Medical bills being sent to collections

[batgirl]

Hello all. I have a question about medical bills and collections.

I already am in debt with credit cards and student loans. Last year I had an accident which required an ambulance and a trip to the emergency room. I work full time and pay for health insurance though my employer, so I thought part of the cost would be paid for by my insurance.

It turns out, the whole ordeal cost about $800 and my insurance applied it to my deductible (which is 2500 per year) and didn't cover any of it. I talked with the hospital and they said they could lower the bill. Unfortunately when they tried, because my insurance already "claimed" it, there was nothing they could do unless my insurance "unclaimed" it. I am not an expert on health insurance so I have no idea how true this is or how it works. But if what they are saying is true, essentially my own health insurance screwed me over and now I'm stuck with the $800 bill. My insurance company refused to unclaim it.

Any suggestions on what to do? They will eventually send it to collections I assume. If I could get this lowered to even $500 or so I could probably convince my parents to pay for it for me. I don't really ask them for money but if I explained I got it lowered, it was an emergency, it's only $500 blah blah I think they might pity me and pay for it.

Right now because I am in so much other debt I can't afford to pay anything even in monthly payments. I already got a second job and cut back my expenses for my credit card and student loan debt.

If it does go to collections, what happens next? What if I don't pay?

[snafu]

Your medical plan has an annual $ 2,500. deductible so they will not pay of your behalf until you have amassed more than $ 2,500 of medical costs each year. Therefore you are responsible for the $800. bill. If the hospital sends it to collection it will show up on your credit report as a negative and has potential to bring down your credit score and damage your credit record. A very worst scenario occurs when employers check credit records before approving staff promotions or those who check before selecting the candidate they hire. Last I saw these negative points stay on your record for seven years.

[Wino]

I think you should approach your parents for the entire amount if you cannot get it negotiated down. If my daughter were to come to me with an accounting of her debt, her plans to pay it down, evidence that she had taken concrete steps to adhere to a plan, and some progress toward the goal of the plan, I would lend her the money.

Prepare a presentation of sorts for them. The clauses above would be a good starting point. I would suggest you state up front that you need some temporary financial help. I would then present the plans from above, and conclude it with the fact that the medical bill is both an extraordinary circumstance as well as pre-dating your plan to become more financially mature. Stress again that it is temporary, and give them a timeline when you could reasonably begin to pay them back.

Parents are strange. We want what is best for our children. Be honest, sincere, and organized, and I would be surprised if your parents did not come through with the money.

[batgirl]

Thanks for the replies. Before I approach my parents with a payment plan, is there any way I can get this lowered with the hospital or insurance company? The smaller the amount the more likely they are to help me.

[creditcardfree]

We here can't guarantee that you can get it lowered. The hospital is the likely choice to lower the balance owed, but I would ask them both. Worse case is they say no, best case is they give you a discount off. I think they would be more likely to lower the balance owed if you were willing to send in full payment right away.

[disneysteve]

You need to talk to the hospital again. They absolutely can discount that charge. First, get an itemized bill and review it in detail. Make sure it is correct. A high percentage of bills contain errors. If you don't understand anything, make them explain it to you.

Then just go in and ask if they can discount the bill. If the first person says no, ask to speak to a supervisor. Hospital bill amounts are pure fantasy. They have no relationship whatsoever to the actual cost of providing the services in question.

The last time my wife had surgery, I called about the balance we were responsible for. Without me even asking, they offered a 30% discount if I paid in full.

[batgirl]

So is what they told me "we would normally be able to lower it for you but now we can't because your health insurance applied it to the deductible already" just crap then? This is what they told me over the phone.

How much of a discount do you think I can ask for? They didn't do anything complicated or extensive. Turns out nothing was wrong with me.

[disneysteve]

So is what they told me "we would normally be able to lower it for you but now we can't because your health insurance applied it to the deductible already" just crap then? This is what they told me over the phone.

How much of a discount do you think I can ask for? They didn't do anything complicated or extensive. Turns out nothing was wrong with me.

I'd venture to say that yes, it is crap. They didn't get paid by the insurance company so I'm not really sure why it would matter unless there is some weird state insurance rule (which is always possible) but good luck getting an intelligent being at the insurance company to answer that question for you.

I'd see nothing wrong with offering to pay 50% of the bill. Let them negotiate from there.

To defend the hospital for a moment, the fact that they didn't find anything wrong is irrelevant. They could have done hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of a work up and found nothing. That doesn't negate the value of the work up.

[batgirl]

I'd venture to say that yes, it is crap. They didn't get paid by the insurance company so I'm not really sure why it would matter unless there is some weird state insurance rule (which is always possible) but good luck getting an intelligent being at the insurance company to answer that question for you.

I'd see nothing wrong with offering to pay 50% of the bill. Let them negotiate from there.

To defend the hospital for a moment, the fact that they didn't find anything wrong is irrelevant. They could have done hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of a work up and found nothing. That doesn't negate the value of the work up.

Yes, that last part is true. The work was still done. But I would feel extra terrible if they did some crazy operations on me and I'm like... hey give me 50% off?

I talked to the hospital over the phone, and they gave me that line blaming my insurance. Then I talked to my insurance and they said no, because it was already applied to my high deductible.

I'll just have to show up in person I guess. With some cash or a check to make it seem like a better deal.

Thanks for the advice.

[SeanH]

Whatever you agree to pay in the end (hopefully significantly less than the original "quote") - ensure that the amount you are paying is the complete, total, final, and last bill. Get it in writing.

[batgirl]

It got sent to collections. I got an automated voice message saying I owed money.

What to do now? Can I still negotiate with the hospital? How will this affect my credit score? What can I do go remedy this situation?

I think I could come up with maybe $500 cash at the most by myself. Yes, I could ask my parents but the more I think about it the more I don't want to. We don't really have that kind of relationship.

[batgirl]

I checked my health insurance and it looks like that I get a 'discount' from my health insurance from the hospital.

It was less than $100. I think I could have negotiated a better price if my insurance wasn't involved. Apparently there is some kind of law that the hospital cannot change the price once it is claimed because of these 'discounts' that are given by insurance.

Maybe I can go to the hospital and ask them to re-file with a lower price if I offer a lump sum? Some of my other doctors have re-filed with insurance before (for errors).

[Like2Plan]

I checked my health insurance and it looks like that I get a 'discount' from my health insurance from the hospital.

It was less than $100. I think I could have negotiated a better price if my insurance wasn't involved. Apparently there is some kind of law that the hospital cannot change the price once it is claimed because of these 'discounts' that are given by insurance.

Maybe I can go to the hospital and ask them to re-file with a lower price if I offer a lump sum? Some of my other doctors have re-filed with insurance before (for errors).

batgirl,
I think Disneysteve's advice to go over the bill to make sure there are no errors is sound advice.
Maybe your insurance works differently than mine, but the way mine works is if I go to a participating provider--my insurance and the provider have already negotiated a discounted rate and there is no more negotiation. The provider is not allowed to lower the rate so as not to collect the copay. They can't lower the negotiated amount to get around the deductible amounts, either.
If I go to a non-participating provider, the insurance will only pay a % of what they consider usual and customary. (They will only credit the usual and customary amounts to the deductible amount, too.). A non-participating provider always costs me more.
I don't know if it is too late, but it would probably be better if you can get your parents to loan you the $$ instead of getting your credit rating futher trashed over $800.00.

[Gailete]

I think what everyone is missing is the fact that this happened LAST year which means this is an ongoing bill and has been for a while. Her insurance did what it was supposed to, now it is her turn to pay the deductible. Even if she had already met her deductible if the insurance found that the ambulance was not a necessity for the illness, the insurance company could have denied that part of the bill.

Anyhow, the time for her to have talked with the hospital/insurance was months ago when she got the first inkling that the insurance wasn't going to cover the bill (one of the many reasons to read and understand your health insurance and know what you might be liable for).

I would suspect that any time over the last few months if she had gone into the hospital with a $400 in cash in hand and asked if they would take that as payment in full, the hospital would have said yes. At this point they have turned it over to collections and the hospital, I doubt, is going to bother with it anymore. They have I'm sure sent 3-4, minimum, bills that were ignored, now they aren't going to bother anymore with it. So it is in collections hands. What satisfaction she can get with them I don't know. Perhaps if she can promise payments of $15-20 monthly they will accept that as a good faith effort on her part to pay this off. I've kept medical bills from my husbands non-insured hospital stay last year, out of collections hands by paying one $15 and the other $25 a month and some months it was hard to come up with those amounts. These places don't want to send things to collections, they want their money. Both discounted our bills when we provided paperwork to show our low income, and they don't call us about the bills, but I am sure to send it in monthly.

I realize that this didn't include advice for Batgirl other than this. When you get a bill you can't pay deal with it then, don't ignore it for months and then panic when it is about to be sent to collections. Usually by then it is too late to do a thing. Call immediately and start to negotiate.