Community Chat

[Mom2Dogs]

I received a bill today from a medical facility from a procedure in late 2016!

They say -according to their records my insurance company underpaid them by roughly $40.00 and they now want me to make up the difference.

$40.00 is not the issue....we are self employed and we would NEVER bill a customer over a year later for our bookeeping error.

Would you pay the bill?

[Noel7]

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@Mom2Dogswrote:

I received a bill today from a medical facility from a procedure in late 2016!

They say -according to their records my insurance company underpaid them by roughly $40.00 and they now want me to make up the difference.

$40.00 is not the issue....we are self employed and we would NEVER bill a customer over a year later for our bookeeping error.

Would you pay the bill?

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I’d call the insurace company and make them explain.  

[BirkiLady]

@Mom2DogsIf I owed the money, indeed, I would pay any bill. Mistakes happen; delays occur. Doesn't mean you are no longer liable. Pay it.

[chessylady]

Yes, because it is the right thing to do. Also I wouldn't want to deal with the possibility of an unpaid bill on my credit history and having to deal with collection agencies.

[Irish1210]

That would really "frost" me too!  I agree with @Noel7 call the insurance company for an explanation.

[dex]

If I had the doc visit and the bill was legit then of course I would pay.Its my bill so I am the one responsible.

[x Hedge]

yep, you are still liable for that bill, and yep, I've seen (received) invoices for medical procedures performed a year or more earlier.

[SeaMaiden]

If they can prove you owe it, then yes you should pay it.  What if they owed you the money....wouldn’t you want it a year later? Sure you would!

[jannabelle1]

I wouldn't just send them $40 without checking a few things. I'd want to see some more info from the medical facility about how they found this, and I'd also contact my insurance company to see what they have to say. It could be that the insurance company paid the "going rate" and that's all they would pay - which means that you should not be responsible for the difference. I think it's pretty routine for insurance companies to only pay what is considered the fair and reasonable price for a procedure and they usually instruct the patient to not pay anything more unless they are truly responsible for paying the difference. I would bet that the insurance company paid exactly what they were responsible for and didn't "underpay" at all - and it's not up to you to make up the difference. JMO.

[itsmagic]

I have had that happen to me too with a medical bill.   I remember I called my health insurance first to review it with them.  I owed $10 and ended up paying it.