Doctor keeps sending me a bill

Sippican said:
What if the world worked that way? What of every patient decided to hold off paying their bill? Doctors costs would go even higher.
Saving them postage is not the answer. They don't care about the postage, its rolled up to an expense item that gets written off.
Put a stamp on it or better yet, pay it online.
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I agree. I'm one of those people who write the check and get it in the mail when I receive any bill. I like my payment to get there on time, and it usually arrives early, like with utility bills, etc. There are a couple of bills that are auto credit card payments monthly online, like Consumer Cellular and Xfinity internet/tv service.
 

debodun said:
I have traditional Medicare and a supplimental plan and it looked on the bill that they had submitted it to them. This is only a $25 co-pay for an exam and "imaging".
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Virtually Every Medicare Supplement plan that I'm aware of has a co-pay....due at the time of the appointment. Then, the doctors office coordinates with the insurance company for the final charges. If you make the co-pay on the day of the visit, then pay the final charges soon after the bill arrives, there should be No problems.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I agree. I'm one of those people who write the check and get it in the mail when I receive any bill. I like my payment to get there on time, and it usually arrives early, like with utility bills, etc. There are a couple of bills that are auto credit card payments monthly online, like Consumer Cellular and Xfinity internet/tv service.
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Same for me, though I pay as many bills as possible online. My checking account doesn't earn a spit's worth of interest, so it makes no difference financially if I pay the bill the first day I see it, or on its due date.

Should mention, I'm appreciative to not be juggling bills against checking account balances at this point of my life. It wasn't always that way for me, and I know it isn't true for many others, including plenty of seniors.
 

Don M. said:
Virtually Every Medicare Supplement plan that I'm aware of has a co-pay....due at the time of the appointment. Then, the doctors office coordinates with the insurance company for the final charges. If you make the co-pay on the day of the visit, then pay the final charges soon after the bill arrives, there should be No problems.
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My Advantage plan has dropped most co-pays. They were small to begin with at $5 - $10, but last year they dispensed with office visit co-pays altogether.
 
StarSong said:
My Advantage plan has dropped most co-pays. They were small to begin with at $5 - $10, but last year they dispensed with office visit co-pays altogether.
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Imagine a system where patients never get a bill from their Doctor, or have to argue with a medical insurance company billing clerk ? Welcome to Canada where Medical Doctors are free to actually practice medicine, not act as bill collectors for insurance companies. JimB.
 
So many differences in the choices people have when it comes to Medicare.
Our choice was & still is Medicare Advantage. The only copay we pay is IF we need to go to a hospital emergency room. The hospital collects that when the reason for needing emergency care is being assessed.

In 2018 & this year I've needed very expensive care. My total cost of $50.00 copay in 2018 & $90.00 copay this year makes $140.00 the total out of pocket expense for excellent care. Both times that was charged on our credit card so there is instant documentation of payment.

Edited to include this from jimintoronto post
"Imagine a system where patients never get a bill from their Doctor, or have to argue with a medical insurance company billing clerk ?"
We, my wife & I enjoy that now
 
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debodun said:
I ran into this several years ago with another doctor. I received a bill for my co-pay and mailed it to him. A few weeks later I received another bill for the same thing. When I called, the billing dept said they never received my payment. I waited to make sure the check had been delivered, but in the meantime, I received another reminder. Again, on calling was informed that my payment wasn't in their records, so I mailed another check assuming it had gone astray somewhere in the postal service. When I received my next bank statement, both checks had been cashed. When I contacted them again, I demanded they refund one payment, but they only sent a partial reimbursement.
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We run into this often, not with medical billing as we have to pay at the time services are provided, but with other creditors such as the propane company and the water/trash company. I think they are under-staffed and aren't focusing on their mail room and payment processing operations, because they want the customer to auto-pay with a credit card, which I won't do. There have been several instances where they have gigged us with late charges, and then we have to call their office and tell them to reverse the charges.
The post office "might" be to blame, they certainly screw up mail delivery to residential cluster boxes from time to time. However, delivery to local business I believe receives much better care.
 
jimintoronto said:
Imagine a system where patients never get a bill from their Doctor, or have to argue with a medical insurance company billing clerk ? Welcome to Canada where Medical Doctors are free to actually practice medicine, not act as bill collectors for insurance companies. JimB.
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My sister lives in Canada and has always carried a secondary (private) medical insurance policy. Paid by her employer when she worked, and now that she's retired she pays the premium out of her own pocket. If the Canadian health care system was perfect or without co-pays she wouldn't need this.

Like @Knight, my Medicare Advantage plan means neither the doctors offices nor the patients deal with insurance companies or billing departments.
 
I just received the bill from the ambulance service on the day my husband died. The total bill was over $1,100; the insurance paid over $400; and my copay was $295. I paid it online with my credit card and I received an email receipt. I'll be getting his bill from the hospital, which will be for $270 for the cardiac care unit bed. I'll pay that as soon as I get it.

The point is, deb....you owe it to providers to pay your bills ON TIME. I worked in medical billing for years and tracking people down trying to get them to pay for services rendered is an irresponsible way to do things. After 90 days past due, we sent them to collections unless they set up a payment plan.
 
We looked into buying a regulation Pool Table with table top for it and bench seats. $6700 +. Costs are just going up XX%. ....Hope that helps you decide stuff.
 
How does one live without a credit card these days? I don't have a smart phone or a debit card and the smart phone situation is notable sometimes. I'd pay on receipt. I would not wait that long.
 
December starts this week so it doesn't sound excessive to me to wait until a December appointment to pay. I'm not sure if my medicare and supplement plans have copays, I usually can just leave after an appointment, then the slow process of the doctor billing medicare and then subsequently billing any remainder to the supplement plan - that can easily take a few months, and eventually I'll get a bill of what I owe.
 
I'm sure glad my insurance plan, Aetna Medicare, is uncomplicated! I have a co-pay of $10 that I always pay before I even go into the exam room. I never had to deal with the insurance nightmare of having to submit claims.
 
If you have regular Medicare with a F or G supplement there are no copays for doctors. Occasionally you owe a small amount after both pay. However, once I receive the notification that both have paid and what I owe if anything I use my bank’s bill pay to pay the doctor immediately.
 
I always check to see if providers are in my network. I'm retired with Medicare and a supplemental C & D coverage. However, I have been surprised with a few unexpected charges in hospitals. Most I try to pay immediately, others I make payments to over a couple months.
 
Teacher Terry said:
If you have regular Medicare with a F or G supplement there are no copays for doctors. Occasionally you owe a small amount after both pay. However, once I receive the notification that both have paid and what I owe if anything I use my bank’s bill pay to pay the doctor immediately.
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I curious., I have never heard of an F&G supplement ?
 
The supplements have letters assigned to them. You can have a F plan , G plan, N plan, etc. Each plan within the same letter must cover the exact same thing. So it doesn’t matter which insurer you use. This is for regular Medicare.
 
OK...here's a similar situation like deb's. My neighbor lady (who's 85) had to have surgery on her eye in June. She just showed me her EOB from Medicare. It says she MAY owe $238. At the bottom of her Medicare EOB, it says it's been sent to AARP (United Healthcare) for processing.

This procedure was done in June and it's still kicking around and she doesn't know what she owes...yet. When I was in medical billing, United Healthcare was the worse to deal with. They used every delay tactic in the book to get out of or slowing down payments.

If this is who deb has, then maybe that's what's happening to her.
 
Colleen said:
OK...here's a similar situation like deb's. My neighbor lady (who's 85) had to have surgery on her eye in June. She just showed me her EOB from Medicare. It says she MAY owe $238. At the bottom of her Medicare EOB, it says it's been sent to AARP (United Healthcare) for processing.

This procedure was done in June and it's still kicking around and she doesn't know what she owes...yet. When I was in medical billing, United Healthcare was the worse to deal with. They used every delay tactic in the book to get out of or slowing down payments.

If this is who deb has, then maybe that's what's happening to her.
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There's a difference between a statement (like your friend received about the $238) and an invoice. Sounds like your friend won't know the actual amount due until it's processed by her AARP insurance. I gathered by Debs post she is receiving the final bill after insurances have paid their portions.

I could be wrong of course.
 
Deb's post #5

I have traditional Medicare and a supplimental plan and it looked on the bill that they had submitted it to them. This is only a $25 co-pay for an exam and "imaging".

This is the definition of copay relating to medical.

Copayment
A fixed amount ($20, for example) you pay for a covered health care service after you've paid your deductible.
Let's say your health insurance plan's allowable cost for a doctor's office visit is $100. Your copayment for a doctor visit is $20.
If you've paid your deductible: You pay $20, usually at the time of the visit.
If you haven't met your deductible: You pay $100, the full allowable amount for the visit.
Copayments (sometimes called "copays") can vary for different services within the same plan, like drugs, lab tests, and visits to specialists.
Generally plans with lower monthly premiums have higher copayments. Plans with higher monthly premiums usually have lower copayments.

Copayment - Glossary | HealthCare.gov.

Because Deb uses checks paying the copay of $25.00 for an exam and "imaging" that could have been done while at the doctors office. Her reason for not paying at the time of sevice wasn't explained. Continued billing for an unpaid service is normal.

Now with my post @ #47 like many posts by Deb this one has been entertaining.
 
C50 said:
There's a difference between a statement (like your friend received about the $238) and an invoice. Sounds like your friend won't know the actual amount due until it's processed by her AARP insurance. I gathered by Debs post she is receiving the final bill after insurances have paid their portions.

I could be wrong of course.
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I understand the difference between a statement (EOB) and an invoice. I'm not that dense. If deb received an invoice, then she should pay it and not wait another 3 weeks. Very irresponsible of her. I'm glad I don't do business with her.
 
C50 said:
There's a difference between a statement (like your friend received about the $238) and an invoice. Sounds like your friend won't know the actual amount due until it's processed by her AARP insurance. I gathered by Debs post she is receiving the final bill after insurances have paid their portions.

I could be wrong of course.
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This is a copay with a fixed amount. My post #47 explains
Copayment
A fixed amount ($20, for example) you pay for a covered health care service after you've paid your deductible.
Let's say your health insurance plan's allowable cost for a doctor's office visit is $100. Your copayment for a doctor visit is $20.
If you've paid your deductible: You pay $20, usually at the time of the visit.
If you haven't met your deductible: You pay $100, the full allowable amount for the visit.
Copayments (sometimes called "copays") can vary for different services within the same plan, like drugs, lab tests, and visits to specialists.
Generally plans with lower monthly premiums have higher copayments. Plans with higher monthly premiums usually have lower copayments.

Deb's post was clear about this being a copay.
Deb's post #5

I have traditional Medicare and a supplimental plan and it looked on the bill that they had submitted it to them. This is only a $25 co-pay for an exam and "imaging".

Her delay in paying is the crux of all the posts. Why not paying the copay for several months then posting that she wants to save the cost of postage for continued billing for an unpaid copay doesn't make sense to those of us that pay bills when billed.
 
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