Seeking advice about what to do to resolve outstanding debt from a medical provider.
I am a 74-year-old healthy male and have traditional Medicare with Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa for supplemental medical insurance. I decided to get a full body skin exam at a nearby dermatology group. I was accepted as a new patient and scheduled an appointment with a nurse practitioner. The exam was routine, and I was treated with cold freezes in a handful of spots. The exam didn’t take long, maybe 15-20 minutes.
A couple of months later I received a bill for $876.63. Surprised at the size of the bill, I checked for claims filed with my insurance and found that claims had been submitted to Wellmark but not Medicare, and that Wellmark had denied the claims due to incomplete Medicare information.
The billing department is remote and reachable only by phone, so I called and asked them to bill Medicare and made sure they had complete and correct insurance information.
A month after that I received another bill for $715.95. This time discounts had been applied in a column with the heading “Insurance Balance” totaling $160.68. The source of this discounts is suspicious since no additional claims had been filed with my insurers.
I called the billing department a second time and again asked them to file a claim with Medicare and made sure my insurance information was complete and correct.
Since then, a couple of months have passed. I expected to have received another bill but have not. Also, no claims have been filed with Medicare or Wellmark.
It’s been over 5 months since my exam, and I understand you have up to a year to file a claim with Medicare. According to their website, they accept Medicare.
My dilemma is what to do to resolve this outstanding debt.
- Should I keep calling the billing department which so far has been inept and unresponsive.
- The Dermatology group is staffed by two board certified dermatologists, and I could appeal to one of them for help. I did stop at the office and tried to talk to someone, but the woman at the desk who greeted me upon entering told me I had to call the billing department.
- I could do nothing, but I’m worried they might try to collect after the deadline for filing a claim with Medicare has passed.
- I could threaten to report them to Medicare about their delay in filing a claim and possible fraudulent behavior.
- Are there magic words that can be used to spur them into action? I reside in Illinois.
I am a 74-year-old healthy male and have traditional Medicare with Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa for supplemental medical insurance. I decided to get a full body skin exam at a nearby dermatology group. I was accepted as a new patient and scheduled an appointment with a nurse practitioner. The exam was routine, and I was treated with cold freezes in a handful of spots. The exam didn’t take long, maybe 15-20 minutes.
A couple of months later I received a bill for $876.63. Surprised at the size of the bill, I checked for claims filed with my insurance and found that claims had been submitted to Wellmark but not Medicare, and that Wellmark had denied the claims due to incomplete Medicare information.
The billing department is remote and reachable only by phone, so I called and asked them to bill Medicare and made sure they had complete and correct insurance information.
A month after that I received another bill for $715.95. This time discounts had been applied in a column with the heading “Insurance Balance” totaling $160.68. The source of this discounts is suspicious since no additional claims had been filed with my insurers.
I called the billing department a second time and again asked them to file a claim with Medicare and made sure my insurance information was complete and correct.
Since then, a couple of months have passed. I expected to have received another bill but have not. Also, no claims have been filed with Medicare or Wellmark.
It’s been over 5 months since my exam, and I understand you have up to a year to file a claim with Medicare. According to their website, they accept Medicare.
My dilemma is what to do to resolve this outstanding debt.
- Should I keep calling the billing department which so far has been inept and unresponsive.
- The Dermatology group is staffed by two board certified dermatologists, and I could appeal to one of them for help. I did stop at the office and tried to talk to someone, but the woman at the desk who greeted me upon entering told me I had to call the billing department.
- I could do nothing, but I’m worried they might try to collect after the deadline for filing a claim with Medicare has passed.
- I could threaten to report them to Medicare about their delay in filing a claim and possible fraudulent behavior.
- Are there magic words that can be used to spur them into action? I reside in Illinois.
Statistics: Posted by dave62350 — Tue Jan 07, 2025 1:30 pm — Replies 2 — Views 109