, I have requested all documentation the collection agency has regarding this matter, and have been told that i will recieve copies within the next week. I have also requested a letter detailing why i had not been contacted earlier regarding this bill.

If a bill is denied erroneously by an insurance company and the Dr's office makes no attempt to contact the patient to alert them this happened, does the Dr's office eventually loose the right to demand payment? Does the Dr's office not have a specific responsibility to alert the patient that a bill is do and in fact do so within a timely manner?

thanks again

[lealea1005]

Originally Posted by kking

Thank you for the quick response, I have requested all documentation the collection agency has regarding this matter, and have been told that i will recieve copies within the next week. I have also requested a letter detailing why i had not been contacted earlier regarding this bill.

If a bill is denied erroneously by an insurance company and the Dr's office makes no attempt to contact the patient to alert them this happened, does the Dr's office eventually loose the right to demand payment? Does the Dr's office not have a specific responsibility to alert the patient that a bill is do and in fact do so within a timely manner?thanks again

welllllllll...I guess that would depend upon the "timely manner" in which the insurance company made their final determination. Sometimes it takes almost a year just to get a final determination. Your Doctor may have known the insurance company was initially wrong and tried to rectify it, but the insurance company took months to get it back through the system. I do agree that you should have been notified well before 3 years, though.