Doctor bill being sent to collection??

[njjdjohnson]

What is the name of your state?Wisconsin

I have recently been notified that my doctor's office is sending my account to collection, as I have not been paying a "sufficient" amount in their eyes as payment every month. I have sent a payment of not less than between $50 and $100 to them every month, but unfortunately health problems with myself has caused a significant increase in my balance.

My insurance is not the greatest (90/10 with a high deductible).

I was always told that as long as you were making regular monthly payments they could not take legal action against you? Is that true or just a myth? If it is not so, is there anything I can do to avoid collection action? They will not accept payments of less than 10% of the total balance, which I just cannot afford.

 

[Ladynred]

Sorry, but that's one of the biggest myths going. They are not obligated to take anything less than what you owe. Dr's offices and hospitals will rarely carry a debt on their books for more than 90 days, then they'll send it to collections. I work for a major healthcare company that takes care of billing and collections for practices, so I know what the usual policies are.

There's really not much you can do if the Dr's office won't negotiate, it'll go to collections. You will just have to try to negotiate payments with the collection agency and don't let them bully you into anything you can't afford.