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I have a debt from a hospital right now which two separate insurance companies told me they would pay. Last time I talked to the hospital, I told them to pleas

I have a debt from a hospital right now which two separate insurance companies told me they would pay. Last time I talked to the hospital, I told them to please bill the insurance I had supplied them, and not continue sending me letters demanding I pay them $1250 for a procedure that the cash clinic across the street said they would do for 380 (that's including the 'uninsured discount'). The guy on the phone said it was too late because it had been nearly 90 days and 'the computer is sending it to collections in a couple days'. According to him, he couldn't do anything about that.

TallGuyShort 9y ago
What I learned from my recent experience is that if you've given them insurance information, and they haven't billed the insurance, it's not your bill yet. They have a year to do so, after which neither you nor the insurance are responsible. Now, I am not a lawyer and there may have been state laws in play that don't apply to you, BUT - that's worth keeping in mind. I ended up having to pay a co-pay after mine was reprocessed. Had I not been so proactive and persistent and a couple more weeks had passed, they would have had to swallow the debt.
- code_duck 9y ago
  I'm definitely not paying them - the imaginary bill is their problem. I just think it's ridiculous that they are so incompetent.
  - conductr 9y ago
    This will probably not end well for you if you value your credit score. The bill is your responsibility. I almost guarantee you signed something saying you would be responsible for the full amount. If they haven’t billed your insurance, yes it’s incompetent and frustrating, but the correct way to handle this is to pay it off yourself and then work directly with your insurance company to get reimbursed. Edit: I’m assuming you’re in the US.
    - code_duck 9y ago
      The great thing is I'm not concerned at all about my credit score. I could see how this would be inconvenient for other people. Like the Equifax hack, to me this is another indicator of how ridiculous the entire credit score system is. Simply on principle, there is no way I would ever negotiate with or pay people this incompetent.
      - astura 9y ago
        Credit score affects more than credit. It affects your ability to rent an apartment and it affects your insurance premiums in all but three states.
        code_duck 9y ago
        This is true, too. I can see how that might be inconvenient for some other people, but thankfully I'm not concerned about my need to do the first or my ability to pay the second. It's definitely ridiculous how unaccountable third parties can affect one's life in such a way, leaving the consumer scrambling to set the story straight about themselves.
- X-Istence 9y ago
  > They have a year to do so [...] This actually is highly dependent on state laws. In Colorado for non-emergency the doctor/hospital has 6 months to file the bill with the insurance company. If they fail to do so, or file after that time period, the bill is null and void (it's an agreement they have with the insurance company). If it is an emergency (such as you got taken to the ER) then they have a year to file with the insurance company. I know this... because the insurance company denied a claim that was made by the hospital due to an emergency because it was filed outside the 6 month time window because the hospital failed to mark it as being billed due to an emergency. I only found out about the debt though when I got served and there was a lawsuit against me because the hospital (even though they had a copy of my drivers license) had been sending it to an old address I hadn't lived at which they had on file somehow. I got it all sorted, and the insurance company paid, along with a fine the state requires for failing to pay on time... however the lawsuit still dragged on for one more year. The original company that had made the claim, had sold the debt to debt collection company. That debt collection company had never sent me a shred of proof, so their calls went straight to the round file, so the lawyers for the debt company were the people I was dealing with. They wanted to get paid for the debt, so that they could then send it to the debt collector, who would then send it to the original creditor, or at least, that is what I understood. However my insurance company just sent it to the original creditor. So now the original creditor had to notify the debt collection company who had to notify the lawyers office that the debt was paid. That took over a year. Each time I'd get a continuance to show up in court 3 months later, because the debt was paid, so they weren't getting a cent from me. I'd gladly lay it out to the judge, but instead they kept filing a continuance. Eventually the court in Colorado denied their request for a continuance. Now the best part is that the debt was for approximately $300 dollars. In combined costs of lawyers fees/court fees/debt collection time/all that fun stuff I am sure they spent WAY more money trying to collect. Didn't cost me a penny, other than my time.

TallGuyShort 9y ago

What I learned from my recent experience is that if you've given them insurance information, and they haven't billed the insurance, it's not your bill yet. They have a year to do so, after which neither you nor the insurance are responsible. Now, I am not a lawyer and there may have been state laws in play that don't apply to you, BUT - that's worth keeping in mind. I ended up having to pay a co-pay after mine was reprocessed. Had I not been so proactive and persistent and a couple more weeks had passed, they would have had to swallow the debt.

code_duck 9y ago
I'm definitely not paying them - the imaginary bill is their problem. I just think it's ridiculous that they are so incompetent.
- conductr 9y ago
  This will probably not end well for you if you value your credit score. The bill is your responsibility. I almost guarantee you signed something saying you would be responsible for the full amount. If they haven’t billed your insurance, yes it’s incompetent and frustrating, but the correct way to handle this is to pay it off yourself and then work directly with your insurance company to get reimbursed. Edit: I’m assuming you’re in the US.
  - code_duck 9y ago
    The great thing is I'm not concerned at all about my credit score. I could see how this would be inconvenient for other people. Like the Equifax hack, to me this is another indicator of how ridiculous the entire credit score system is. Simply on principle, there is no way I would ever negotiate with or pay people this incompetent.
    - astura 9y ago
      Credit score affects more than credit. It affects your ability to rent an apartment and it affects your insurance premiums in all but three states.
      - code_duck 9y ago
        This is true, too. I can see how that might be inconvenient for some other people, but thankfully I'm not concerned about my need to do the first or my ability to pay the second. It's definitely ridiculous how unaccountable third parties can affect one's life in such a way, leaving the consumer scrambling to set the story straight about themselves.
X-Istence 9y ago
> They have a year to do so [...] This actually is highly dependent on state laws. In Colorado for non-emergency the doctor/hospital has 6 months to file the bill with the insurance company. If they fail to do so, or file after that time period, the bill is null and void (it's an agreement they have with the insurance company). If it is an emergency (such as you got taken to the ER) then they have a year to file with the insurance company. I know this... because the insurance company denied a claim that was made by the hospital due to an emergency because it was filed outside the 6 month time window because the hospital failed to mark it as being billed due to an emergency. I only found out about the debt though when I got served and there was a lawsuit against me because the hospital (even though they had a copy of my drivers license) had been sending it to an old address I hadn't lived at which they had on file somehow. I got it all sorted, and the insurance company paid, along with a fine the state requires for failing to pay on time... however the lawsuit still dragged on for one more year. The original company that had made the claim, had sold the debt to debt collection company. That debt collection company had never sent me a shred of proof, so their calls went straight to the round file, so the lawyers for the debt company were the people I was dealing with. They wanted to get paid for the debt, so that they could then send it to the debt collector, who would then send it to the original creditor, or at least, that is what I understood. However my insurance company just sent it to the original creditor. So now the original creditor had to notify the debt collection company who had to notify the lawyers office that the debt was paid. That took over a year. Each time I'd get a continuance to show up in court 3 months later, because the debt was paid, so they weren't getting a cent from me. I'd gladly lay it out to the judge, but instead they kept filing a continuance. Eventually the court in Colorado denied their request for a continuance. Now the best part is that the debt was for approximately $300 dollars. In combined costs of lawyers fees/court fees/debt collection time/all that fun stuff I am sure they spent WAY more money trying to collect. Didn't cost me a penny, other than my time.