Question about unpaid medical bills
Date: Mon, 03/05/2007 - 22:24
Lately I've gotten mail from a debt collection agency regarding unpaid medical bills from 5 years ago. These bills should have been covered by my medical provider at that time. But from what I've learned, the doctor/hospital has not received the payment and so has asked the debt agency to come after me for the money after so many years.
I have tried contacting my old medical provider to find out if this is true and what happened, but the number has been disconnected. It seems as if the company does not exist anymore. What are my options now? Am I legally responsible to pay these bills and interest? But they should have been covered by the medical network at the time. I had paid them monthly premiums too. I don't know what to do, and would like to get some opinion on this issue.
(One more thing, I did read about the SOL, but the state in which I had resided in 5 years ago, has a 6 year long term. Guess that won't help me.)
Thanks for any help that can be provided!
I would contact your insurance provider you had and ask for a re
I would contact your insurance provider you had and ask for a report on what was paid on this claim.Then I would send a debt validation letter to collection agency to preserve your rights.
Do you have any statements from your old medical provider relati
Do you have any statements from your old medical provider relating to these bills?
Quote:I would contact your insurance provider you had and ask fo
Quote:
I would contact your insurance provider you had and ask for a report on what was paid on this claim.Then I would send a debt validation letter to collection agency to preserve your rights. |
It's not possible to contact my insurance provider as they don't exist anymore.
Quote:
Do you have any statements from your old medical provider relating to these bills? |
I'm sure I do, but with the move it is quite hard to find these documents. It may be true that this bill wasn't paid seeing that the insurance provider no longer exists.
You will have to provide proof of debt paid some kind of way to
You will have to provide proof of debt paid some kind of way to get rid of collector.I would also check your state statutes to see if the debt's statute of limitations have run out.If the sol has run out,somes states sol can be renewed by payments.
Welcome to the Forums :D I have had several circumstances simil
Welcome to the Forums :D I have had several circumstances similiar to yours in the past. And yes, they will expect you to pay them if they are in the SOL. Our insurance went into Bankruptcy when my son was hospitalized, which we didn't know until later, and we ended up making payments for 4 years, but got them paid off. That happened again, except the insurance company just skipped off- years later they were taken to court, we were part of a class action suit, and ended up with a little over a hundred dollars-for an account in the thousands!! You may have to bite the bullet on this one, if the debt is valid and within the SOl-try to contact them to see what type of payments you can arrange. But first make sure of the amount, etc., with a debt validation letter. Good Luck..Karen
Quote:You may have to bite the bullet on this one, if the debt i
Quote:
You may have to bite the bullet on this one, if the debt is valid and within the SOl-try to contact them to see what type of payments you can arrange. But first make sure of the amount, etc., with a debt validation letter. |
Seems like I have to pay it off then. Well I do have a question regarding the debt validation letter.
When I was initially contacted, I did not know what was going on. So I had replied asking them to send me validation and the creditor's contact info. The collector only sent me a paper that had a list of the claims itemized, and then there's a bunch of messages with names of people I don't recognize. However, there is no signature on the paper, no address of the creditor on there, nothing spelling out the name of the collection agency either. In fact, it looks more like a computer print-out of data to me.
Is this paper valid proof of verifying the debt?
I just want to make sure that if I'm going to pay off the bill, that I am able to protect myself in the future, in case I get the same bill again.
If this is not enough info, what should I ask them to send me? Would it better if I just call the creditor to ask if they did indeed ask this debt collection agency to collect money from me? If they say yes, am I safe to pay off the debt then?
Sorry for all the questions, but I'm just so troubled with all this and don't know what to do. Thanks for everyone's help!
Please check statute of limitations in your state before paying
Please check statute of limitations in your state before paying as this debt may be obsolete for legal action being 5 years old.
Quote:Please check statute of limitations in your state before p
Quote:
Please check statute of limitations in your state before paying as this debt may be obsolete for legal action being 5 years old. |
Like I mentioned in the first post, SOL is 6 years in the state that I had resided previously, which was also where my operation was done.
That's why I would like to get some answers regarding the debt validation now. (questions in the previous post)
Here are some sample letters, just tweak it to fit what you want
Here are some sample letters, just tweak it to fit what you want, at http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/letters/ ..Karen
Was your former insurance provider an HMO? You might want to try
Was your former insurance provider an HMO? You might want to try the Dept of Corporations in your state if they are, or the Dept of Health and Human Services if they aren't. Possibly they could give you some guidance--and in some cases, other providers absorb patients when a provider goes under like that. It's worth a shot.