limitations on medical bills( Medicare)

[58Chrysler]

What is the name of your state?
Michigan
I need to know what, if any statute of limitations on medical bills( Dr office, not hospital)
I just received an initial notice from a collection agency regarding some small medical bills, from 2 to 4 yrs old, that I knew nothing about until this notice.!

I have a pretty good idea what's going on here, and it stems from the utter incompetence and laziness of my previous dr's billing people, and the overload/slowness of the Medicare payment in that area( I relocated in 2005, to central MI. And yes, I filed a change of address with USPS, and the dr's office had my new contact info.)

It is not a large sum of money( a little over $300), but I am just completely fed up with having to pay old medical bills that should have been paid by insurance had they been properly coded and submitted!

How should I word my dispute response to the Collection agency? Can I demand that I be given complete details of each bill, so that I can research with Medicare and my other insurance whether or not the bills were even submitted??
Cindy O

[brcr44]

You have the right for each debt to be validated before you pay for anything. This means they must provide you proof of the debt. And all payments applied to the debt. Make sure you ask them to VALIDATE the debt. Then also state that you will be contacting your insurance company (after receiving the validation) to determine if this debt was indeed paid or sent in. Remember though that your doctor files your claims for you out of a courtesy (he doesn't have to). I mean it's pretty standard but if you read the doctors office forms it states that they will bill your insurance for you out of courtesy. Good luck. You can get more information at FTC.gov

[58Chrysler]

Thanks for the prompt response!
This collection is for several different office visits..will the collection agency have to provide me with details about each one?

Yes I know what you are saying about the billing service being a courtesy...a few years back when my husband was still alive, I had 3 insurances...I was on his BC/BS, which by Medicare rules was primary, then Medicare was secondary, and then third I had a medicare supplement thru MY former employer. An hour Dr visit would require 4 to 8 hrs of phone calls and letter writing because, despite WRITTEN instructions, the billing people would just send the bill out to all 3 insurances at once, resulting of course in 3 denials.
I tried to get the dr office to give me the forms and I would gladly have handled the paperwork myself and they refused to let me!

Where I live now is under a different Medicare adminstrator,I get my EOBs from them and my secondary insurers in a timely manner,and regular, UNDERSTANDABLE statements/billings from my new Drs office.
Cindy O

[brcr44]

Yes, if this is for several bills then they must validate each bill they must come from the doctors office not the collection agency. They must show proof that the amount is correct. Usually they get this from the doctor in question. Sometimes this results in the doctor stating they have nothing to provide which closes the collection file too. Make sure whatever you get you keep for years because these things seems to come back at the weirdest times. There is a new thing going around where you have paid the bill but some off the wall collection agency states you owe them for a bill. Always keep receipts for anything you've paid off for at least 10 years. Always ask them to validate the debt if they are legitimate they will be able to provide the proof. Also check your credit report at least every 6 months to see if anything has been added that you are unaware of. They are free at annualcreditreport.com (once a year all three agencies).

[58Chrysler]

Yes, oddly enough I just checked all 3 of my CRs...I think I remember hearing that these CAs will lie doggo on an account that may in fact BE erroneous or fraudulent, and only try to collect when either the consumer or a hard inquiry pull occurs. I had this same CA pull this on me back in 2005( not the same amount/bill) when I sold my other house and applied for a mortgage to buy this one.Even though I had disputed it, the mortgage lender insisted on it being paid.
Unfortunately for the CA in this case, I have no credit applications planned, I simply pulled the reports to follow up on a couple of things that had come to my attention.So I have no external pressures forcing me to pay a debt that's in dispute.
Cindy O