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I’m fit to be tied! It’s no wonder folks go plum loco and do irrational things. Three months ago I had blood work drawn at the laboratory for the hospital that we go to. As it turned out Medicare would only cover six of the nine tests included in the doctors orders but somewhere along the line the system broke down and the cross-over between Medicare and my secondary insurance didn’t happen. As a result I ended up with a bill from the hospital.
Immediately upon receiving the bill I called up to inquire why I had received it and was told that my insurance wouldn’t cover the cost so it was my responsibility. I took their explanation at face value until I called my insurance company and was told that they had never received anything from the Hospital and that as soon as they did they would be happy to pay for the tests in question.
From there the story does nothing but go down hill. For over three months myself and my insurance company repeatedly wrote and called the Hospital and requested the Medicare paperwork showing that the tests had been denied but for three months the Hospital either ignored the requests and/or flat out lied about their existence.
Last month the Hospital put my account into collections and things really got serious because first off we’ve never in our lives had an account in collections, and secondly, we got perfect credit and intend to keep it that way. Fortunately, I was able to talk my insurance company into accepting the Medicare summary that Medicare sends Medicare recipients each quarter in lieu of the paper work that the Hospital should have provided and they paid the bill based on the information contained within it.
I have since called both the collection agency and the Hospital and determined that I have a zero balance. However, they have yet to respond to my letters requesting notification that closure of my account has not affected my credit rating and nothing was sent on to the credit bureaus. But then they have yet to respond to any of my correspondence during this entire fiasco so why should they bother worrying about my credit rating?
Now for the clincher! This morning, one and a half months after my account was placed into collections and turned over to the collections agency and over two weeks after the insurance made final payment on the amount owed, I received in the mail a bill for the entire amount from the Hospital.
I immediately called the Hospital and was told that I had a zero balance and that something must have gotten crossed in the mail. I questioned the billing date in relation to the payment date by the insurance company and basically was told that I didn't know what I was talking about. When I asked why was I being billed again by the hospital, the representative again couldn’t provide me with an answer so I asked for a supervisor. I was put on hold….. I’m still waiting!!!!!!!!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Immediately upon receiving the bill I called up to inquire why I had received it and was told that my insurance wouldn’t cover the cost so it was my responsibility. I took their explanation at face value until I called my insurance company and was told that they had never received anything from the Hospital and that as soon as they did they would be happy to pay for the tests in question.
From there the story does nothing but go down hill. For over three months myself and my insurance company repeatedly wrote and called the Hospital and requested the Medicare paperwork showing that the tests had been denied but for three months the Hospital either ignored the requests and/or flat out lied about their existence.
Last month the Hospital put my account into collections and things really got serious because first off we’ve never in our lives had an account in collections, and secondly, we got perfect credit and intend to keep it that way. Fortunately, I was able to talk my insurance company into accepting the Medicare summary that Medicare sends Medicare recipients each quarter in lieu of the paper work that the Hospital should have provided and they paid the bill based on the information contained within it.
I have since called both the collection agency and the Hospital and determined that I have a zero balance. However, they have yet to respond to my letters requesting notification that closure of my account has not affected my credit rating and nothing was sent on to the credit bureaus. But then they have yet to respond to any of my correspondence during this entire fiasco so why should they bother worrying about my credit rating?
Now for the clincher! This morning, one and a half months after my account was placed into collections and turned over to the collections agency and over two weeks after the insurance made final payment on the amount owed, I received in the mail a bill for the entire amount from the Hospital.
I immediately called the Hospital and was told that I had a zero balance and that something must have gotten crossed in the mail. I questioned the billing date in relation to the payment date by the insurance company and basically was told that I didn't know what I was talking about. When I asked why was I being billed again by the hospital, the representative again couldn’t provide me with an answer so I asked for a supervisor. I was put on hold….. I’m still waiting!!!!!!!!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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