Statute of Limitations for medical bills?

[Conundrum 1]

I had surgery on 12-28-05 and JUST NOW got a bill in the mail today for the difference that wasn't covered by my insurance at the time.

Is there any type of limitaion for medical facilities trying to collect after a certain period of time? I did a quick search but found nothing really detailed. I thought maybe someone here might know.

Should I fight this bill? It's $600 and I think it's a bit ridiculous to just now send me the bill 2.5 years later.

[Gawain 0]

I've never heard of a statute of limitations regarding collection of debt.

If they haven't billed for any interest, I'd consider you lucky, and you may want to pay it and be done with it.

If you didn't actually owe them, or if insurance should have covered it at the time, then that's a different story.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think you're going to find very many answers that you'll like. You might call the hospital administrator's office and see if they'll settle for less if your in a money-bind, just get it in writing.

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[Whiskeyboi 0]

The Fair Credit Reporting Act sort of dictates a lot with debt collection/reporting.

Most states have a not-for-profit agency you can call or e-mail with questions like this...(not the sketchy places with TV commercials...)

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/031224fcra.pdf

[d_squared431 0]

There is a limit to billing the insurance company and that is a year. After an insurance company denies payment then I believe the medical facility has up to another year to bill the patient. If the patient has not been contacted due to moving change of name etc, The medical facility can turn it over to collections for them to track down and then collect from the patient. Was it a collection notice from a out soursed company or an actual bill from the place where you had surgery? That can make a difference.

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[Conundrum 1]

Quote

There is a limit to billing the insurance company and that is a year. After an insurance company denies payment then I believe the medical facility has up to another year to bill the patient. If the patient has not been contacted due to moving change of name etc, The medical facility can turn it over to collections for them to track down and then collect from the patient. Was it a collection notice from a out soursed company or an actual bill from the place where you had surgery? That can make a difference.

The bill is from the place where the procedure was done.

[Lindsey 0]

I'd be pissed too if I got a bill that late. BUT, I rarely get a bill for anything medical because as soon as I see what my insurance pays and what is allowed and what is left over for me, I PAY....before I ever get a bill. There's a lot of paperwork floating around where medical services are involved. What's gonna be due out of pocket is no mystery. Why'd you let it go 2.5 years yourself????

linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[Conundrum 1]

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What's gonna be due out of pocket is no mystery. Why'd you let it go 2.5 years yourself????

linz

I can't even begin to explain how many different bills we got from different doctors, facilities, different bills fom the same place, etc. It was very frustrating and sometimes confusing. We paid thousands in bills that weren't covered by my (shitty) insurance at the time. It's not like I was trying to cheat them out of money. I honestly think we've paid this particular bill but I could be wrong. Sending a bill 2.5 years later is silly and I'm a bit frustrated about it.

[LisaH 0]

The same thing happened to me last year. I got a bill for over $6,000 for a surgery I had in '03.

When I called they said the hospital changed billing hands and they were cleaning up loose insurance ends and that my insurance company didn't bill me for everything.

I said, that's not my problem, I'm not paying it. They reduced it to $300. After they proved to me it was legit.

Be yourself!
MooOOooOoo

[kbordson 8]

The system sucks.


I was trying to find a letter that I wrote to KU back in 2005 when I had a slight problem with endocarditis.

Billing REALLY screwed up. Luckily, I knew enough to track it and pursue them to pay the bills.... but it could have been really bad.

I got the bills from the physician group, the radiology department and the cardiology group... but never from the hospital itself. I gave them three months and then went down to billing myself. They had the wrong address... and blamed it on me. I corrected the address and then pointed out that the other bills made it through. "Submit it to insurance, then bill me and I will pay." Next month went by... went down again and they SOMEHOW had the wrong address AGAIN. Corrected that a second time. "Once it clears insurance and you bill me and I will pay." Next month I went down and heard: "we sent it to collections." WHAT! "Well. We didn't have a valid address...." I then went to the top of the department (and probably should have gone to the hospital administrator). VERY pointed letter about how I was treated - Specifically stating dates, and names of my attempts to correct the problems... and my concerns regarding my patients that might be seen at that hospital - mentioning that most of my patients are NOT physicians and do NOT know the whole billing situation and many do NOT speak English. If I had that much problem, what can my patients expect.

Hopefully corrections were made in customer relations in the billing department.... but sadly.... I doubt it.

[Lindsey 0]

Sending a bill 2.5 years later is silly and I'm a bit frustrated about it.

I would have been too. :/

linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[d_squared431 0]

I received a bill from my ortho office. Now get this...
I was being told that my insurance was not effective until july 08. The same office got auth for my last knee surgery(13th of May) and i was being billed for the post op visit one week after the knee surgery. I had to fax several things to the ortho office to prove i had insurance and that i was covered for 6 post op visit with no copay. Just glad I kept all the letters of auths from my insurance company.

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[jdthomas 0]

since they can't charge you intrest just send them 20$ a month for the remander of your bill. I was more then once strapped for cash back inthe day and had bad insurance that paid little for my medical bills ( I worked for a hospital) so i had to drag payments out to the best of my ability, my co-worker and person who would have to call me for my bill told me the bills are intrest free and as long as I was paying something each month the hospital can't do much about it or cares.
Joe

www.greenboxphotography.com

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

Quote

The same thing happened to me last year. I got a bill for over $6,000 for a surgery I had in '03.

When I called they said the hospital changed billing hands and they were cleaning up loose insurance ends and that my insurance company didn't bill me for everything.

I said, that's not my problem, I'm not paying it. They reduced it to $300. After they proved to me it was legit.

I ran into the same issue about a year a go, but the hospital sold the charge off to a collection agency. Each time I've warned them of reporting them, they sell it off to another company and restart the process. I already pay too much on a yearly basis for shitty medical coverage, I'm not going to pay more for their billing mistakes. Medial insurance is just awful.

edit to add: Along the same lines, I am getting letters from a law firm claiming I have $200 in unpaid parking fines from early this year. Interesting enough that I haven't had a car for nearly a year.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[tigra 0]

I had something very similar happen to me a few years ago and I contacted the insurance company. They told me there was a statute (maybe 6 months?) and after that it was up to the provider to prove they had made an effort to collect the debt- either billed me or billed the insurance company. I called the provider back with that information plus the insurance company's info and never heard another word about it, and there was never the slightest ding on my credit, either. The bill should have been 100% covered through my insurance anyway and I wasn't about to pay a dime of it but I am glad I didn't really have to put up much of a fight.

Sometimes these places are just "housecleaning" - sending out bills they know they no longer have a legal right to collect on and hoping someone will just pay them without questioning them.

[lawrocket 3]

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Is there any type of limitaion for medical facilities trying to collect after a certain period of time?

Yes. Four years. California Code of Civil Procedure section 337.

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Should I fight this bill?

I wouldn't if I were you. They have the right to collect it, and if they take it to court, they'll win, and stick you with another few thousand in fees and costs.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Conundrum 1]

See, I knew I could have just sent you a PM.

[ryoder 1,572]

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Sometimes these places are just "housecleaning" - sending out bills they know they no longer have a legal right to collect on and hoping someone will just pay them without questioning them.

I used to work in a hospital and knew the head of the purchasing dept quite well. He told me many of the distributors from which the hospital bought it's medical supplies did this crap all the time, hoping the hospital would blindly pay a duplicated bill which had already been paid.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[lawrocket 3]

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See, I knew I could have just sent you a PM.

But then others wouldn't know it.

p.s. - my statement applies only in California.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[LisaH 0]

Quote

since they can't charge you intrest just send them 20$ a month for the remander of your bill. I was more then once strapped for cash back inthe day and had bad insurance that paid little for my medical bills ( I worked for a hospital) so i had to drag payments out to the best of my ability, my co-worker and person who would have to call me for my bill told me the bills are intrest free and as long as I was paying something each month the hospital can't do much about it or cares.
Joe

I've been paying $10/month. As long as you are paying something, they can't do shit.

Be yourself!
MooOOooOoo

[StreetScooby 5]

In New York State, the hospital has 6 months to bill the insurance company. If they don't, then the insurance company isn't obliged to pay, nor is the person being insured. I know this from personal experience.

Likewise, you can send a certified letter back to them asking "To which insurance company did you originally submit the bill". They don't get back to you...

We are all engines of karma

[billeisele 130]

i'm likewise confused about medical billing

was hospitalized in January, received and paid doctor and other bills but have not received a hospital bill

had surgery in same hospital in February - all bills received and paid

i've got the funds if they ever send a bill, just don't think it is my responsibility to call them and ask for one

Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

[kbordson 8]

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i've got the funds if they ever send a bill, just don't think it is my responsibility to call them and ask for one

I figured that I received a service. I should pay. Likewise, I hope that my patients are as honorable. Hopefully my office billing will never be as messed up. But... part of the problem here is people not taking responsibility for their debts and trying to get out of bills... which is why we have billing departements and collection services.

[tigra 0]

Honestly, I had a HUGE problem with one insurance company not paying my bills in a timely manner when I broke my leg 10 years ago. I made all of my required co-payments, but if the bills aren't worded just so, some clerk will stamp it as "unapproved" and not pay it. I learned from that experience and the next time I stayed 100% on top of the insurance company and made sure everything got paid.

[Bertt 0]

Sometimes I wonder about hospital business offices. Looks like your question has been answered, so I'll throw in a little humor. Several years ago, I got a bill for an ER visit for 242.06. I wrote a check for
"two hundred forty two and 06/100 dollars". When the bank cashed it, they mistook 06 for 00 and paid 242 exactly. The hospital billed me for 6 cents. I sent them the cancelled check to show I had written the check correctly and told them to take it up with the bank. They sent me another bill and threatened collection proceedings. I sent a letter back asking them how many 34 cent stamps they were going to use to try to collect 6 cents. Never heard another word from them.

You don't have to outrun the bear.

[StreetScooby 5]

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I figured that I received a service. I should pay.

Paying a fair rate is fine. Don't charge me 10 times what you charge the person laying next to me, and expect me to pay.

We are all engines of karma