Medical bills and insurance question

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Medical bills and insurance question
4
Sat, 09-10-2005 - 12:52am
HI, Danni and everyone. Dumb question, but here goes---Lets say you get a bill from the doctor, x-ray group, lab, etc. And the insurance hasnt decided if they will pay anything. Or, the insurance has decided to pay something, but it takes MONTHS to decide the amount, and by this time, the bill is past due by the time you get it. In this instance, the bill was a summary for one year, and the same mess--they couldnt verify insurance, etc. I think they just wanted to see what I would pay. I finally got tired of it and paid them each month. (Big snowflake!) and paid it off. Yes, I e-mailed, called, wrote down names, etc. But, it was always the same. The bill was still there, while the insurance was dragging feet, and showing 90 days past due. Sooo---- Do you just pay a little bit, and then wait? The insurance takes forever. If you pay some, does that mean that the insurance company thinks you will pay the full amount?! Whiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2003
Sat, 09-10-2005 - 10:07am

I personally pay nothing until I know the insurance company has paid its share.

Shannon

Shannon


Pregnancy%20ticker
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2005
Sat, 09-10-2005 - 10:44am

I have found if i am worried about it i call and find out what the hold up is on the insurance deciding, i would not pay until i know b/c you probably will never see that money again if you overpay. If you call the billing people and tell them that you are waiting for insurance to decide then they should stop saying it is past due.

Shannon

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-09-2005
Sat, 09-10-2005 - 10:55am
Hi,
I worked for a number of years for a medical office doing billing etc. The truth is, it is your legal obligation to pay the bill. It is actually a courtesy if the office bills the insurance for you -- some offices just give you the bill and you have to send it in.
The insurance company doesn't know or care if you are paying the bill. If and when the insurance company pays, and you have already paid, the medical office must refund the money to you. I would not let the insurance company drag things on very long. I'd call them fairly frequently until you can find out what the hold up is. Someone there will be able to figure it out.
Megan
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sat, 09-10-2005 - 12:37pm

I've had this happen several times with medical offices and insurance. Our doctor's office does a review of accounts and the end of the year and in each case I received a refund check for the amount insurance had paid. In our case, the issue was we have a 20% co-pay but not on vaccinations and I had paid that anyway for one of the them and the other was an OB/GYN visit that was very similar to what you describe.

Taleyna