What to do if I’m beingerroneously charged for medical expenses that have now gone to collections?

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What to do if I’m beingerroneously charged for medical expenses that have now gone to collections?

A few years ago I was shortly hospitalized for a lung infection. At the time, I was fully insured through my previous employer. After paying my co-pay and picking up my prescriptions, I received a bill in the mail for over $1500 due to not having valid insurance. I tried on three separate occasions to get the issue resolved, but every time the hospital told me the insurance company needs to fix it, and the insurance company tells me the hospital needs to deal with it. Now I have a third party collector who calls and sends letters all the time, and isn’t interested in any of this.

Asked on July 30, 2011 Arizona

Answers:

FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

You need to get your prior insurance information in order that was in effect at the time you were hospitalized for that lung infection so you can then set up an appointment with the hospital's accounts receivables department to go over your unpaid bill with your insurance documentation so that the hospital could possibly get paid through your insurance carrier at that time.

You also need to make contact with your prior insurance carrier to discuss why your bill for hospitalization was not paid.

An option is to contact your state's Department of Insurance about the problems you are having with your insurance carrier in getting this old invoice settled. Potentially someone there will be in a position to contact your prior insurance carrier and resolve the non-payment issue.

FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

You need to get your prior insurance information in order that was in effect at the time you were hospitalized for that lung infection so you can then set up an appointment with the hospital's accounts receivables department to go over your unpaid bill with your insurance documentation so that the hospital could possibly get paid through your insurance carrier at that time.

You also need to make contact with your prior insurance carrier to discuss why your bill for hospitalization was not paid.

An option is to contact your state's Department of Insurance about the problems you are having with your insurance carrier in getting this old invoice settled. Potentially someone there will be in a position to contact your prior insurance carrier and resolve the non-payment issue.


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