Hospital billing error, where to turn
Plus I've been to hospitals that try to get me to sign a waiver that I agree to pay the difference above which the insurance conpany will agree to pay. Ugh shady.
ElizMcCord said:
Plus I've been to hospitals that try to get me to sign a waiver that I agree to pay the difference above which the insurance conpany will agree to pay. Ugh shady.
No, that's not shady. That means that if per the hospital's contract with your insurer, the hospital is entitled to, say $1,000 for the service, and if your insurance policy is a 70/30 policy, the insurer is contractually obligated to pay 70% ($700 in this example), then you have to pay the remaining $300. The provider asks you to sign that to make sure you understand that you are responsible for the remainder, as stated in your policy.
ElizMcCord said:
I wonder how many poor unsuspecting folk get into financial ruin because they don't know enough or even have the energy to fight these hospitals and doctors. It's like a game of let's throw it at the wall and see what sticks. The worst thing is they know the law. But as soon as you mention the relevant statute "oh yeah taken care of". Incredibly underhanded. It should be downright criminal.
Pretty sure that's their game plan.
TMI alert
shoshannah said:
ElizMcCord said:
I wonder how many poor unsuspecting folk get into financial ruin because they don't know enough or even have the energy to fight these hospitals and doctors. It's like a game of let's throw it at the wall and see what sticks. The worst thing is they know the law. But as soon as you mention the relevant statute "oh yeah taken care of". Incredibly underhanded. It should be downright criminal.
Pretty sure that's their game plan.
This. Years ago a friend had bloody diarrhea. He called his doctor, who told him to go to the emergency room. He went. The insurance company denied the bill claiming it was medically unnecessary. I told him to appeal, they were probably denying the claim to see if they could scare him into paying the bill so they didn't have to. He had to appeal it twice, but in the end they did pay.
Still awaiting report on outcome after you filed an easy peasy complaint, online, at the NJDOBI website (and let them do all the work).
dickf3 said:
Still awaiting report on outcome after you filed an easy peasy complaint, online, at the NJDOBI website (and let them do all the work).
The hospital responded and said that we only owed the $50 copay, I'm just waiting for an updated bill in the mail. Once I receive that then I'll have confirmation that this thing is settled.
Then I'll move onto the second bill. That one we've only just received the first bill, so we faxed them the EOB. Their response was that it would take "7 to ten business days" for them to scan the fax into their system and to post any updates."
What about your credit rating? Wouldn't habing gone to collections cause a downgrade of your credit rating?
Supposedly the bill has been removed from collections. I haven't seen anything appear yet, but am keeping an eye on my husband's credit reports since I don't know how often information is updated. When writing to UH I added in that if my husband's credit was in any way affected by their error, that we would be seeking legal remedy for compensation. Hopefully this was enough to make them fix the whole kit and caboodle
BG9 said:
What about your credit rating? Wouldn't habing gone to collections cause a downgrade of your credit rating?
I wonder how many poor unsuspecting folk get into financial ruin because they don't know enough or even have the energy to fight these hospitals and doctors. It's like a game of let's throw it at the wall and see what sticks. The worst thing is they know the law. But as soon as you mention the relevant statute "oh yeah taken care of". Incredibly underhanded. It should be downright criminal.