Joined a couple FB 6.5 groups

[jrsavoie]

Yup. All too easy to work out a plan with the provider as Doctors really do not want to put an account out for collection. But some people are just stubborn, too smart for the rest of us, will fight anything, and act like it is somebody else's fault, so the medical provider esentally gets forced into going the collections route.

Worst case is to go bankrupt and then the taxpayers eat it when the provider writes-off the bad debt against income. Actually, going bankrupt is not necessary as at some point the provider has the choice of writing-off the debt and taxpayers eat it. But of course, we don't want to let that Socialism trick out of the bag, right So the providers tend to go the collections route as this usually gets some recovery, and it is a lot less effort than justifying a ton of write-offs should the IRS show up.

I once got turned into collections before they billed me or the insurance.

It was 3 years after service. I didn't even remember going to a facility in Peoria by then. I called and asked for details and they had to get back to me. The insurance said it was too late for them to pay anything. They eventually wrote it off. At the time, I would have had no copay had they billed anybody.

Most of our debt is related to income loss. The bills keep coming even when the income isn't.

 

[MrMarty51]

I once got turned into collections before they billed me or the insurance.

It was 3 years after service. I didn't even remember going to a facility in Peoria by then. I called and asked for details and they had to get back to me. The insurance said it was too late for them to pay anything. They eventually wrote it off. At the time, I would have had no copay had they billed anybody.

Most of our debt is related to income loss. The bills keep coming even when the income isn't.

And those situations really do hurt. I been there before. Crap stacks and no place to turn to.

 

[JayTheCPA]

I once got turned into collections before they billed me or the insurance.

It was 3 years after service. I didn't even remember going to a facility in Peoria by then.

If it was three full years, probably could have simply told them to go away (via certified letter) as it is likely that the applicable statute of limitations had run-out (would need to verify with a locally licensed attorney though ).

Have seen similar scenarios, but they are rarity legitimate. More commonly it is either an outright scam by some collector who managed to get their hands on a list, or an attempt to collect when the provider screwed-up and let the statute of limitations date pass. These cases are easier to resolve by demanding original documentation in order to proceed. If the collector is able to provide original verifiable documentation, and it is within the statute of limitations (from when the billing process first stated), then the individual has to pay; if not, it can get interesting for the collector.


Friend of mine suddenly started to get collection calls and letters from some attorney's office many States away for medical service allegedly provided years prior from a Doctor's office that my friend actually knew. In this case, a short well worded letter sent by certified mail put an end to it where the only costs were postage and time. But had the attorney come back with legitimate proof of the debt, then my friend would've had to pay.