Eugene, OR Medical Bill Collection: 40% fee?!
Date: Tue, 05/24/2011 - 20:08
Here is the situation:
My mom has severe medical issues. I have power of attorney on her finances, and all of her medical mail is supposed to be forwarded to me directly.
She was rushed to the hospital back in October via a private Ambulance company in Eugene, OR. Anthem Blue Cross was supposed to take care of it directly, but they did not. I heard from the Ambulance company in January that they weren't paid, so I contacted blue cross and asked for the check to be reissued. They said they would do it. In February, I called again, and they said that it hadn't been done by the previous analyst, and they would do it *this time*...
I called the ambulance company and explained the situation. They said that it was fine and that they would hold it from collections as it was not our fault.
I have repeatedly called the ambulance company and BC every month. We have *slowly* made progress, with BC sending us a voucher to send to the ambulance co, to fill out saying that they still need to get paid, with the promise that they will get paid by BC at some point this month.
Yesterday, I was visiting her home, and I found a bill in her mailbox (that the postal service hadn't mailed to me). It was a collections fee for the ambulance ride.
principal 1,800.00 interest 56.81 collection fee720.00
I know that because of the way BC works, we'll likely be liable for any collections fees regardless of them not paying in a timely manner. BUT 40%?!?!
What are my actions here? Can someone help me process my next steps? I'm figuring that they should be:
Call BC and find out status
Call ambulance company and see if they can pull from collections
Call Lawyer?
See if there are any consumer laws in Oregon that make a 40% collections fee outlawed?
Help? I'm so confused and scared. I'm a single woman, and my mom has no other family. I have no siblings, other parent, etc who can share the burden of this. She had saved over $600,000 for her retirement, plus an additional $2k a month in pension+Soc Sec, but it has all been depleted due to her kidney failure five years ago. She still lives at home on the 2k a month, which goes to her mortgage, LTC and additional medical costs that insurance won't pay. Neither she or I have an extra $600 to fork over for a collections fee when BC failed us. Help?
My mom has severe medical issues. I have power of attorney on her finances, and all of her medical mail is supposed to be forwarded to me directly.
She was rushed to the hospital back in October via a private Ambulance company in Eugene, OR. Anthem Blue Cross was supposed to take care of it directly, but they did not. I heard from the Ambulance company in January that they weren't paid, so I contacted blue cross and asked for the check to be reissued. They said they would do it. In February, I called again, and they said that it hadn't been done by the previous analyst, and they would do it *this time*...
I called the ambulance company and explained the situation. They said that it was fine and that they would hold it from collections as it was not our fault.
I have repeatedly called the ambulance company and BC every month. We have *slowly* made progress, with BC sending us a voucher to send to the ambulance co, to fill out saying that they still need to get paid, with the promise that they will get paid by BC at some point this month.
Yesterday, I was visiting her home, and I found a bill in her mailbox (that the postal service hadn't mailed to me). It was a collections fee for the ambulance ride.
principal 1,800.00 interest 56.81 collection fee720.00
I know that because of the way BC works, we'll likely be liable for any collections fees regardless of them not paying in a timely manner. BUT 40%?!?!
What are my actions here? Can someone help me process my next steps? I'm figuring that they should be:
Call BC and find out status
Call ambulance company and see if they can pull from collections
Call Lawyer?
See if there are any consumer laws in Oregon that make a 40% collections fee outlawed?
Help? I'm so confused and scared. I'm a single woman, and my mom has no other family. I have no siblings, other parent, etc who can share the burden of this. She had saved over $600,000 for her retirement, plus an additional $2k a month in pension+Soc Sec, but it has all been depleted due to her kidney failure five years ago. She still lives at home on the 2k a month, which goes to her mortgage, LTC and additional medical costs that insurance won't pay. Neither she or I have an extra $600 to fork over for a collections fee when BC failed us. Help?
I would be yelling a BC to get off their asses. It is not the a
I would be yelling a BC to get off their asses. It is not the ambulance companies fault.....they are just following standard collection practices.
