Internet's first get-out-of-debt community - 128,000 members

I received a letter from the Billing Department, from my Doctors office. I have an outstanding debt with them, which I TOTALLY forgot about..$65.00. I ALSO received a letter, reguarding my son...oustanding debt was $350.00. Well....this debt, for my son was suppose to go onto my ex-husband's insurance. Apparently it was 'denied'. So..they dr's office is sending ME the bill. Here is the strange thing....MY bill is not TOO old...they ( dr's office) said some time last year. But..they say my SON'S bill is over 3 years old. Why din't they send me something ( or my ex?) before now? I gave them (dr's office) a number to get in touch with my ex. According to these letters, I have 30 days to pay BOTH of them in full, or the Dr's office will "refuse any treatment my son or I have." I don't think they can refuse treatment to ANYONE. Any advice?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:59 pm Subject:

not too much advice but i was hospitalized in 2005. i was taken by ambulance and was forced to go. Around late 2006, I recieved a letter stating that insurance won't pay because I went by choice (who signs up to go the hospital??) Anyway, I argued it and in the end, a year mark has passed and the hospital had to eat it. I have no idea how any of that worked though.. Could you ex husband call his insurance company to work it out? That's who I went through with my problem and it worked out ok..

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 10:05 pm Subject: bill

Well..............my ex is the type of person who says ' he'll get right on it', but...he never does. He's the type of person, if something doesn't benefit HIM, it doesn't get done. With my ex, is more of an 'ME,ME,ME' attitude.

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 10:08 pm Subject:

oohhh, I understand 100%, I have an ex like that myself.. hmm.. this really doesn't sound right but I do not know laws well enough to really offer good advice.. to be honest, I am not sure if they can refuse treatments - i know hospitals have to treat anyone and everyone but maybe a doctor can refuse? I'm sorry - I really don't know.

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 12:45 am Subject:

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 3:04 am Subject:

You can be held responsible under the doctrine of necessities law. Since this is a private doctor,they can refuse treatment. Your only real recourse is to pay the bill when you are presented with a full account history from doctor& then go after your ex for reimbursement.

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 5:03 am Subject:

sdchargers - I had this happen once in the past - we were told that because we owed $150 that the insurance didn't pay (which we hadn't even gotten a statement of benefits from our insurance company on yet!) that the doctor would basically no logner be our doctor and would refuse to see us until we paid it.

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 5:17 am Subject:

Even some hospitals can refuse treatment and if it is an emergency all they have to do is stabilize you and transfer you to another hospital. And the cost of the transfer is on you not the hospital.

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:03 am Subject:

FYI I went through that myself with my husband who is 30 yrs older. He has several serious illnesses including Coronary artery disease. They basically are required to stabilize you after a heart attack and then send you home to die... not much caring in the medical realm. Sad but true.

No Nonsense Collector · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:17 am Subject:

Removed!

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 7:36 am Subject: bill

I thank everyone for their advice. I KNOW my ex won't take care of it. I just don't know what to do. What if my sin needs a physical for something, or just a 'check up'? OMG!! My ex has made my life a LIVING HELL!!

cellular · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 10:16 am Subject:

Is the medical payment for your son, your husband's responsibility part of the Divorce Decree?

If so he is in violation of a court order and can be held in contempt of court.

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 11:29 am Subject:

I would see if you can contact the insurance carrier. Most of the time if they haven't paid on something it's becuase there is a minor change to the policy number and it wasn't filed correctly. I had this happen once and it was quickly resolvd with the office refiling the claim. If the charges were not covered by the policy I would check your custody agreement and try and recover some of the expenses through the ex and in the meantime work with the office to set up a repayment plan while it is being worked out.

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 4:38 pm Subject:

Hate to say it, that's why I got out of the medical profession myself. I was a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy and went to two years of nursing school. While going to college, I worked as a phlebotomist. I think one thing that sticks in my head was walking into an elderly woman's room to draw her blood and she was crying, not because she was sick but because she said there was no way she could afford the hospital bill. I pretty much started to reconsider whether it was the profession for me, or not.

Pretty sad when you go into the hospital for medical treatment and all you can worry about is how much it's costing and you can't afford it. And I am speaking form firsthand experience on this.

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 8:23 pm Subject: medical bill

The Divorce Decree wasn't 'specific' in that way, CELLULAR. My ex and I agreed my son would be covered under him ( my ex) because I don't have medical insurance. WEll....... ( the plot thickens!!). I thought the claim was 'denied'..however.., I found out the claim was NOT denied. The $301.00 was a 'deductable' that wasn't paid by my ex. SOO...what I did was I called the Billing Department, at the Dr'd office and explained what was going on. the Rep was very understanding about the ENTIRE issue. I worked ALOT with her. She said if I can't get my ex to pay what he owes, she ( the Rep) will file an application, on my behalf to 'delete' 90% of the amount owed ( amount is $301.00). And when my ex goes to the Dr for WHATEVER reason, he would have to pay the deductable, before they see HIM. Sometimes, I feel so 'alone' reguarding medical responsibility, for my son. My ex has never 'stepped up up the plate.'