Just received a medical bill a year and a half later!!!???

[Shelly]

We raised money through our church to have a medical procedure done for our daughter. CASH- NO insurance. We thought all was good and paid. We just received a bill a year and half later from the radiology billing company.
I realize we owe this, but I did call to say how can it take a year and a half when they did not need to bill insurance. They had nothing to say.
I was so annoyed that I decided to send them in payments. I set up my bill pay to send them $25 a month.
They sent it back ??!! It says cannot accept , call to set up a payment plan.
ARE you kidding me??!! They take a year and a half to send a bill and now are not going to let me pay it back slowly> That is what payment plan means, it means under there terms. We cannot take a year to pay it back.
I am so angry. Can they do this?
Anyone know how this works? How in the world can they refuse payment.

 

[pigletliz]

First of all, I hope your daughter is better.

It doesn't sound like they are refusing money. I don't think you can just decide to set up a payment plan without prior approval. You owe them, so they set the terms on how it is paid back. Call them to set up the plan and see how flexible they are willing to be. It is entirely possible they will do the $25 per month. Good luck.

 

[bumbershoot]

...I decided to send them in payments. I set up my bill pay to send them $25 a month. They sent it back ??!! It says cannot accept , call to set up a payment plan.

You can't just set up your own payment plan. You have to talk with them. So call them.

But first go over the original bills with a fine toothed comb, making sure this wasn't already paid.

When you call them, calm down. Being stressed never helps these situations. If necessary, have someone else call for you, especially if you have someone who is really good at this stuff.

It's a legitimate question to ask, why they are only now just billing. If you had insurance like mine and it was a preferred provider, I can tell you it wouldn't be allowed and they would have the pleasure of writing it off. Look up your state's statute of limitations for medical billing, since you don't have *that* protection.

(Also worth wondering why you hadn't noticed this lack of paying someone who was involved in the procedure and maybe make sure there aren't more of these bills on the horizon)

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I would call the Radiologist office directly and ask WHY they are 1.5 years behind in billing. If they can't give you a reason ask them for PROOF you owe the bill AKA as Medial documentation of what was done. Not just a statement.

In Illinois the Attorney General handles medical billing issus I might even call his office and complain

Then I would tell the billing service that you have referred this to the Attorney General and if he rules they are in compliance with the statue on medical billing you will discuss the payment with them! Here's what I found in a quick search. Your issue isn't addressed but if you indicate you are asking questions under this statue it will at least make them think

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2798&ChapterID=21
Now I agree with earlier posters, go back LINE by LINE if you can and make VERY sure this was not previously paid It's not unheard of for the new IT system to screw things up.

Once all that is done call them and set up a payment plan, you can't just decide on one.

 

[Gracie09]

We received a bill for the copay for when I had my dd 19 months after she was born. Of course it was wrong. It was very annoying because I tried to pay the copay while we were at the hospital but they refused to let me because they said it had to go through the insurance first and two, we couldn't use our hsa money because it was so long ago. Ditto going through the bills carefully because we found they billed is for three copays instead of two. It took another couple
Months to get it straightened out. I eventually had to get the insurance company involved. When I complained about how long it took all they said was they had two years to bill us.

 

[usd2bmd]

You can't just set up your own payment plan. You have to talk with them. So call them.
But first go over the original bills with a fine toothed comb, making sure this wasn't already paid.

When you call them, calm down. Being stressed never helps these situations. If necessary, have someone else call for you, especially if you have someone who is really good at this stuff.

It's a legitimate question to ask, why they are only now just billing. If you had insurance like mine and it was a preferred provider, I can tell you it wouldn't be allowed and they would have the pleasure of writing it off. Look up your state's statute of limitations for medical billing, since you don't have *that* protection.

(Also worth wondering why you hadn't noticed this lack of paying someone who was involved in the procedure and maybe make sure there aren't more of these bills on the horizon)

This isn't always the case. In most cases as long as you are paying something they will take it. My daughter had an ambulance ride and 5 hours in the ER just after Christmas We received apprx. $2100 in bills from the hospital, ambulance company and the ER Dr. I have been paying each of them $50/month and all was fine. Then when I received the bill from the hospital in July I got a notice that it was going to collection and when I called them and asked them why if I was paying $50/month every month would they send it to collection and the woman told because I hadn't called them to "set up" the payment plan. So I told her that I would pay $50/month and that was fine with them.

The other two bills are fine they continue to accept my payments without any trouble.

A little ridiculous if you ask me but whatever.

 

[ashmarie1213]

I had a ton of hospital bills from 2 separate infections within a month of each other that included a short icu stay. I was only 22 years old and although I was working full time, I wasn't making a lot of money. Long story short, once it was all said and done I had about 8900 in just the hospital bill. I tried to make payments... But they wouldn't accept anything less than 10% of the entire bill every month. I didn't qualify for any financial assistance. They wouldn't let me set up the arrangement unless I promised to pay that. Which I couldn't. They sent me to collections, which was awful. But I was able to make an arrangement with the collection agency for 100/month. It's crazy the lengths they will go, especially when I had tried to make a payment arrangement and I wasn't just ignoring the bill. Our local hospital has started suing people for as little as $500.00.

 

[bumbershoot]

This isn't always the case. In most cases as long as you are paying something they will take it. My daughter had an ambulance ride and 5 hours in the ER just after Christmas We received apprx. $2100 in bills from the hospital, ambulance company and the ER Dr. I have been paying each of them $50/month and all was fine. Then when I received the bill from the hospital in July I got a notice that it was going to collection and when I called them and asked them why if I was paying $50/month every month would they send it to collection and the woman told because I hadn't called them to "set up" the payment plan. So I told her that I would pay $50/month and that was fine with them. The other two bills are fine they continue to accept my payments without any trouble. A little ridiculous if you ask me but whatever.

But it's what they told her. It's in what I quoted.
To just start making partial payments on something without a discussion doesn't make sense to me in the first place, but in this case it's what they are telling her (from what she said), to call them to set it up.

 

[bumbershoot]

I had a ton of hospital bills from 2 separate infections within a month of each other that included a short icu stay. I was only 22 years old and although I was working full time, I wasn't making a lot of money. Long story short, once it was all said and done I had about 8900 in just the hospital bill. I tried to make payments... But they wouldn't accept anything less than 10% of the entire bill every month. I didn't qualify for any financial assistance. They wouldn't let me set up the arrangement unless I promised to pay that. Which I couldn't. They sent me to collections, which was awful. But I was able to make an arrangement with the collection agency for 100/month. It's crazy the lengths they will go, especially when I had tried to make a payment arrangement and I wasn't just ignoring the bill. Our local hospital has started suing people for as little as $500.00.

That is just awful. I'm sorry.

 

[Shelly]

Thanks everyone. I found the old hospital bill it does have radiology services on it. I will call them and ask about it, but I think that is the hospital portion and not this doctor.
If you only knew the gigantic folders full of her medical bills you would understand how we would miss and not realize there was one not yet received. This is not just one procedure simple.
I dont really have a problem paying it, just can't believe they can just wait a year and a half to bill it.
I have never had anyone turn down money before either. I understand not setting up your own payment plan, but wouldnt you want something rather than nothing anyway. If I got any check in the mail I would take it in a heart beat.Better than zero. Seems dumb. Go to collections and the doctor then gets just a fraction of the $$ anyway.

 

[wenrob]

I would for sure ask for a detailed bill. This happened to me once for my youngest DD because the peds office didn't update my address even though they have you update every blessed time you're in there. Oddly they updated her twin brother's info. I was furious because it was one of those letters threatening to send me to collections when I didn't even know I had a bill. I made them send me a complete bill, I'm not going to randomly just pay a statement because you say so.

Anyway, I just wanted to chime in and say that a lot of hospitals/offices will cut the bill in half (sometimes more) if you agree to pay the half outright. My Dad did this when my stepmother had a heart attack and didn't have insurance. The hospital, it's services and every doctor did this. Some even offered before he asked. So if it's an amount you can afford to pay half of you might want to check and see if they'll do that.

 

[zoemurr]

So sorry.. what a pain. I hope your daughter is doing well.

About a year ago I took my daughter to urgent care on a Sunday to be treated for pink eye. I paid the $30 that it said right on my ins card that I had to pay. Six months later I get a phone call that I owe another ten dollars and it needs to be paid immediately. After talking to them, and the ins company I make a special trip to go there and deliver their $10. They said they had already sent me 3 paper bills in the mail (which they had not) and it was going to collections soon.

Six months after that.. I get a check for $10 for overpayment. What a waste of time and money.

 

[of2dbeach]

I would ask to.see the.entire bill along with any payments.Sounds like they are trying to ballance.bill you and they can't do that.

 

[dhardawa]

I would ask to.see the.entire bill along with any payments.Sounds like they are trying to ballance.bill you and they can't do that.

Since there's no insurance, it isn't balance billing.

Definitely call and get details. I'd call the hospital and get details in what you already paid for in terms of radiology. Then, figure out if they can legally bill you this late.

 

[lanejudy]

Thanks everyone. I found the old hospital bill it does have radiology services on it. I will call them and ask about it, but I think that is the hospital portion and not this doctor. ...

This is probably true. DD had surgery earlier this year, and it's amazing how many different bills we got for anesthesia -- the hospital, the drugs, the physicians -- each a separate bill. Still no excuse for why it took 2 years, but maybe there was an issue between the hospital and the physician that needed to be worked out.

You do need to call to set-up the payment plan. While you may be able to choose the monthly amount ($25 or whatever fits your budget), they need it officially on record that you are doing a payment plan. Not just that you arbitrarily send in a partial payment. As a PP noted, their account still got threatened to send to collections even though PP had been making partial payments, simply because the accounting wasn't set-up to recognize the payment plan. It's fairly simple to set one up (at least in my experience).

On a related note... DD receives regular weekly OT and the hospital won't bill us for it until they "close" her treatment record. It's been almost 3 years now. Very frustrating, but I just escrow those funds and will pay when they finally decide to bill -- it's several thousand dollars already. They realize that it's an ongoing therapy with no specific end-date planned, but have indicated their billing system can't bill until the treatment is "closed." I wasn't aware of any limitation on billing practices as a PP mentions for IL -- I'll need to look into that though we are in another state.

OP - good luck setting up the payment plan and I hope your DD is doing well these days!

 

[puffkin]

We just got an Explaination of Benefits this weekend for some lab work my husband had done in early 2013. It says on there our portion is $58 but we haven't gotten a bill yet from the provider. Crazy that they can take that long

With both my kids I had C-Sections and with my second some complications/NICU stay and ended up with an unexpected $2,000 total from various doctors/hospital above my copay for each baby. Since I took a 12 week unpaid maternity leave for each kid our income was basically cut in half for those first few months and then it took a few months to get back to normal once I was back to work. I called each and every provider and asked to be put on a payment plan just to be safe. Most of the bills I was able to pay off very quickly once I was back to work but I wanted to cover myself just in case I needed more time. I must say that every office I dealt with was very easy to work with and willing to set up a reasonable payment plan for me. So in my experience, I would definitely call first and see what they can do for you.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

.

On a related note... DD receives regular weekly OT and the hospital won't bill us for it until they "close" her treatment record. It's been almost 3 years now. Very frustrating, but I just escrow those funds and will pay when they finally decide to bill -- it's several thousand dollars already. They realize that it's an ongoing therapy with no specific end-date planned, but have indicated their billing system can't bill until the treatment is "closed." I wasn't aware of any limitation on billing practices as a PP mentions for IL -- I'll need to look into that though we are in another state.

!

If this hospital is NOT billing your insurance you need to start screaming NOW and make sure they understand that YOU won't pay because they missed the timely filing deadline. These days most managed care plans have a deadline. Heck Medicare and Medicaid have a deadline and if you miss it you don't get paid. For most of them you can't "bill the patient" for your screw up, but that never stops them from trying and I would be VERY careful with any hospital whose system is this poor! I work in the industry and this is not the norm at all!

 

[lanejudy]

If this hospital is NOT billing your insurance you need to start screaming NOW and make sure they understand that YOU won't pay because they missed the timely filing deadline. These days most managed care plans have a deadline. Heck Medicare and Medicaid have a deadline and if you miss it you don't get paid. For most of them you can't "bill the patient" for your screw up, but that never stops them from trying and I would be VERY careful with any hospital whose system is this poor! I work in the industry and this is not the norm at all!

In my situation... the hospital has actually billed the insurance...they just won't send me a bill for our portion of the cost. I have kept very close tabs on the claims and have copies of the EOBs. I agree, sounds very wrong that they won't send me a bill. We see other doctors and have other services at this same hospital with no problem receiving bills, not sure why the rehab services can't be billed regularly too. I found this out because about 18 months ago they sent me a funky print-out of my daughter's appointment/billing record -- very "internal" looking type of unofficial document. But no actual bill. I called to ask what it was, and they explained that since their system can't actually produce a bill until they close the record, they wanted to make sure I was aware of the patient-portion that was accruing. I do have the funds escrowed in my HSA -- earning interest for me at this point while I await a formal bill that provides appropriate information about the charges.

 

[seashoreCM]

Your statement says you are supposed to pay $30. and you pay that.

Later they say you owe $10. more.

You do not have to just pay the $10. without getting a valid explanation.

Instead you dispute the extra charge in writing.

Let them send it to collection; when the collection agency sends you their bill, you file the dispute with them too.

All claims and disputes and defenses you have against the original company or creditor you have against the collection agency too. The collection agency may have a harder time answering your claims and questions since it does not have all the files and documents the original creditor had. So it may give up. In most states they have seven years to do their homework and continue to try to collect.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

A few years ago I got an EOB from insurance for some shots my kid had received several months ago. It stated they were not paying anything and I owed nothing because the doctor had not filed with insurance within the allowed period. I already paid copay at office and I don't think I would have owed more.
I never knew there was a time limit to file, but it does make sense.