# Doctor says I still owe money



## debodun (Oct 23, 2022)

I received a bill in the mail last week for a hospital procedure. I immediately sent them a check. Yesterday I received another bill for the same thing. I called my bank's automated teller and found the check hasn't cleared. Why did they send another bill so soon (within a week)?

I got into a sililar situation with a doctor a few years ago. They kept sending me a bill for the same visit. This went on for months and the check hadn't cleared. I thought it had been lost in the mail, so I sent another check - then they cashed both. I asked to be refunded for the double payment, but they only sent a portion.


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## Tabby Ann (Oct 23, 2022)

Medical billing has become as shabby, illogical, inefficient, unprofessional and impersonal as the rest of medical care in the U.S.


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## Remy (Oct 23, 2022)

What the actual... Seriously, that's a major rip off. Pay nothing until you talk to them and have any previous checks stopped. I'd have fought that and turned them in. Where and with whom is the question. Don't let it happen to you again. I'm sorry it did.


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## Judycat (Oct 23, 2022)

Yeah my doc is willy-nilly about sending bills, but when the next office visit rolls around I better be ready to pay any outstanding balance on the spot.


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## NorthernLight (Oct 23, 2022)

Well, if you pay at your next visit, at least you know they got the money. And you can get a receipt.


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## Kaila (Oct 23, 2022)

I find this same thing as in the OP,  to be confusing or stressful, sometimes.
I often receive multiple repeated (and insistent) billings for the same visit day or procedure.

Sometimes they truly are repeats, and other times, they are for some other aspect of the same procedure.

I know that I have to save every single thing, and each piece of mail, and review every one of them, to see if I have already paid, whatever I am being told to pay right now.
I don't pay till I am sure.

Sometimes it is helpful to tell them I will not pay till I get the Medicare Statement (Explanation) of charges, benefits, and payments, from Medicare, which also indicates how much I am allowed to be billed.

It means they have to wait, but it usually is not a long delay before I get that in the mail.  Then, It's another paper I have to study carefully, but is usually more clear than the bills were.
It is usually only about 1 week later.


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## Alligatorob (Oct 23, 2022)

Ask for clarification and written documentation before you pay any more.  They may well be in the wrong.


Tabby Ann said:


> Medical billing has become as shabby, illogical, inefficient, unprofessional and impersonal as the rest of medical care in the U.S.


On the billing side for sure!  I have done alright with the provider side, and am glad that Medicare and AARP pay most of my bills, I would not want to try and sort them out.  So long as they show I owe little or nothing I just toss em unread.


NorthernLight said:


> if you pay at your next visit, at least you know they got the money. And you can get a receipt.


That is a good idea, if you can do it.  Of late when I go to the doctor they seem to have no idea as to how much if anything I owe and just say you'll get a bill if you owe  us anything...


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## HoneyNut (Oct 23, 2022)

debodun said:


> I received a bill in the mail last week for a hospital procedure. I immediately sent them a check. Yesterday I received another bill for the same thing. I called my bank's automated teller and found the check hasn't cleared. Why did they send another bill so soon (within a week)?


That happened to me once and I thought it was just the billing office being impatient so I only paid the first bill, but eventually (when they were threatening to send it to collections or something) I called them and it turned out that for the same appointment on the same day there was a bill for having an xray and the same size bill for someone to read the xray.  Sheesh.


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## Gary O' (Oct 23, 2022)

I usually get the bill *after *Medicare tells me what I owe
I think they wait for that too

Never seems an issue....yet


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## Lara (Oct 23, 2022)

I know this thread is just about billing errors but just a side note for those who don't know this, to ease your mind...it's illegal for medical bills to go on your credit report...ever. They can hound you with reminders via phone or mail but no longer can it appear on your credit report nor hurt your credit score. 

I'm not suggesting for anyone to take advantage of that by not paying what you owe but just don't worry if the charge is incorrect and isn't resolved right away. Also for legitimate charges you can go on a payment plan and pay any amount you choose each month and then they won't hound you anymore. After 7 years charges are dropped unless that's been changed.


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## DaveA (Oct 23, 2022)

Usually pay my co-pay when I go for a visit, as does my wife. They're only 10 bucks and once in awhile they've also sent a bill for the 10 and I forget which visit it was (between the both of us)?  I send along a check and a few times I've received a return check due to them catching the error.  When I do check more closely I find that I've yet to be "short-changed".


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## Knight (Oct 23, 2022)

Another reason I like our Medicare Advantage plan, no billing for Doctor visits. Primary care doctor & specialist are no copay. We do get a statement showing how much our plan pays for a doctor visit.


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## jimintoronto (Oct 24, 2022)

Sitting here reading this, and smiling in Toronto. JimB.


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## Liberty (Oct 24, 2022)

If you ignore them they usually get it figured out and they go away...lol.


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## debodun (Oct 24, 2022)

I called first thing this morning. It isn't the hospital billing directly, it's a service they hire that's in Cleveland Ohio. The agent said something about "billing cycles" (I thought, "More like bilking cycles."), and if I had sent them a check last week, it probably hadn't been processed in their system yet. They sent bills out every week on unpaid balances and if I receive one again to ignore it. If a month goes by and I still get invoices, to call them again.


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## Kaila (Oct 24, 2022)

debodun said:


> if I had sent them a check last week, it probably hadn't been processed in their system yet. They sent bills out every week on unpaid balances


Every week is too often, in my opinion!
Especially since they know, that even if the person mailed it back with full payment, the very next day, and even if the mail worked great; 
it wouldn't be entered into their system before the next bill gets generated by their system and sent out to the patient.


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## Kaila (Oct 24, 2022)

People with certain insurances and Part C coverage, can and do pay their pre-determined small co-payments, if there is one, at the appointment day.
As some people stated in their posts on this thread, above.

But those who have Traditional Medicare, or other coverages, do not pay the copay on the date of the visit.
Medicare is billed first, by the doctor office or all medical providers, and determines what they are paying, and how much or little is then allowed to be billed to the patient.
If the doctor office or other provider,  generates and sends out a bill to the patient, before that, then it is not the correct patient balance and should not be paid, till Medicare takes their action, which does not take long.


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## debodun (Oct 24, 2022)

The day I went for the surgery, the hospital agent asked for the co-pay then and there. In my pre-op instructions, it says not to bring money, credit cards or other valuables. I said for them to send me a bill, but it seems they like to do it by credit card or electronic transfer of funds. I started getting reminders in their patient portal to pay by providing my bank account info. I kept replying for them to snail mail be the bill and I would send the check for the amount because I don't like giving out my bank info online. Even that took a few weeks to sink in.


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## Remy (Oct 24, 2022)

debodun said:


> The day I went for the surgery, the hospital agent asked for the co-pay then and there. In my pre-op instructions, it says not to bring money, credit cards or other valuables.


That's like being in an alternate reality. Nothing makes sense.


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## debodun (Oct 24, 2022)




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## terry123 (Oct 24, 2022)

Knight said:


> Another reason I like our Medicare Advantage plan, no billing for Doctor visits. Primary care doctor & specialist are no copay. We do get a statement showing how much our plan pays for a doctor visit.


me too!


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