Very annoying $177.00

[buckeye76]

Good morning,
My dentist submitted a bill to insurance co for $832.00, contractual fee was$705.00, insurance paid $503.00, I paid $202.00 dentist trying to collect the difference. My insurance company says I need only pay $202.00.

This has been going on since 2005!, the collection agency won't admit that I paid in full. Dentist keeps refering me to collection agency. I have sent, registered, the EOB several time and every time collection agency sends original bill for $832. totally ignoring the EOB still asking for the $177.00

What should i do? I don't want to pay what I do not owe. Perfect credit has already been dammaged by this.

[Trish]

Hi buckeye. Welcome.

Is this on your credit reports?
By any chance......when you sent the EOBs did you send a DV letter along with it?

[buckeye76]

Originally Posted by Trish

Hi buckeye. Welcome.

Is this on your credit reports?
By any chance......when you sent the EOBs did you send a DV letter along with it?

Hi Trish and thank you for your reply.

Yes it is on my credit report (only negative on it, too)
I don't think I sent a DV letter...I don;t even know what this is

[Trish]

Ok, what you can do (and this may take some time but it will work)
Read here:
Medical collections/HIPAA process

Send off the medical dispute letter to the CRAs (in the link posted in that thread).

If the CA is actively sending you collection letters and/or calling you......you can send them a FULL cease and desist letter.

[CreditCrisis]

What state are you in? I'm in CA and i know that they just made back billing (this situation) illegal here.

I would look up the laws in your state for back billing. its been a huge problem for years!

Good luck!

[buckeye76]

Thank you Trish.
The CRA issue right now is I would say secondary because even with this little blemish our score is still in the 790's with the 3 reporting agencies.

My main concern is to get the CA off my back! So far it has been agame of: I don't owe the $177.00-yes you do-no I don't- yes you do.

They seem to totally ignore the EOB, and this is very frustrating to me, I have contacted our dental insurance several times and every time they confirmed that contractually the dentist cannot collect more than the agreed fee adjusted. Should I pay the $177 to make the CA go away and take my dentist to court to recoup the money?

I was also thinking of contacting the Attorney General of PA where the CA is located as well as the AG of Ohio where my dentist is located. Is this a good idea?

I am at a loss here.

[buckeye76]

I guess the real problem is that they have a legitimate bill with my name on it, but this is the bill the dentist submitted to the insurance company and not the bill he should have sent to me after the EOB. Which he never did sending us to collection 62 days from date of services!

[buckeye76]

Originally Posted by CreditCrisis

What state are you in? I'm in CA and i know that they just made back billing (this situation) illegal here.

I would look up the laws in your state for back billing. its been a huge problem for years!

Good luck!

Thank you credit crisis! I will look into that too.

[Trish]

Ok........so you could do either of these........
1) send them a full cease and desist. This will stop ALL collections/communications and I seriously doubt they would try to sue you over $177.00

2) You could send them a debt validation letter with a LIMITED cease and desist(there are samples in the beginner's section)......you could even do a 1 2 punch.

If you send them a DV with a limited C&D........then, by law, they have to cease ALL communications and collection activity with you until they can prove it's your debt. I seriously doubt they have proper validation.
The way they've ignored you in the past and kept sending you a bill........I wouldn't put it past them to ignore your DV and just send you another bill. IF they do that, they are in violation of the FDCPA and you could sue them for up to 1K just for that. That would at least give you the leverage to make them go away.

[jjgross]

Originally Posted by buckeye76

Thank you Trish.
The CRA issue right now is I would say secondary because even with this little blemish our score is still in the 790's with the 3 reporting agencies.

My main concern is to get the CA off my back! So far it has been agame of: I don't owe the $177.00-yes you do-no I don't- yes you do.

They seem to totally ignore the EOB, and this is very frustrating to me, I have contacted our dental insurance several times and every time they confirmed that contractually the dentist cannot collect more than the agreed fee adjusted. Should I pay the $177 to make the CA go away and take my dentist to court to recoup the money?

I was also thinking of contacting the Attorney General of PA where the CA is located as well as the AG of Ohio where my dentist is located. Is this a good idea?

I am at a loss here.

Contact all of the above and file a report with the state dental assc.When insurance contracts they contract with each doctor and hospital set fees and thats it,on mine its listed what i owe the doctor as my part,many times i've had to remind their bookkeeper.