Is there a law about collections and how long you have owed the bill?

DawnM

DIS Legend
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Oct 4, 2005
Messages
16,630
We are shocked. We got a call (3 actually) from a collections agency. My son had surgery at the end of August of THIS YEAR.

We got the bills by September but when we called the insurance company they said they needed to adjust a few things and to just wait.

So we have waited.

Now they turned us over to collections for the $174 bill for the radiologist.

WHAT?

I thought they waited a full 12 months before turning you over to collections.
 
Nope, once a bill is past due, some companies will send them to collections. It is sometimes better to received the reduced amount that they would receive from the agency than it would be to hire someone to followup on all of the past due bills.
 
Huh. I had no idea. I have never been turned over to collections and only waited since Insur told us to. Oh well, too bad for them, since we pay all of bills in full once we know what they are!

Oh, and DH just got home and said he paid the hospital directly a week ago. So, they will have to work that out. We aren't paying twice.
 
We are shocked. We got a call (3 actually) from a collections agency. My son had surgery at the end of August of THIS YEAR.

We got the bills by September but when we called the insurance company they said they needed to adjust a few things and to just wait.

So we have waited.

Now they turned us over to collections for the $174 bill for the radiologist.

WHAT?

I thought they waited a full 12 months before turning you over to collections.

I would have called the insurance company and resubmitted all bills to the insurance company if you felt like you were not supposed to pay. I would also mention that I expected them to handle it and that I better not have any past due bills which affected my credit. When I had a surgery, I got 12 different bills in the mail, all of which I was not supposed to pay. Sometimes, I think insurance is hoping you'll pay, so they won't have to (since they figure most folks have no idea what their insurance does and does not cover)...None of those bills ever went past due after these conversations...I will say, I let them know my credit rating was incredibly high and I valued it highly...and didn't want to have to worry that I'd have to pursue damages if they ruined my rating...
 

Thanks. I will def. make sure it doesn't affect my scores. I am over 800 and do not want to have issues.
 
Had this happen within the last year too. Have a large medical bill and have made arrangements for a payment plan. In July, I made July's payment and then I mailed August's check too early (we were going on vacation) and it was cashed on the 28th/29th of July. When I mailed it, I didn't think it was a big deal. At the end of August, I got a collection letter. It was a mess to get straightened out (took 5 phone calls) for the hospital to pull the bill back out of collections. The last lady told me that if anything like that happened again they wouldn't be able to help me again.
 
My wife had surgery in 2014 and it took the hospital and Doctors 3 months before they even billed our insurance, and another month before they knew what our deductible was. So it was about 5 months before we got our first bill.

A Google search finds the normal before a bill goes to collections is 6 months.
 
I was sent to collections for a bill I never received because they sent the bill to the wrong address (not just wrong, nonexistent in the city). The worst part (to me) was I was an employee of the same health care system so they had my address somewhere in the computer correctly. It was so very annoying :(
I no longer work for them since this was one in many instances demonstrating an incredibly poor work environment/system.
 
I know this ship has sailed now but for my last child, every single bill was processed wrong. They tried to charge a 20% coinsurance when I have no coinsurance. Took months to clear up even though it was an obvious error on their part.

But anyway, I called each provider and set up the longest payment plan I could so that they were getting paid while I sorted it out and there could be no issues with nonpayment. For any amount I legitimately owed I paid in full once the claims were billed correctly.

What I'd do for the $100-something bills in the future is just pay it and get the refund from the provider when the insurance company gets it together. it's a pain and you shouldn't have to but in teheyogether long run it saves hassle and possibly your credit.
 
Over 25 years ago my son was in the hospital, and the hospital thought the insurance company was taking too long to process the claim. I was able to stall them for nearly 4 months, then one day at work I get mail from the dead letter office. Inside the envelope was the envelope from the hospital with the claim forms in it.
There was no return address on it, AND NO STAMP. It sat in the dead letter office for 90 days per Post Office rules, they opened it, and the only address was my work address on the claim forms. I put a stamp on it and put it back in the mail, then called the lady I had been dealing with. She had been very nice for months with me, and I swear I could see her blush through the phone when I explained what had happened.
 
We've gotten collection company bills from our local hospital without ever receiving a bill from the hospital in the first place. It's crazy.
 
Are you sure upit was an actual collections agency, or just Hospital level collections? DH had a large hospital bill a few years ago and I was making payments on it, but hadn't set up a formal "payment plan". We got a call, but it was from the hospital telling us we had to pay up or we would be turned over to collections.
 
Are you sure upit was an actual collections agency, or just Hospital level collections? DH had a large hospital bill a few years ago and I was making payments on it, but hadn't set up a formal "payment plan". We got a call, but it was from the hospital telling us we had to pay up or we would be turned over to collections.

NO idea. Dh called after he got home but the guy said he would have to wait for an update from the hospital before updating the info. So, I am assuming it wasn't the hospital calling.
 
NO idea. Dh called after he got home but the guy said he would have to wait for an update from the hospital before updating the info. So, I am assuming it wasn't the hospital calling.
Sounds like it was a true collections agency. I can't be,I eve the hospital didn't contact you before turning you over to collections. They pay a fee to the collections agency, you would think they would try to take care of things in house first.
 
NO idea. Dh called after he got home but the guy said he would have to wait for an update from the hospital before updating the info. So, I am assuming it wasn't the hospital calling.

The hospital may contract with an outside company to handle the billing. Our local hospital does. The billing company can't tell me anything about the account other than the info they have; if I'd paid something onsite at the hospital, they need to wait for the records to update. So it may not necessarily be a "collections agency" but rather the billing department/agency contacting about an outstanding bill. And yeah, they start calling much earlier than you'd expect, especially if you haven't responded to one or two bills. I've found it's always best when I get a bill but need to wait for insurance to process, I call the creditor (doctor's office, hospital, lab, etc.) and let them know I'm waiting to receive the final EOB (explanation of benefits) from the insurance company. That way they know you aren't simply ignoring them. Also, be aware that bills for surgery may continue to trickle in well after the surgery and even if you think you've paid everything. They tend to bill each part separately and the bills may not all be from "the hospital" but payable to different businesses -- the surgeon, the facility, anesthesia, radiology, etc.

Good luck! I hope it's all resolved soon.
 














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