New health care benefit..

[daengmei]

Last year in April my wife missed several weeks work due to pneumonia. I don't remember but it seemed expensive for some of the meds using her insurance. Early this summer I get a bill for $40 from her primary care physician and wasn't happy about the late billing. Now I get one from the hospital for $18. I am sending a nastygram, a $1 money order and a reason for the 17 additional monthly payments needed to maintain my financial security.....isn't that what they're doing to us? Take all the time necessary to get every penny.

[starnbar]

Check with your insurance company if it is over a certain time limit you may not be liable for the payment I know with some companies they have a 90 day window to submit a claim whether with the company or with the patient a call to your ins company can confirm this. Some of the big ins companies will help people when they are being charged for over due claims.

[lancem]

Personally after a year and a half I would just throw it away and forget about it.

[sparky45]

Not sure I'd do that. I suppose it depends what kind of a relationship one has with their personal care physician. I'd call for a clarification concerning why a late billing just to make sure there isn't a mistake and to keep matters congenial. Ruined credit for such a small amount isn't worth the aggravation.

[Rick N Bama]

I once received a bill from the Hospital from when my son was ill that had been submitted to the Insurance Co almost 2 years after the fact. When the Ins didn't pay they billed me. I told them to suck it out of a Turnip and they must have for I never heard another word about it.

[btroj]

Ok, let's look at the realities of billing. After the care was given and she was out of the hospital someone at the hospital had to total the expenses, code all the procedures, and prepare the proper forms and data required by your insurance company.
The claims are filed with the insurance carrier. Someone there enters it into a computer system. It is determined which services are covered and which are not. Payment, and an explanation of those payments, are then sent to the hospital. I can assure you that took at least 3 months, probably more. No carrier pays promptly.
The hospital then reviewed the payments, determined what wasn't covered, and looks at what portions of the bill you are responsible for. A bill is then sent. Again, this takes time.

Why does this all take so long? Cost cutting. When a hospital needs to reduce costs they don't eliminate just providing care, they also eliminate people in billing and administration. Same for insurance companies. They are in no rush to pay claims and if they take an extra 30 days it doesn't matter to them.

Welcome to the realities of healthcare today. You don't have to like it but it is what we have.

[southpaw]

After having our first child we got lots of bills. After several months I finally paid them off. Then I recieved another rather large one in the mail. I called and asked why. Blah blah blah they made a mistake and shouldn't have sent it to me was what I was told. I am willing to bet that if I had just paid it they never would have said anything. It was around $400 or so.

Make me think I should have made some more calls. Doesn't hurt to call and ask why.

Jerry Jr.

[starnbar]

The billing example is if they never submit at all if you are hospitalized anymore the hosp takes your ins and starts a claim if the hosp never filed a claim or started a claim then you need to have your ins company talk to them. Its one thing for charges to come at a later date but if they never started a claim in the first place then you might need to have the ins talk to them, ins companies don't care if you were billed for services the first day as long as a claim was filed in the time frame allowed. The problem is when a claim was never started and 3-6 mos later they say oh we forgot about this and you need to pay.

[Wise Owl]

Take something simple and complicate it, I get it.

[fatnhappy]

I once received a bill from the Hospital from when my son was ill that had been submitted to the Insurance Co almost 2 years after the fact. When the Ins didn't pay they billed me. I told them to suck it out of a Turnip and they must have for I never heard another word about it.


This the gospel right here.
The medical insurance companies require claims for treatment be submitted by the doctor/hospital within 90 days of the treatment or they refuse to pay. That's a hard rule in the negotiated contracts with "in area coverage."
When a doctor is late with billing, which is their responsibility and the insurance company denies payment, they try to go after the patient to recoup monies due to their own malfeasance. The patient is the path of least resistance.

I've been down this road many time due to my son's tumor removal surgery and attendant follow up care. The standard response is "bill my insurance company and see how far you get."

[Handloader109]

Had one $300 bill arrive 18 months after my wife's heart attack. Submitted to insurance and they didn't pay. Sent to me and I sent back with note that if you had submitted on time you would have been paid. Never heard back from them.

[TXGunNut]

Personally I would ask for an explanation and go from there. If it was negligence on their part I'd ask them to offer to pay a token amount or ask them to write it off as a clerical issue. If you like your doc I wouldn't go the bad debt route.

[Ehaver]

I took a trip to the ER a few months ago, They managed to send a letter telling me they were talking with the Insurance company, then they sent that bill right on over. Less than 30 days...
I would call and find out what the heck is going on.

[MaryB]

Don't be afraid to haggle with them either. Insurance companies pay 1/10 of what they try to charge us for no insurance.

[smokeywolf]

Had a go-round with an anesthesiologist who failed to show up for nearly an hour when called by our obstetrician to administer an epidural during my wife's labor.
He had practically no rear end left after our ob/gyn got finished chewing on it. Never seen one doctor dress down another like that in front of patient, family and nurses. 18 months later said anesthesiologist was trying to bill me for nearly $2,000.00 that the insurance refused to pay. Wrote a letter telling his billing dept. that we could work his bill out in court when I sued him for malpractice. Oh, by the way, you can be sure that I'll subpoena the ob/gyn who called for the epidural that you failed to administer in a timely manner and you can be assured that the AMA and American Society of Anesthesiologists will be apprised of your questionable patient care and ethics.

Never heard another word.

I have a great deal of admiration for a good doctor. When you find a good one, treasure them; they're not everywhere. I've been fortunate enough to have 3 in my life. A doctor of questionable motivation, abilities and ethics is lower than a snake's belly and should probably be working in a free clinic in Liberia.

smokeywolf

[MaryB]

Doctor who delivered me and was my GP for many years retired last year so I now have his nurse(practitioner, almost a doctor). So far she has been good and knows when to bring in one of the main docs as needed. Went shooting with my retired doc 2 weeks ago on his "ranch". He has a nice setup with horses etc in Central Minnesota.

[smokeywolf]

Had a nurse practitioner back in 2009 while between doctors. She was better than many docs I've encountered. I'd have kept seeing her but she moved to a different clinic.