I'm not sure if this is in the right forum or not (Mods, please feel free to move and please accept my apologies in advance) -- but anyway, I had an eye exam on March 29, 2014. I gave them my Vision insurance card (through United Healthcare) and went on my merry way. Well, several days ago, I got a bill for $125 for the exam visit, nearly one year ago!
The bill said "can't ID patient" for the insurance part...WHAT??? I called my insurance company and verified that my plan was valid (I still have them) and that they were never billed. The insurance CSR put me on hold and called the doctor's office (Eyeglass World but they have a corporate office who sent me the bill). The CSR then told me that Eyeglass World billed the wrong insurance company!!! (And they didn't even try billing until last month, 11 months after the exam!) I gave them the card and they photocopied it - it says United Healthcare on it!!! Anyway, I tried calling the Corporate office (who sent me the bill) and of course no one answered. I left a message and sent an email (I wanted something in writing).
The thing is, my insurance company [rightfully] won't pay after a year as they require "timely" billing. I understand that but I'm so frustrated since the office screwed up and now I will be liable for $125 and I don't want it to go to collections for non-payment. Yes, I can pay $125 (but I am very low income and I shouldn't have to pay since I have insurance that will pay if the office could've billed in the proper time frame) but I feel like I shouldn't have to. Anyone have any advice or experience? I'm feeling really angry and frustrated right now since it was their screwup and I'm going to have to pay it out of pocket.
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@disdreamin wrote:
I had the exact same thing happen, I received a bill a year after a hospitalization for a procedure performed during that stay. I was unaware that all bills related to that had not been paid. When I contacted the physician who billed me, they waived the charge since I would not have been liable for the bill had they processed the request for payment in a reasonable amount of time. I hope you were able to reach the same arrangement regarding your bill.
+1 I would work it out with your doctor OP, it is their error not yours.
@Callandra wrote:I'm not sure if this is in the right forum or not (Mods, please feel free to move and please accept my apologies in advance) -- but anyway, I had an eye exam on March 29, 2014. I gave them my Vision insurance card (through United Healthcare) and went on my merry way. Well, several days ago, I got a bill for $125 for the exam visit, nearly one year ago!
The bill said "can't ID patient" for the insurance part...WHAT??? I called my insurance company and verified that my plan was valid (I still have them) and that they were never billed. The insurance CSR put me on hold and called the doctor's office (Eyeglass World but they have a corporate office who sent me the bill). The CSR then told me that Eyeglass World billed the wrong insurance company!!! (And they didn't even try billing until last month, 11 months after the exam!) I gave them the card and they photocopied it - it says United Healthcare on it!!! Anyway, I tried calling the Corporate office (who sent me the bill) and of course no one answered. I left a message and sent an email (I wanted something in writing).
The thing is, my insurance company [rightfully] won't pay after a year as they require "timely" billing. I understand that but I'm so frustrated since the office screwed up and now I will be liable for $125 and I don't want it to go to collections for non-payment. Yes, I can pay $125 (but I am very low income and I shouldn't have to pay since I have insurance that will pay if the office could've billed in the proper time frame) but I feel like I shouldn't have to. Anyone have any advice or experience? I'm feeling really angry and frustrated right now since it was their screwup and I'm going to have to pay it out of pocket.
We have had this happen before, and incidentally also have United Healthcare. All plans are different, though, so you should check on this with your specific plan. Since our provider was in-network, they were forbidden by the insurance company from requesting money from us for amounts not covered due to their late billing. It was a LOT of money in our case, several hundred dollars.
They did open a collection against us but we were able to get it dropped due to the EOB from the insurance company that showed non-coverage due to late billing and showed patient responsibility as "0". It was a little bit of a hassle, but we felt the same as you do - we had insurance that would have paid them in full if they had just followed the correct procedure, so we didn't think it was fair to ask us to pay it.
@LuckyBird wrote:
@Callandra wrote:I'm not sure if this is in the right forum or not (Mods, please feel free to move and please accept my apologies in advance) -- but anyway, I had an eye exam on March 29, 2014. I gave them my Vision insurance card (through United Healthcare) and went on my merry way. Well, several days ago, I got a bill for $125 for the exam visit, nearly one year ago!
The bill said "can't ID patient" for the insurance part...WHAT??? I called my insurance company and verified that my plan was valid (I still have them) and that they were never billed. The insurance CSR put me on hold and called the doctor's office (Eyeglass World but they have a corporate office who sent me the bill). The CSR then told me that Eyeglass World billed the wrong insurance company!!! (And they didn't even try billing until last month, 11 months after the exam!) I gave them the card and they photocopied it - it says United Healthcare on it!!! Anyway, I tried calling the Corporate office (who sent me the bill) and of course no one answered. I left a message and sent an email (I wanted something in writing).
The thing is, my insurance company [rightfully] won't pay after a year as they require "timely" billing. I understand that but I'm so frustrated since the office screwed up and now I will be liable for $125 and I don't want it to go to collections for non-payment. Yes, I can pay $125 (but I am very low income and I shouldn't have to pay since I have insurance that will pay if the office could've billed in the proper time frame) but I feel like I shouldn't have to. Anyone have any advice or experience? I'm feeling really angry and frustrated right now since it was their screwup and I'm going to have to pay it out of pocket.
We have had this happen before, and incidentally also have United Healthcare. All plans are different, though, so you should check on this with your specific plan. Since our provider was in-network, they were forbidden by the insurance company from requesting money from us for amounts not covered due to their late billing. It was a LOT of money in our case, several hundred dollars.
They did open a collection against us but we were able to get it dropped due to the EOB from the insurance company that showed non-coverage due to late billing and showed patient responsibility as "0". It was a little bit of a hassle, but we felt the same as you do - we had insurance that would have paid them in full if they had just followed the correct procedure, so we didn't think it was fair to ask us to pay it.
Interesting...I'll have to check the T&C of my Vision plan (it's UHC Vision Spectra or something like that).
Anyway, an update:
I was so angry yesterday when I got home that my boyfriend took me to that Eyeglass World. I spoke to the manager there; she explained that Gulf Coast Optometry is separate from Eyeglass World even though they're in the same place. She was really nice and she, her boss (the district manager, who happened to be there) and the eye doctor sent an email to corporate about the issue as well. They also checked their computer and saw that my insurance card was there properly and had the right ID number so they're not sure how corporate could've billed the wrong place and why it was billed so late.
I checked my email earlier today and it turns out the ONE person (yes, they have one person in billing) is on vacation this week!! The email auto-responder says she won't be back until April 2nd. *smacks head on hands*
But all the people at Eyeglass World assured me that they think corporate will just waive it/eat the cost. I'll keep you posted but probably won't hear 'til next week. If they don't immediately offer to eat the cost, I will keep demanding supervisor after supervisor until someone drops it. I feel better today but still annoyed. I can understand they billed the wrong company (hey, we all make mistakes) but why were they billing 11 months later??? Then they bill the wrong place and by the time I get the bill, my insurance won't pay. It's ridiculous.