Collections Agency letter for incorrectly claimed "Unpaid dental bill"

[Jennif102]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

I used to live in NYC and over 3 years ago I had gum surgery with a NYC dentist. I was avid about paying my portion of the bills on time and ensuring everything was taken care of with the insurance portion. Shortly after my last visit with the dentist, I moved out of NYC. I still continued to receive "check in" calls from the dentist's office- mostly to schedule a routine check-up visit. Most of the time they left me a voicemail but I never called back because I lived out of state so there was no way I'd be able to visit them for a check up. A few times I did answer, however, and they NEVER mentioned an unpaid bill- nor did I ever receive any mail correspondence from them regarding this.

Just last week, more than 3 years later, a letter from a Collections Agency called "Healthcare Management Resources Inc." was sent to my mother's house in New Jersey. They are saying the dentist placed my past due account with them for immediate payment. The letter says: "The amount owed is either your deductible, co-payment, not fully covered by your insurance carrier or not paid at all by your carrier. If you are disputing these charges.....you must go to our legal deparment within 30 days of this letter....etc."

I know I paid my portion in full. So this is either A) a scam B) a mess-up at the dentist's office or C) My insurance company never paid their portion and now the dentist is finally coming after me.

The dates of service stated on the letter were from 9/12/05 to 4/13/06.

I don't even have this insurance anymore because I've moved & changed jobs since. I also don't remember whether the Dentist was in-network or out-of network. I could easily find out though. The total is $435 and I DO NOT want to pay this as I firmly believe it's incorrect and not fair.

Also, I most likely do not have any records on payments or bills- I moved around a lot and never thought something that was a non-issue years ago would come back now.

What can/should I do?
Should I write the collections agency? Call the dentist's office to find out what's going on? Ignore?
Can this affect my credit score?

Thanks!
Jen

[ecmst12]

I'd call the dentist's office first.