Help!! Dr. office sending bill after 2 years

[andtal12]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law?) I live in Utah and after 2 years we get a call from a Dr's office stating that they had some mix up and mess up with their billing dept and they want to send us a bill from 2 years ago that we never paid. We didn't meet our deductable so they are now trying to collect from us. My question is--what is the statute of limitations on billing from a dr's office? They never billed us at the time of service and now they are saying--two years later--our office was a mess and we realize you never met your ded so you now need to pay. Do we need to pay this bill? Very annoyed and frustrated but not sure what to do. Don't really want to be sent to collections but feel that with the stupidness on their part--they lost out and we shouldn't have to pay. Could you please advise Thank you.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[Stevef]

Originally Posted by andtal12

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law?) I live in Utah and after 2 years we get a call from a Dr's office stating that they had some mix up and mess up with their billing dept and they want to send us a bill from 2 years ago that we never paid. We didn't meet our deductable so they are now trying to collect from us. My question is--what is the statute of limitations on billing from a dr's office? They never billed us at the time of service and now they are saying--two years later--our office was a mess and we realize you never met your ded so you now need to pay. Do we need to pay this bill? Very annoyed and frustrated but not sure what to do. Don't really want to be sent to collections but feel that with the stupidness on their part--they lost out and we shouldn't have to pay. Could you please advise Thank you.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/limitations_by_state/Utah.html

Contracts: Oral contracts, 4 years; Written contracts, 6 years.

[lealea1005]

Originally Posted by andtal12

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law?) I live in Utah and after 2 years we get a call from a Dr's office stating that they had some mix up and mess up with their billing dept and they want to send us a bill from 2 years ago that we never paid. We didn't meet our deductable so they are now trying to collect from us. My question is--what is the statute of limitations on billing from a dr's office? They never billed us at the time of service and now they are saying--two years later--our office was a mess and we realize you never met your ded so you now need to pay. Do we need to pay this bill? Very annoyed and frustrated but not sure what to do. Don't really want to be sent to collections but feel that with the stupidness on their part--they lost out and we shouldn't have to pay. Could you please advise Thank you.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

You knew you had a deductible. You need to pay the bill.

[JustAPal00]

The question I have is did you meet your deductible by the end of the year? If so then I would argue that you should only be liable for the co-pay. Had they billed properly and this bill gone towards your deductible, you would have only owed a co-pay for another visit that you paid in full later in the year. I would also contact your insurance company. I'm not sure how long after the end of the year you have to submit a bill.

[ecmst12]

The doctor submitted it to insurance timely and it was correctly proccessed and applied to deductible. It's the NEXT step that they dropped the ball on - sending the bill to the patient. Regardless, the SOL has not remotely passed, and the patient needs to pay the bill.

[JustAPal00]

Originally Posted by ecmst12

The doctor submitted it to insurance timely and it was correctly proccessed and applied to deductible. It's the NEXT step that they dropped the ball on - sending the bill to the patient. Regardless, the SOL has not remotely passed, and the patient needs to pay the bill.

As long as it was applied to the deductible, then I agree.