Hospital Submitted Medical Bill to the Wrong Company
by Sasha
(Florida)
I got radiology done in January 2007. I had an insurance and paid my co-payment then. I suddenly got a call from collection agency claiming I had a unpaid debt in October 2010. It turns out the hospital sent a claim to my insurance company. the insurance company never responded to them for 4 years with no reason. so they turned my account over to collection. after I got a call from collection, I contacted the insurance company, they said they had no claims on file. I think this is mis-communication problem. the hospital sent a claim more than 20 times and never got a payment. I contacted hospital and they were so mad about insurance company asking insurance company to call them. so I called the insurance company to ask for calling hospital, they said no. after several phone calls, I figured out that the hospital sent a claim to a wrong company. because insurance company had a partner sharing the same claim address. and according to insurance company's rule, they do not process a claim after 90 days after the date of service. so the insurance company did not process the claim without the proof that hospital initially filed a claim within 90 days after the date of service.
meanwhile, I keep getting a call from collection. I tried to talk to them first but now I ignored their calls since they threatened and treated me like a criminal. thing is I do not have a SSN. but my husband was a policy holder of my insurance. would it hurt my husband's credit report? can I keep ignoring collection calls? I am so stressed out about this issue. I kept the all records of phone calls between me, hospital and insurance company in order to prove I am trying to solve this problem. this insurance company said they would get over the claim when the hospital fax a claim to them. but it seems that the hospital determined to get money from me via collection. this is so frustrating. please help me.