How long does Hospital have to rebill?

[Krowten]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Michigan

My daughter was born in May 2002, after which, we promptly recieved a bill from the hospital and an explanation of benefits from our insurance company. Unfortunately, the insurance company admitted to calculating the benefits wrong. After several months and multiple explanations and bills, everything seemed to get taken care of. The insurance company got on the phone with me and the hospital, everything was worked out. We got our final bill late in 2002, paid it, and everything was done.. or so we thought.

This past May, 2 years after my daughter was born, I recieved another explanation of benefits for my daughter's birth for the same charges that were originally calculated wrong. I thought that was odd, but I didn't do anything. This past month, I got a bill from the hospital for additional charges for the exact same thing we paid for already.

My question is, can the hospital just continue to re-calculate and re-bill for the same services indefinitely? Is there not some staute of limitations? We satisfied the original bill. Isn't this just like if I were to buy a TV and 2 years later the store comes back and says "Oh, we're sorry, we forgot to charge you another $25."?

 

[MellowCat]

You can't be made to pay twice for the same thing, but it appears to me that the insurance company recalculated your claim and found you to have more out-of-pocket expenses than was originally calculated. It's possible that the insurance carrier may have required the hospital to refund them the overpayment, and they are in turn billing you for that amount. I would contact the carrier and find out the reason for the recalculation. I don't know what the statute is in your state, but most insurance contracts allow them to recalculate the claim if they find a mistake, and you are liable if that's how your carrier adjudicated the claim.