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Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,105
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@ECBG  

 

All it took was a phone call to correct but it was annoying

 


@ECBG wrote:

@I am still oxox wrote:

The office will not always share your insurance info.

Here's a good one my hubby was treated at a local ER this June, all the bills except one went to our current insurance,not sure how one went astray and was sent to our prior insurance


@I am still oxox,There's no excuse for that one!  So sorry.


 

Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being positive what could go right.
Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,318
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@Jordan2

 

Same thing happened to me. I argued that I had no control over where the doctor sent the lab work. I went to a participating doctor so services should be covered. As other poster stated they should know which one is in your insurance network. I didn't have to pay the bill so I guess they covered it.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,960
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Who's Responsible

[ Edited ]

 

@Moonchilde maybe they did get the results, I called medical records at the hospital, they said they never sent it to the Dr.

 

As for emergency room Drs, when one sees multiple Drs ....I don't know how anyone would know if every Dr there is "in network".  I never received another bill on that one. My insurance would have paid had they not waited over a yr.

 

 

 

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 35,612
Registered: ‎05-22-2016

Sort of the same thing happened to me where my mammograms where taken in one facility then they were sent out for review by a doctor who was out of my network. This doctor sent me his bill. You bet I had words with my insurance company and after months of repeated phone calls, my insurance company finally paid the bill and told me there was no way I could have known where the mammograms were actually read.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,702
Registered: ‎08-22-2013

I belong to an HMO and they tell you flat out, if you don't use in network labs, docs, ect. you are on your own. Everything is done in house, so to speak at their hospitals and outside satellite facilities and so far so good. I had their plan before I went on Medicare and then signed up for their supplental  insurance and drug program.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,319
Registered: ‎03-16-2010

@Tribesters wrote:

@Jordan2

 

Same thing happened to me. I argued that I had no control over where the doctor sent the lab work. I went to a participating doctor so services should be covered. As other poster stated they should know which one is in your insurance network. I didn't have to pay the bill so I guess they covered it.


@Tribesters, my doctor is in network. You would think someone in the office should check your insurance and make sure it goes to the proper lab. On my bill was two mentions of serology. I thought that that has to do with bloodwork, the thing is the doctor didn't draw any blood. There is no way I'm paying this bill, if I owe a copay that's a different story.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,660
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

As others have said, it is wise for us to know which lab etc is covered by our insurance but all those times that yes you'd go to the hospital and a radiologist or someone not covered reads something and you are sent a bill-

that to me IS the insurance companies fault!

If they cover a hospital, they should cover everything done there.

Once after several times of getting a random bill, I called the facility and asked who each of their providers, radiologists etc were to make sure they were covered.

And now I think the doctors offices should know too. If they are covered, they better send to a lab that is also covered. Many people would never think there would be a problem with that.

I shouldn't have had to do that.

And I'm so glad to see several of you did not pay those bills but got your insurance company to pay them!

Figuring out multiple people and equipment should not be our jobs.

"If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew. Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"
Valued Contributor
Posts: 909
Registered: ‎12-18-2012

In the exam room at my doctors' they have posted who they use for labs and it is my job to know if they are covered.

In my case United Health only accepts Lab Corp.  Not many choices.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,233
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Almost every doctor I use has a sign prominently posted saying patients must knoiw their own insurance.  I was just in my primary's office 2 weeks ago -  he wanted several different kinds of tests, all of which we had done also at other times.  For each, he asked me where I wanted to go and wrote his scripts accodingly.

 

  If I hadn't already known where my insurance was accepted, I would have done research.  I did just that last winter when I was using a new doctor in a new neighborhood -  first phone call I made to the lab recommended, I learned they would not accept my insurance.  Another call to my own company and I had a great experience.  It's a pain and not at all a good hospital procedure, but once again my motto -  no one cares about my money as much as I do.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,504
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

@nun ya wrote:

I think these things are so common, it's sad.

 

Just a few...

Had bloodwork done, called the Dr to see if they came back normal, the hospital nor the lab ever sent them results.

 

Got a bill that was a year old from a Dr who practiced in the ER. The insurance wouldn't pay because they waited a yr and I no longer even had that insurance.

 

Called the Dr when they sent the wrong script amount to the pharmacy, They said they'd call immediately and fix it. Nope, wrong at next refill.

 

I'm learning to write everything down, and pay attention because nobody will do it for you.

 


 

 

Just a couple of comments on the first two -

 

Trust me on this - when a doctor or his office tells you the hospital, or the lab, "never sent" them a copy, it's usually just not true. Doctors' offices have literal stacks of filing they are months behind on. It's standard for them to ignore the filing and call the lab to get a copy faxed right then. They will usually swear to you they didn't get it, but the honest ones and the ones you have a good friendly relationship with will say "help meee! I can't fiiind it! Sorry!" And many times the office fax is malfunctioning (off-line, paper out, etc). So yes, they did get it, they will just always blame the lab because it lets them off the hook.

 

I can't speak to the waited a year part, but in most departments in a hospital, the physician's professional fees are separate from the hospital's facility and supplies fees. And unfortunately it's up to the patient to check whether the doctor's group takes your insurance. Also, it's very common for a patient to never, ever receive a bill for 6-9 months and suddenly out of the blue get a collection notice. It sucks.

Life without Mexican food is no life at all