Collection notice about dr bill

[disney2]

Here's the back story.  I was super sick one night and was taken to the ER.  The Dr came in briefly and acted like I was there for medicine.  I can't take much medicine so nope, that's not it.  He tells me I have indigestion and send me home with Prilosec.  A few weeks later, it happens again and I end up having my gall bladder out.  Not much indigestion there after all.  I received the bill and called the hospital.  They wrote off the bill and said I wouldn't receive anything else about it.  Then I received a bill from the Dr company since that's contracted.  I disputed the charge and they denied it.  I called the hospital and told her and she said she would call them about it.  I've not heard anything else about it.  Last week, I received a notice from a collection agency about the Dr bill portion.  This was two years ago when all this happened and now it's back.

What are my options?

[RobertEG]

Unfortunately, the whole process of medically-related debt usually involves the separate billing by the hospital and by doctors or other medical providers who work with or through the hospital.  The fact that the hospital removed any asserted debt is not binding on all medical providers associated with the treatment.

If you have disputed and the medical provider/debt collector has verified, then the next step is to challenge the validity of the debt in court.

I would consult an attorney with the view of inititating civil action to contest the asserted debt.

[disney2]

I disputed it iwth the provider, they said I owed it, then they were contacted by the hospital saying they were to drop it since the hospital deemed the doctor was not acting under their guidelines.  I didn't hear anything from the provider again at all.  The next thing I got was the notice from the collection agency.

[gdale6]

I would get a statement of fact from the hospital and send it to the doctor with an ITS (Intent to Sue) letter and be prepared to sue as Robert says you might contact an attorney on this a well.

[StartingOver10]

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@disney2 wrote:

I disputed it iwth the provider, they said I owed it, then they were contacted by the hospital saying they were to drop it since the hospital deemed the doctor was not acting under their guidelines.  I didn't hear anything from the provider again at all.  The next thing I got was the notice from the collection agency.

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^^^this is very strange.  What in the world do they mean "not acting under their guidelines"?    The doctor's bills are separate from the ER bills all the time.   As said above, get it in writing from the provider - I bet they don't provide it to you. Sounds to me that someone was just trying to get you off the phone.  

[disney2]

Not strange at all. Hospitals have guidelines for doctors and other employees. Part of it is patient ethics. She wasn't trying to get me off the phone at all. I've known her about 20 years and her job there is to help patients that don't get great service. That's what happened here.