Medical bills....

OMG!
Glad i went back and checked on my bill pay!!! This EXACT amount was paid to the hospital back in April! Now what? Should i call the agency with my information?
Ya see, that's what i'm talking about, they will nickle and dime u to death and send u over to a collection agency for a bill that was already paid!
GRRRRRRRRRRR, i'm angry now!
Ang
P.S. Sorry i posted this before i looked it up on my bill pay! This post can be deleted if deemed so! But maybe it should stay up for people to be aware of this sort of activity!

What a way to start a Saturday! I am absolutely livid! I tried to call the collection agency and of course got a stupid recording that says "our offices are closed right now. Please try calling during regular business hours" And they don't give the reg business hours! grrrrrrrrrrr
I'm so mad that i'm actualy posting to myself now! ha ha
Guess that's ok long as i dont' answer my own post?! Oh wait i have! he he he
My heart rate has gone up now!
Ang

Ang call the hospital and tell them to recall the debt and remove the illegal tradelines that the collectors put there.You are well within your rights to demand this as the debt was paid and there was no reason for a collector to work the account.

So call the hospital billing dept? Will do Cajun! Ya know i can almost guarantee if my hubby had checked the mail and gotten this, he would have just paid it, thinking he over looked something! that's what makes me angry is that it's such a small amount but imagine if they collected from everyone!
sheeessshhhhhhhhh
Again Cajun to the rescue!
Thanks a million,
Ang

The hospital business office can call the collector and tell them to cease all collection activity on your account, as it went to collections due to their error. Good job...

Ok so i called the hospital billing! ARGHHHHH!! This is what i was told,
Each time he goes into the hospital, which is monthly at least, he is given a different acct number and the payments we have been making over 200 bux worth have been applied to teh wrong acct number. So supposedly this money has just been sitting in this "old" acct that has been closed since August of 2006!!
Now does that make ANY sense to any of u? Or is it just me that doesn't get it?!?!
They MUST have a bookkeepers nightmare of an accounting system going on! (speaking as a bookkeeper myself)
Now this "new" number i need to call isn't opened til Monday!
SIGHS,
Ang

Wow...
So you don't have the same account number with different dates of service on it, but different account numbers each time? No lie that's confusing! At the hospital I work at, everyone has one number on their card, and when patients come in, it just shows as a different date of service.
If it was me, I would ask for a complete audit of my account, to make sure your payments are being credited properly. Again, I can see where it would be very easy for errors to happen under this system. You also want to make sure that payments from your HMO are getting credited properly.

Yea Ks, isn't that the CRAZIEST thing u've EVER heard of?!?!?
Good idea of asking for a complete audit of his acct, cuz who knows how much of "OUR" money they have sitting in some unknown acct!!
Thnx for the idea!
Ang

Glad you're going to do that--
and depending on how they've credited your HMO payments, you might want to call them and ask for a list of any preauthorizations for services they have given for you and your husband with dates. This would help the hospital get it straightened out--and the scary thing is that if they've done this to you, what have they done to others??

I know ks, i know!!
And btw... this is one of the "best" cardiovascular hospitals in the nation! Too bad their accounting dept is one of the worse!!
YIKES!
Then, also, my hubby tells me, well i sent them $50 in March just because i KNEW i owed them something but hadn't recieved a bill yet! I was like WTH? Do NOT send them money without a bill... DOHHHHH
Ahh well what's happened in the past is in the past but i told him from now on, ANYTIME u get something from CIS, plz give it to me and i will keep track from now on! Have already this morning organized folders for them! I know we have like 6 inches or higher of medical bills for him and NONE of the others use different acct numbers and they are all pretty straight forward to read also!
Ahh well i guess as long as his heart is being taken care of i'll take care of keeping the hospital straight on the $$ issue!
Over worked,
Ang
lol

You are so right, Ang. And based on my personal experiences in the business, there are two rules that they follow in the hospital:

1. Never tick off Medicare!
3. Never tick off ANY HMO!! And messing up accounts and misposting their payments will tick them off, believe me! If they get enough complaints, I have seen in my local area where a huge HMO threatened to pull their contract with one of our local trauma centers, and let me tell you about the serious puckering up that was being done at that hospital, LOL... And believe it or not, the problem was fixed!

So are u saying i need to contact Blue Cross/Blue Shield about all this mix up?!?!?
Interesting, very interesting but i SURELY understand. Money talks and boy o boy do they deal in a TON of money!
Thanks a lot Ks,
Ang

I would call the Business Office first at the hospital and make sure that what they have corresponds to what you have. If everything's posted correctly, then I would go with that--but if there are errors, I would then call Blue Cross/Blue Shield to get a list of what they have preauthorized and what payments they have sent out on your behalf. Bear in mind that if the HMO has a problem with the claim they hospital has sent them, they can and will kick it back to them--and I'm sure they can also tell you if that happened as well.

Ok ks, i'll do that first thing on Monday but only thing is, he has SO much medical that's it's hard to keep up with it all!! And for some reason, i think these hospitals know this and try to confuse u even more!! Of course, as u prolly already can see, i get confused easy! ha ha
Mind if i ask where u from?
Thnx again,
Ang

No prob...I'm from California! Never been to Louisiana, and from what I can see, it's an absolutely lovely state. One day I'll get there!

Ok, since we're discussing legalities in another thread just thought i'd ask, since i called the CA yesterday on this bill does that mean he now has 5 days to respond via USPS?!?!?
Also, forgot to say, when i called him, he kept trying to get me to say this was indeed my debt and i wouldn't since it's ALREADY been paid. We went back n forth on this for about 2 minutes if not more until i finally said "NO, i am disputing this debt" Then he FINALLY went on with our conversatoin but was very nice and pleasant to me after he let me explain it to him. So tomorrow I will fax him over a copy of my payment and call the hospital back to fix their screw ups! This takes a LOT of time out of an already busy day!
Just wanted to update and ask that question
Thanks for any answers,
Ang

You go, Ang, and let us know what happens!

Thnks KS!
Actually i'm really not to worried about it cause i KNOW and have proof that it's already been paid, Plus some, so now i want MY money back! lol
Now, that may be the challenage here! We shall see tomorrow!
Thanks for all ur help,
Ang

Go get 'em girlie!! And let us know what the hospital says, OK????

Okie dokie ks will do!
maybe i could suggest to them that "I" go do their books! ha ha Bet that would take care of all this confusion!
I told hubby, wonder what would happen if when we send payment just NOT put an acct number on it and let "them" figure out where it is applied!
lol
I'm not worried about it much, the CA guy was really NICE! And i KNOW we paid the bill plus some! SO, i'll have some cash coming my way soon!
:)
Ang

I too have been the victim of "various" account #'s with my son. I was making a payment, and they would put it all over the place. ONce I called & requested the bills be consolidated, it was better. This smae hospital after being specifically told more than once AND having copies of a new med card, STILL billed the old insurance. I sometimes feel like I am doing their job for them!! You have to second guess and recheck things 4 times for accuracy all at a time when you should just be concerned with the health of your loved one. Not to mention double checking to make sure that you aren;t charged for something that you did not get - arghg don't even get me started on that one! good luck.....

I've had such a hectic day today i haven't even mustard up the courage to call these people yet! URGHHHHH!!
I feel like u, dalfire, like "I'M" having to do their job! WTH?!?!
Should i ask them to credit my future bills since i'm doing their work? lol Bet that would work! NOT!
Ang

OMG, so i called! NOW i want ALL the collectors to read this PLZ! But actually the collection agency people were nicer to me than the hospital accounting dept, not the brightest crayons in the box!
SO, anyway, i have on this CLOSED accout, $322.39 sitting there! WTH?!?!? She could see the other 2 balances on my hubby's name, one for 52.62 & another for 17.77 but yet they did NOT apply these payments because it had the wrong acct number on it! Now does it take a rocket scientist to figure out that they recieved these 2 payments plus others that weren't even owed, and where to apply them? And WTH were they gonna do with my extra money?!?! I asked her, so when can i expect "my" refund? She said could take 1 - 3 weeks and that the "over due" accts could take up to a week, i need to call back next week and check on them!!
I'm SOOOOOOOOOO annoyed! I asked her will u contact this collection agency and remove this from them, she sed NO.....
SO I called them myself and will be faxing them my payment to the hospital since April!
GRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Ang

My experience with a hospital was most unpleasant. I had made payments through myself and the insurance provider. I ended up writing a letter to the hospital and asked them to send me an itemized bill (talking to the business office only gave me a run around). I got the itemized bill to see multiple billings for the same items (I mean 3 pregnancy tests??? Get real) and I disputed them. When I was sent to collections I faxed them all the payments I or my complany had made and a copy of the letter originally mailed and a copy of the disputes and told them that if they fixed it I would pay it. They wrote the debt off becuase they couldn't get it fixed.
For the same stay I got sent to collections through one of the doctor's who was not my PCP but came anyway from the clinic I went to. My insurance only paid one doctor a day and they paid the doctor what who was primarily caring for me. When I got the collections (after going rounds with the billing dept) I told them, send me something showing I authorized this doctor to come see me and I'll pay it. Then never could - I was very upfront when admited that yes, I was a college student and yes I would have problems paying the bills not covered by insurance.

And Lady i understand wot ur saying but he's in there at LEAST once a month sometimes more! It would be a total nightmare to have to keep track of everything they do to him and what they use at each visit! But i'm thinking i WILL ask for an audit of his name just to make sure they don't have more of my $$$!
What a disaster!
Ang

Ang--hang on a second here. Let me ask you--does the OC still hold the accounts or were they sold to the CA?

There is an important reason why I ask. Simply put, if the OC still holds the debts, and they "hired" the CA to collect the money on their behalf, then they are acting illegally by not pulling the accounts back from CA now that they have proven the debt was already paid. The law does not allow a creditor to continue collection activity once they have knowledge that the account is paid off--that is harassment. If they are still holding the accounts, you should tell them that they need to handle their business or you will do it for them. By assigning a CA the right to collect on their behalf, they have taken action that is specifically geared towards collecting a debt. Once that debt is satisfied, they need to act to stop any further activity. You could actually sue them for not doing so, because at that point the action has no legitimate purpose and thus has no reason to continue. Hope this helps

Ahh ok, well actually the CA people were nicer to me than the original creditor! This bill was paid within 30 days of the service provided, jsut applied to the wrong account. The CA asked me to fax over the proof of payment to them tomorrow and i'm pretty sure they will take care of it ASAP! I asked if it was on my credit report and was told, NO, we've only had this debt for a week! They were easier to communicate with than the hospital accounting dept!
Ang

Wow, Ang,
You have been thru he double u-know-what with these people! I'm glad it's getting taken care of. What I would also suggest when dealing with a hospital's business office is pulling out your information on what your insurance plan will and won't pay for. In the case of the young lady being seen for pregnancy who was billed for another MD seeing her, I know that most plans allow for an on-call doc to see a patient if the attending isn't available. The only problem I would forsee would be if the doc wasn't in that insurance plan's provider network for that area for some reason.
If this MD was the only one available when she went to the clinic for some reason and the HMO kicked back the claim, I think she would have grounds for an appeal of that. I would check with them on their appeals process and pursue that. Good luck!