Doctor Office Question?

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So I have a medical bill, it's not much but due to a mistake on doctor part in terms of sending billing codes, when they were sent to the insurance.

I am trying to talk to doctor's office where they promised that they are going to take care of it, but now seems like they are not interested in doing it.

I have been calling their main point of contact and have always been told, it'll be done today or tomorrow kind of situation, but apparently nothing is being done in almost a month.

My question is, do I have any other options/avenues to pursue or should I just bite the bullet and move on? Appreciate any advice or help
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You can probably file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or the state agency that deals with consumer complaints in your state. They typically act as mediators, but can't force the company to do the right thing (or anything). Only taking them to small claims court can force anything. But most companies don't like having unresolved negative complaints on file with those types of agencies and try to resolve them.
 
Originally Posted By: wallyuwl
You can probably file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or the state agency that deals with consumer complaints in your state. They typically act as mediators, but can't force the company to do the right thing (or anything). Only taking them to small claims court can force anything. But most companies don't like having unresolved negative complaints on file with those types of agencies and try to resolve them.


Thanks, I'll follow the advice.
 
I had a similar issue with how anesthesia was billed for a preventive procedure and it was just changed at the insurance company when I called them to ask why it had been applied to my deductible. The lady who was helping me told me at first she was going to call the doctor's office to have them resubmit the claim under the proper code, but then she said she was just going to change it on her own.
I'd guess she would have to let the doctor's office know what she had done in case they didn't agree...??? Everything else from the procedure was billed properly, so I guess it was just obvious a mistake had been made.
 
I had a similar situation happen to me and the Dr's office was billing me instead of the insurance co. So I called the ins co and here's what the Rep told me:

If you have insurance, it is illegal for the doctors billing office to bill the patient and the billing office MUST reach out to the insurance company. They CANNOT BILL YOU!

^^^ This comes directly from MVP & Excellus insurance.

Now you can take some steps to insure that the issue is remedied and give your Dr's billing phone# to your ins co and maybe they'll reachout to the Dr. However my insurance company Rep told me that I don't have to do a frikken thing.
 
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Originally Posted By: Char Baby
I had a similar situation happen to me and the Dr's office was billing me instead of the insurance co. So I called the ins co and here's what the Rep told me:

If you have insurance, it is illegal for the doctors billing office to bill the patient and the billing office MUST reach out to the insurance company. They CANNOT BILL YOU!

^^^ This comes directly from MVP & Excellus insurance.


It's not illegal but the office may be contractually obligated to not do that.
 
Originally Posted By: maverickfhs
So I have a medical bill, it's not much but due to a mistake on doctor part in terms of sending billing codes, when they were sent to the insurance.

I am trying to talk to doctor's office where they promised that they are going to take care of it, but now seems like they are not interested in doing it.

I have been calling their main point of contact and have always been told, it'll be done today or tomorrow kind of situation, but apparently nothing is being done in almost a month.

My question is, do I have any other options/avenues to pursue or should I just bite the bullet and move on? Appreciate any advice or help
thumbsup2.gif




If the doctor's office is billing YOU for a co-pay amount, you do three things:
1. tell them you are not responsible for the co-pay amount until they resubmit it correctly to your insurance company.
2. notify your insurer that the provider screwed up the coding
3. keep notes of what you do and what others say
 
I've had wrong medical bills drag out for months. Just don't pay it and when you get the 30 day late notice in the mail, call them again. By the time you get 30 days out, the billing department will be running things instead of the Dr.'s office.
 
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Originally Posted By: NormanBuntz
Originally Posted By: maverickfhs
So I have a medical bill, it's not much but due to a mistake on doctor part in terms of sending billing codes, when they were sent to the insurance.

I am trying to talk to doctor's office where they promised that they are going to take care of it, but now seems like they are not interested in doing it.

I have been calling their main point of contact and have always been told, it'll be done today or tomorrow kind of situation, but apparently nothing is being done in almost a month.

My question is, do I have any other options/avenues to pursue or should I just bite the bullet and move on? Appreciate any advice or help
thumbsup2.gif




If the doctor's office is billing YOU for a co-pay amount, you do three things:
1. tell them you are not responsible for the co-pay amount until they resubmit it correctly to your insurance company.
2. notify your insurer that the provider screwed up the coding
3. keep notes of what you do and what others say


Thanks for your valuable advice and input. In my situation, doctor did some tests, so bill is from the lab and that's where doctor's office is dragging
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Send a letter to the blling company that is trying to collect. Explain the situation in detail as well as the coversations you have had, and that you are waiting on the Dr office to correct the codes. Send a copy to the Dr office. Specify that you expect to be contacted back by letter.

Repeat each time you receive the bill, referencing your first (and subsequent) letters.

This has worked for me, either the bill was corrected quickly or was forgiven completely.

Edit: After 90 days of sending letters, if there is no written response send one more letter that says if you don't hear from them in writing within 30 days you will consider that they are no longer interested in collecting on the bill and you will consider the matter closed. This usually gets action and also covers you legally in some states.
 
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