Hospital billing for a service 4 years after the service

by Cheri
(Meridian, MS)

I just received a collection letter from a 3rd party service for a bill from Rush Hospital for services in 2008. I was never billed for these services prior to this.
Rush hospital could not tell me what the services were for at first then later they noted it was for co pays and non covered physical therapy services.

Can they bill me for this 4 years after the fact?
I pay them regularly for my accounts and my husbands accounts, this was the first time I saw this bill?

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Apr 28, 2012
 update
by: Anonymous

I called them again, and inquired, they wrote it off and retracted it from the collection agency.
Apr 28, 2012
 Hospital billing for a service 4 years after the service
by: Debtcollectionanswers.com

Yes, Cheri. The hospital is legally entitled to turn your past due debt over to a collection agency for the services it provided to you 4 years ago. Time does not change the fact that you have not paid for them yet.

What the hospital cannot do however is sue you for the money because the statute of limitations (SOL) on medical debt in Mississippi is 3 years. The SOL on a debt is the period of time during which a creditor can sue a consumer for an unpaid debt. However once the SOL on a debt has expired, the creditor (or collector) can continue trying to collect the debt through phone calls and letters.

If you do not believe that the debt that has been sent to collections is yours -- that you are being billed for services you never received -- write the collector a letter asking for verification of the debt. Make a copy of the letter for your files and send the letter to the collector via certified mail with a return receipt requested. If the explanation you receive from the collector is unclear, write another letter asking for more detail.

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