B
beverlto
Guest
My wife's medical insurance refused to cover a three day stay in ICU which was due to a heart arythmia.
The insurance company claimed that her problems were due to alcohol/drug abuse, and therefore were not covered by the health plan. However, we have reviewed all of her patient records from the time of stay, and there is no reference to alcohol abuse, other than a mention of a hangover by one doctor.
She had been drinking the night of the problem, although she was not intoxicated, and her blood workup shows a blood alcohol level below the legal limit. The only mention of alcohol is the note about a hangover the next morning (since the medical staff had been advised that my wife had been drinking).
We appealed through the insurance company and were turned down a second time, so we started making payments to the hospital. The hospital subsequently renegged on their agreement regarding the payment amount and sent the bill to collection, even though we were paying on it.
When the account went to collection we asked for legal advice from the state bar association in Michigan, and they advised us not to pay the remainder and dispute the negative item on our credit report with the reporting agencies. The legal opinion was that the hospital would write off the account and not pursue it with us because we had relocated out of state.
Now the collection account is showing up on our credit report. We are not truly responsible for the insurance company's failure to pay, but obviously we are being held accountable for it. Is there anything we can do at this point?
The insurance company claimed that her problems were due to alcohol/drug abuse, and therefore were not covered by the health plan. However, we have reviewed all of her patient records from the time of stay, and there is no reference to alcohol abuse, other than a mention of a hangover by one doctor.
She had been drinking the night of the problem, although she was not intoxicated, and her blood workup shows a blood alcohol level below the legal limit. The only mention of alcohol is the note about a hangover the next morning (since the medical staff had been advised that my wife had been drinking).
We appealed through the insurance company and were turned down a second time, so we started making payments to the hospital. The hospital subsequently renegged on their agreement regarding the payment amount and sent the bill to collection, even though we were paying on it.
When the account went to collection we asked for legal advice from the state bar association in Michigan, and they advised us not to pay the remainder and dispute the negative item on our credit report with the reporting agencies. The legal opinion was that the hospital would write off the account and not pursue it with us because we had relocated out of state.
Now the collection account is showing up on our credit report. We are not truly responsible for the insurance company's failure to pay, but obviously we are being held accountable for it. Is there anything we can do at this point?