I could SCREAM!

flybygrace · **I could SCREAM!**

So I'm having a great Monday morning; should have known something was gonna throw my good day into the crapper. I get a phone call from a collections office (which is enough to infuriate me) and it's regarding a hospital bill for my son from March. Quick review of what happened: His insurance coverage was dropped b'c I didn't receive any notification I needed to renew it. He incurred two hospital bills (both from the same visit) and a doctor's bill, as well as some pharmaceutical costs - all during the lapse in coverage (I didn't know they weren't covered until I went to the pharmacy after going to the hospital/doctor's office, and tried to get medicine for him). Anyway, I called the insurance company and they said they would reinstate his insurance on the day it lapsed and retro-cover the bills that were incurred, but that I had to start a new policy for him - I couldn't have the old policy just continued. So I had to go to the assistance office and go through the application for Medical Assistance, and then once we were denied had to apply for CHIP, and then they took copies of the bills incurred during the insurance lapse to submit to the ins. company for retro-coverage. (Still following me?) A month or two later I get a phone call about one of the medical bills, saying I needed to pay up or it'd go to collections. I had to call the insurance company and they told me the assistance office never sent the bills to them, and could I fax them. Sure thing. Faxed them later that day. That was in, like, early June maybe? I haven't thought anything of it b'c I haven't heard anything or got anything in the mail. Then, suddenly, this morning I get a phone call from the same people that called me in June, saying that I needed to pay up - that it was in collections now (which means it's going to affect our credit report!!!!! ) and she was all snotty to me and acting like I had just blown her off and used some dumb excuse last time. Um, no. I thought it was taken care of. So I call the insurance company to get proof that they have record of the bills being submitted for retro-coverage. Nothing. They don't have any record of any bills. I faxed her 3 bills - two hospital and one doctor's office. If that wasn't irritating enough, the insurance rep said that I had to call the collections rep and tell them the insurance info so that they could send a claim to the insurance company and it'd be taken care of. Sure, in two months. You can bet your bippy I'm calling Tiffany (collections chick) back next week to make sure she's sent the claim, and then I'm calling the insurance company the following week day after day to make sure they get the claim and process it. This is so infuriating!!! It's going to affect our credit and we just fixed it and have been working to build it up. Now I have to spend my afternoon waiting for a call-back from the second hospital bill incurred to check on the status of it (probably pending a transfer to collections) and the doctor's bill b'c I'm paranoid and want everything to be covered like I thought it had been for half a year. You know, you trust that other people are doing their job, but I guess I have to be on their backs like a leech to make sure that things get done b'c it doesn't affect them, but it surely does affect us! ... sorry, I had to vent b'c I don't want to be boiling inside all day.... UGH!

tiffanyj · 10-22-2007, 01:53 PM

I am so sorry, what a pain. Just so you know, insurance companies are notorious for saying they never received claims. I have worked in billing at a doctors office and as a collections agent and I got sooooo sick of them saying, "oh we never received that". Even more annoying is when you send if 3, 4, 5 times and they still don't get it. Is there a black hole that all the claims go into or something? Anyway, just a bit of advice to everyone: never trust that the insurance company will do their job. I hope you are able to get this worked out soon.

tiffanyj · 10-22-2007, 01:58 PM

Whooaa, I don't know why my response posted 3 times. Wierd, sorry about that.

BabeInTheMoon · 10-22-2007, 04:04 PM

I know your blood is boiling right now!!! How are these claims being submitted?? By mail or fax? If they are being faxed over, then call Tiffany each day until she says she has faxed the information. Then each day after that call insurance first.. to make sure they got your paperwork... if not, call Tiffany to have her fax another copy of the claim with "2nd fax" (or 3rd...ect for following days).

If it is being mailed.. maybe you can ask Tiffany to mail you an exact copy of what the insurance is getting.. that way you can have an idea as to when to start calling every day.

Good luck and keep us posted!

susanaz · 10-24-2007, 10:41 PM

Ugh! I am feeling frustrated just reading your post!!! Why don't you call your attorney general's office or the department of insurance and report them? I am SERIOUS. This is is awful and is going to put a ding in your credit. If you don't do something drastic you will not get any resolution. You have to force them to take it off your credit or they will just blow you off. Good luck honey!!!!

MissLucie · 10-24-2007, 10:48 PM

Collector calls are the worst!
I've had a couple hospital bills in collection because we had a really crappy ins plan before. I had them put me in an installment pay plan and even while doing this, we got the loan approved for our home. Allegedly, the mortgage lender told me that medical bills don't affect your credit score as much as a cc, cell phone or another type of debt incurred. I kept on paying installments and I received a call later on in the year asking me if I wanted a settlement. They cut down the debt by 45% and I'm debt free now

Don't worry, it'll be fixed sooner than later.

MontseinIL · 10-26-2007, 09:09 PM

I'll tell you what, my experience as a legal secretary for a personal injury taught me the same that MissLucie said. They can threaten all they want, medical bills are not the same as other bills. I have always paid a little at a time on large bills (we have crappy insurance) and the one time they tried calling me and threatened to send it to collection if I didn't pay the bill in full I put the girl in her place. Just some advice for the future... Even if you have a big medical bill as long as you pay something, even if it's only $10/month...they CAN'T send it to collection. The bill collectors know this and so do the billing offices for doctors, hopitals, etc. They just use scare tactics to try to get the bill paid faster.

I hope everything works out for you.