Lab Corp bill in collections! Help! ...

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-02-2001
Lab Corp bill in collections! Help! ...
6
Thu, 06-23-2005 - 11:39pm

I have been going around and around with Lab Corp about a $64.00 urine test for almost 6 months. To make a long story short, they originally submitted the bill to an old insurance plan that we no longer had. I have received 3 bills from them, several months apart, and each time I called them and gave them the correct insurance information. The last time we received a bill, about 3 weeks ago, I called yet again. The Lab Corp rep. actually called our insurance company, while I was on hold, and straighted it out with them so that it would be paid (so she said). I asked her if there would be any more problems, any more bills, etc. She said, "No." Today I received a bill from LCA Collections (A Divison of Laboratory Corporation of America) marked "Past Due". It gives a phone number to call so that "further collection activity will not be necessary". It also says, among other things, "Failure to send payment, or to respond to this letter, will indicate that the debt is due and collection efforts will proceed". Also, "If a payment has recently been made, please accept our thanks." Do you think this is going to show up on our credit report????? Is it really in collections, or is Lab Corp trying to "scare" me (when it's NOT my fault)?

Our credit is in the high 700s, and we have never had even a late payment. Our report is really spotless. I am going to start tomorrow a.m. (I didn't check my mail until 6:30 p.m. today, ugh!) and call the insurance company to see if it they paid it. Then I will call Lab Corp. I am going to ask for a supervisor immediately. I am ripping mad, to say the least.

I am just worried about our credit report, though. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks.

Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 06-24-2005 - 1:52am

Hi there - I don't have experiece with this company, but I do have some experience dealing with internal collection agencies.

All my best,
Danni

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-02-2001
Fri, 06-24-2005 - 10:45am

Thanks for your reply. That's exactly what I did. I called DS's insurance company and they told me that they don't contract with LabCorp! They contract with Quest, so there is no way they would pay it. In fact, DS's insurance company called LabCorp this a.m. (while I was on hold), and there was nothing she could do.

I called LabCorp myself this a.m. and found out that I was still talking to Customer Service, that the bill hadn't gone to Collections and hadn't been reported to any credit bureaus. I gave my debit card number because I don't want a mark on my credit because of $64.00. I am going to appeal it, and I left a message with DS's pediatrician's office. They started this whole problem by submitting the specimen to Lab Corp. They did that because they didn't use our current insurance information. The pediatrician's office submitted it to Lab Corp based on old insurance information that we hadn't had in 13 months. (Funny how they submitted their own bill to the correct insurance companya and got paid right away!) So, I am going to ask for a $64.00 credit to DS's account from his pediatrician's office. We love the pediatrician, and it's a huge company with about 20 offices in our state, so they can afford to credit us. We currently have a $35.00 co-pay for DS at the pediatrician, so this will help.

Thanks for your help!

Avatar for sohappilyme
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 06-24-2005 - 1:40pm

As much as I hate to admit it, I've had stuff (legitimately) in collections w/ lab corp / LCA (same company, different envelope, LOL) and they have NEVER been on my credit report.

Sarah
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-23-2003
Fri, 06-24-2005 - 9:15pm

This could actually be your insurance co's fault--doesn't really sound like it but I'd call them and ask them if they did pay it like you said you were planning to do. And if they didn't tell them Lab Corp is or has sent you to collections over the bill, sometimes that'll get the insurance co on the move a little. (I just had my ins. co screw up my c-section bill saying I owed my Dr $350 well, I sorta figured out on my own that they processed my claim at 80% saying my Dr was out of network, which he isn't so they fixed it). Anyway, the insur. co should have note of the claim if it was submitted and especially paid. Do you have your Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from the insur. co from this claim which should give you all the info you'd need to provide to the collection agency showing proof of payment. If worse came to worse I'd pay the bill myself THEN go after my insurance company for reimbursement. Good luck w/ this and I know what a b.s. hassle the medical bills are. ;)

Edited to add: Just read through the posts and saw you are called them--That situation sucks too I know because I've BTDT too! Good luck




Edited 6/24/2005 9:18 pm ET ET by weenjen
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2003
Sat, 06-25-2005 - 7:59am

I work for a physician billing company.

Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-02-2001
Sat, 06-25-2005 - 9:09pm

Update: The "lab" department of the pediatrician's office (they have about 20 offices in our state) admits that they sent the urine specimen to the wrong lab (LabCorp) instead of sending it to Quest. They sent it to LabCorp because they were looking at old insurance information that clearly stated that it was expired. They should have looked at our new insurance information. The pediatrician's office requires that they pay for their mistakes, so I faxed the LabCorp bill to them, and they are going to send me a check for $64.00!

Thanks for all of your advice. Oh, I found out the bill was not in collections. It was still with LabCorp's Customer Service Dept. I can't believe how many customer service reps. didn't do their job - it's incredible how long this bill has been kicking around. I never suspected it was the pediatrican's office's fault.