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doctor's bill i will not pay

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Anonymous
Not applicable

doctor's bill i will not pay

i had a stress fracture in my foot, i went in and they did an xray and said yep, it's broken.  gave me a light boot and sent me on my way.  scheduled a follow up 1 month later and i went in and they did an xray and said yep, you're healed, see you later.  i was in and out in 10 minutes the second visit.  a couple of months later, this week, i get a bill from them for $350.  i called my insurance company and they said the first xray was 55, the boot 25, then in the second visit the xray was 55 and the insurance company paid all of that.  but then there was a "foot procedure" done (i don't remember the exact name of it) that was done the second visit that was $550 and i owe $350.

 

this service was never performed though.  they literally did the xray and said "your foot looks healed" and sent me on my way.  and if my foot was healed the second time i went in and they did this procedure, why didn't they do the procedure the 1st time when my foot was broken?  seems dumb to do any kind of "procedure" when your foot is perfectly healthy.  i called them and the dumb receptionist keeps getting rude and acting like i haven't called before.  "he has your message, maybe try back."  they are just avoiding me.  she says she knows nothing about the service, but yet i can't talk to anyone else.  i told her next week i would be coming in to his office personally to speak with him if he doesn't call me back.

 

what do i do?  i know this may not be the proper forum for this question since it's not all about credit, but i have great credit and don't want to not pay this and have my credit take a hit.  but i also don't want to fork out $350 for a service that was never performed.  what do i do?  i feel like it's his word over mine, and he can just say "oh i did this "procedure"" even though i know he didn't.  and that concerns me.  do i threaten to call the BBB on him?  i just don't know what to do.

Message 1 of 7
6 REPLIES 6
Booner72
Senior Contributor

Re: doctor's bill i will not pay

This is my advice, and I have been in your shoes - not paying bills bc I thought the bill was a bunch of b.s. for one reason or the other.  PAY IT!

 

you can file a complaint with your ins. company that they are billing for a procedure that was never done.  You can file a complaint with the insurance commisioner in your state.  You can do LOTS OF THINGS. 

 

In the meantime, though, PAY IT.

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Message 2 of 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: doctor's bill I will not pay

I've also been in your shoes but in my case I had no problem with the provider, it was my insurance company.  Whatever the case, I'd say that you should pay the bill and then try and get reimbursement.  I know it sounds backwards but from my experience I know that a provider can ding your credit and for a few hundred dollars it's not worth it.

 

As mentioned before, you do have a couple tools at your disposal.  Even if you don't get your money back (but you might) you can at least get some satisfaction that you made it difficult for your health care provider to prove that he/she billed you incorrectly and/or inappropriately.

 

First, take it up with your insurance company.  It's an insurance company so of course they don't want to pay anyone either.  Dispute the charge but make sure to adhere to their deadlines.  I got shafted because I didn't know I had a deadline to contest or respond.  My time period lapsed and I was SOL.

 

Also call the insurance commission in your state.  They do actually launch an investigation.  I also did this and it did make some waves but ultimately it could only go so far because of the missed deadline.  My insurance Co's fine print on disputes stipulates a time period (I'm sure they all do); because of this, the dispute could go no further.  If I hadn't dropped the ball it would have been more effective and the commissioner could have at least gotten father in the dispute process and made more demands for verification from the health care provider.

 

Yes, you might not get your money back and that sucks but your credit is more valuable.  At least fighting it might give you a little satisfaction that you didn't roll over and were a pain in the a** to offending party.

 

Good luck 

Message 3 of 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: doctor's bill i will not pay


@Anonymous wrote:

i had a stress fracture in my foot, i went in and they did an xray and said yep, it's broken.  gave me a light boot and sent me on my way.  scheduled a follow up 1 month later and i went in and they did an xray and said yep, you're healed, see you later.  i was in and out in 10 minutes the second visit.  a couple of months later, this week, i get a bill from them for $350.  i called my insurance company and they said the first xray was 55, the boot 25, then in the second visit the xray was 55 and the insurance company paid all of that.  but then there was a "foot procedure" done (i don't remember the exact name of it) that was done the second visit that was $550 and i owe $350.

 

this service was never performed though.  they literally did the xray and said "your foot looks healed" and sent me on my way.  and if my foot was healed the second time i went in and they did this procedure, why didn't they do the procedure the 1st time when my foot was broken?  seems dumb to do any kind of "procedure" when your foot is perfectly healthy.  i called them and the dumb receptionist keeps getting rude and acting like i haven't called before.  "he has your message, maybe try back."  they are just avoiding me.  she says she knows nothing about the service, but yet i can't talk to anyone else.  i told her next week i would be coming in to his office personally to speak with him if he doesn't call me back.

 

what do i do?  i know this may not be the proper forum for this question since it's not all about credit, but i have great credit and don't want to not pay this and have my credit take a hit.  but i also don't want to fork out $350 for a service that was never performed.  what do i do?  i feel like it's his word over mine, and he can just say "oh i did this "procedure"" even though i know he didn't.  and that concerns me.  do i threaten to call the BBB on him?  i just don't know what to do.


 

 

 

 

They're likely charging you for the actual doctor visit (the thing you pay a copay on).  You do know that you actually have to pay to see a doctor whether or not he/she performs any procedures, right?  A lot of physicians charge you for both visits after the follow up visit rather than after each individual visit.

 

As Booner said, pay it regardless.  You can dispute it later, but it's much easier to recoup the $350 than to deal with collection agencies and possible legal action.

Message 4 of 7
LIGHTNIN
Senior Contributor

Re: doctor's bill i will not pay

Get the facts first, before doing anything.

 

Get a copy of your medical records from the doctors office,there maybe a fee.

Then if there is an office manger, call and setup a time for both of you to go over everything.

If there's no manger, find out who does the billing.Then send a letter to the person or company disputing the charge.

 

It maybe something simple like a someone coded a procedure when  actually it was to be coded for something else.

Or maybe the code was correct, but then when the insurance looked at it, they missed typed it for something else. 

 

I worked in a emergency room for 17yrs and this is how supplies were billed.

In each room there was a pad of green paper, we would put the patients name with their medical record number on it. So we would know which patient received what.Supplies come with stickers, and when an item is used the sticker would be placed on the green sheet of paper. After the patients leaves the ER,one of the nursing personal would bring the green papers and stack them in a tray for one of the data entry personal to pickup. Then data entry would enter these charges in the computer.

 

In the ER things happened very fast at times,maybe the name of the patient is not on the green form or only a first name. When that happens the one who picks up the green forms ask the nurses for a name to use. Yes you know where I'm going. Someone picks a name from the list of patients and it's not always the right one. Or a sticker is found on the floor ,on a arm of the doctor or nurse when they were treating the patient. What happens then, they go to the stack and put the sticker on any one of the green forms.

 

Now this was only for supplies. Procedures,medicines,doctors fees, etc would be handled differently.  

 

As stated before, it's better to pay it, before CA's get involved or worst legal action against you.

Good Luck to you, let us know what happens. thanks.

 

Be wise and know the facts, it maybe something a simple as a typo. If not, you'll know line by line what you are being charged for.

FICO's May 2015 EQ764 ~~Live below your means and always keep an emergency fund -Love Everybody ~ Big Kenny ~ Big and Rich ~~~~~Credit Scoring 101 - Common Abbreviations - Freq Req Threads - Free Credit Reports - What Steps Do I Take?DV? PFD?
Message 5 of 7
hoping2rebuild
Established Contributor

Re: doctor's bill i will not pay

Ditto to the above

 

I had a Medical collection for a surgery that I knew I didn't have

 

it turned out that the others persons account with the Dr was

 

only 1 number different from mine, it can often be a simple billing

 

mistake.


Starting Score: 377EQ/350EX/400TU As of 11/2011
Current Score: 620EQ/614EX/612TU As of 01/2013
Goal Score: 700+ across the boards
Message 6 of 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: doctor's bill i will not pay

that really stinks. 

 

the 500 was not just for seeing the doctor, and if it was, why did they only charge it the 2nd time i came in?  i saw the doctor both times, he just didn't do anything other than the xray the second time.  there is something fishy about that.

 

thanks for the responses.

Message 7 of 7
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