| Huge medical bill in collection - what to do??
What is the name of your state? DE
Ok here is the situation - about 3 1/2 years ago my partner was in a car accident, he was the passenger and the driver was intoxicated. He was taken to the hospital by helicopter and was there for at least 2 days. I'm not sure the extent of what was done while was there other than x-rays, but he did sustain a broken collar bone. While he was in the hospital, a friend of his was told to bring his health insurance information to the hospital and submit to them, which was done. The hospital subsequently told him the claim needs to be submitted to the car insurance of the person who was driving, which was impossible to do as the driver and vehicle were uninsured. I was used to be an insurance adjuster and know that, in this type of situation, the health insurance would be secondary only if there was no vehicle insurance present. He explained this to the hospital but can't remember what was said. At any rate, the bill was NEVER submitted to his health insurance. Three years later, he pulls his credit report to find that the bill has been submitted to a collection agency. He tried filing for the Hilburton Act through the hospital and was denied because he makes too much money (a whopping $30k a year). He then had the hospital FINALLY submit the claim to his health insurance and the health insurance denied it, saying the hospital failed to do it within the time specified in their contract. Now here is the kicker... the health insurance company states that the hospital cannot hold him responsible for this money ($6700) because it was their responsibility to submit the claim to them a long time ago. He told the collection agency this and the collection agency called the hospital. The hospital is now saying that he JUST provided his health insurance information to them a couple weeks ago, not when the accident happened 3 years ago!!! This is completely untrue because when he originally contacted the hopsital recently, they already had his health insurance information on file. The collection agency says they are calling the hospital back and speaking to a manager. If they come back and say that the hospital is still denying they had his health insurance information at the time of the accident, is there anything he/we can do to avoid paying for this? It was way beyond what we can afford and don't feel that it is owed to begin with, as he was covered by his health insurance at the time of the accident. Sorry this is so long, and any help would be greatly appreciated. | 
08-02-2005, 12:16 PM
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