Mad about medical bills!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Mad about medical bills!
9
Sun, 10-16-2005 - 8:04pm
HI, everyone. Danni, just when I thought things were somewhat under control....WHAM! Those nasty medical bills are coming in. Might as well get me my own post office branch, because there are a lot of them. I am soo mad right now. The insurance I have is a PPO. In and out of network I can go to my docs, etc. DIdnt think I would have to use it out-of-state, but had no choice. ER bill #1--$2K. ER bill #2--$5K. ER bill # 1 wants full payment before end of month. Insurance denied it. Why, I dont know. I do know I have called HR, and they said corporate is backed up. It seems to me it is a stalling tactic. By the time I get an answer, or if they paid on some bills, it takes MONTHS, then, the bill becomes past due even when I get a first statement! DH will flip out if I put it on the Discover, but I dont know what else to do. Sooo sorry I am venting---but we almost went thru bankrupcy several years ago when the cadillac of insurance companies denied payment of hospital bill (over $50K). Trust me, I got prior authorization, they had copies of my insurance card, etc in the ER. What are my options? Thanks. WHiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-14-2004
Sun, 10-16-2005 - 9:15pm
Putting it on the credit card isn't necessary at this point. You can call the hospital and ask for a payment plan, say $25 a month, and pay until the insurance pays up. The hospitals generally don't report you to credit bureaus if you are on a payment plan, and if they do, it is only if the account is not paid by the end of the fiscal year. At least with payments, you don't have to pay interest!
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Mon, 10-17-2005 - 1:36am
To DS2004: THanks for the tip. I will try to arrange payments with them. Is fiscal year one year from date of service? WHiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-11-2001
Mon, 10-17-2005 - 12:11pm

FIRST THING TO DO: Call your insurance provider directly before negotiating with the hospital. They will probably tell you that for out-of-state, even for an emergency, you needed to contact the provider first. This doesn't help if it's on a weekend and their offices our closed. It seems a way for insurance companies not to cover out-of-state bills. Don't try to go through your own HR dept at work. They will just tell you to call the provider. You have to be the one to follow up and tackle the bills head on. If it's a no from the insurance provider, then call the hospital.

It may take a whole lunch hour, but it will be worth it.

Also with ER bills you can let the hospital know that you have no insurance coverage and you would like to get on the discount program. All you will probably need to do then is fax in a copy of your last year's W2 and 2 recent pay stubs to prove that you don't make enough money to cover the entire bill. You will have to follow up with them a few times (don't ever believe that they will call you), and then once a discount amount is agreed on, ask to be on a payment plan and let them know how much a month you will pay and for what date in the month.

Do not delay in doing this, the sooner you negotiate the better. Call them and let htme know about your financial hardship and be super nice. I did this when I had no health insurance at all and received a 40% from my bill. More than they were meant to give me because I took care of it quickly. I have also since received further discounts for timely payment and being one of the few to actually follow through on my payment plan.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Tue, 10-18-2005 - 12:35am
HI, and thanks for the tips on winding thru the insurance maze. I will try to do this Wed or Thurs this week. I just got ANOTHER bill for $3500 for x-rays that I had done locally. Soooo--the grand total is $5K for one ER, $2K for another ER (both out-of-state), and about $3500 for x-rays. Something doesnt add up. The ins. co paid the doc directly for part of my tests, so I owe about $250.00 on that. The doc bills, the ins. pays. If it's big-ticket items, the standard typed info is. "we are waiting for reply" or "havent heard anything". Or, the usual---"we are backed up" in corporate. Sooo--I think I will call corporate to see what is really going on. It didnt help that my insurance card didnt have a group # or individual # printed on it. That has since been corrected by corporate, so my NEW ins. card has a group # on it. Will let you know. WHiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-11-2001
Tue, 10-18-2005 - 9:16am

Are the bills saying you may owe and coming directly from your insurance company? If so, call your insurance provider and find out how much will cover before you worry too much. This is the time for you to set things right with the insurance group about what they will cover.

If the bills are already coming from the hospitals, then I would call your insurance provider and see if they are covering anything. You might have to pay before the insurance company returns money since the bill is already sent to you. Don't forget to negotiate with the hospital. I would also call the insurance provider a couple of times as I always find that different reps give you different answers. Some are always the 'no we can't do anything' type, and others are great help. It all hinges on who is prepared to do what workwise. I find the lazier the customer service rep the more likely they'll say no, because they don't want to research for you and send the necessary emails etc. It's crazy.

Check the Dr. office to find out if the insurance money has been applied to your account.

I don't go to the Dr.'s often but I seem to have had everything happen to me paperwork wise. One time I went to my Dr.'s and I owed over $100. I was sick at the time so I just paid it or they would not have seen me. Called my insurance to find out why it wasn't paid, and found out they had paid it. What had happened was that the Dr.'s office hadn't applied the payment to my name but to someone else's. I had to get the Dr.'s office to return my money to me and they took about 2 months in doing so.

I also had a hospital financial institution input my payment as $7500, instead of $75. That was a near disaster and I caught it just in time. Read my thread, 'The check was for how much' for all of that story.

Keep us informed.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-14-2004
Tue, 10-18-2005 - 1:00pm
The fiscal year depends upon the hospital, it is when their budget has to be balanced, etc. For some it is June, for some it is December, and for our clinic it is February. But if you talk with the finance office, many will agree not to report the debt as long as you are making faithful payments. The other posters are correct as well, to request a discount if the insurance company will not pay the bill. You can get a nice chunk shaved off that way as well.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Wed, 10-19-2005 - 1:45am
Thanks, everyone for the input on the insurance/bills/hospital fees nightmare. I am going to do this tomorrow. I have scripted questions, etc. Will let you know what happens. Whiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Wed, 10-19-2005 - 12:41pm
Hi, ATB. I personally want to thank you for your input on this. I did call today. Seems that hospital, and others, had missing info for insurance. Why? Because insurance card had SS# printed on it. No group ID #. No individual ID #. That is all changed now because of privacy laws. I am keeping a running tab/log of who I spoke to, conversation, etc. So far, I dont have to set up payment plans until they bill corporate office. It is really confusing. I also wonder if it is because it is out of state, that it takes longer. Am forever grateful to all who gave advice. Whiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-11-2001
Wed, 10-19-2005 - 4:51pm

I am glad I was able to help. My pleasure. Names are definitely important to keep and ask also for employee numbers if they have one. It's amazing how someone will say - there's no one here by that name. It's classic. I learnt a lot when dealing with my own medical bills - 2 weeks before my health insurance kicked in - so I did everything I could to cut the costs down.

The bill has to pass so many different hands that it can really take time. Just keep calling every week to follow up and make sure someone is working on it.

Best of luck.