Rep Power: 308

Hey Guys,

Hoping someone legal/credit savvy can help me out. I’m having a dispute with a health care provider, and it will probably be going to a collections agency.

Background:

My wife needed a physical exam to start school ASAP. Our normal Doctor could do it for $20 our normal co-pay but couldn’t fit her in fast. I had her Call one of these emergency health care places , the kind you just walk in, to see if it would be covered and see how much it would cost if they did it. She called them, and they Told her it would be $30, our normal co-pay for using them. I told her to just go there.

A month later, the insurance denied the claim, stating it wasn’t an emergency, and we didn’t need prompt care, so the place we went to sent us a bill for an additional $80.

I am disputing this bill because we distinctly called to ask about this before hand, and we were given the wrong information. I have been burnt my medical stuff in the past and I ALWAYS call in advance to Verify EVERYTHING. I am very not trusting of Doctors and insurance companies.

They claim that the people who answer the phone do not know my coverage.
I responded that they should of told me they didn’t know and to call my insurance instead of leading me to believe I was covered for $30. In addition they should know, because every other healthcare provider I visit has a database set up with my insurance, including my dentist.

They claim that they don’t know the exact conversation we had with the person during the phone call.
I responded that I can supply my phone bill to prove the phone call was made, and that there is no reason not to believe me. Had I been correctly informed that the physical would have been $110, I would of went to my primary care doctor. I was obviously given false information for me to go there.

After speaking to 6 levels of customer service, I have all there names written down and all that info. They have offered me a 25% discount, so I would pay an additional $60. I responded by offering to pay 50% ($40).

The thing is I really can’t afford this, my wife and I are STRAPPED right now like never before, she is back in school and not really working, and our bills our getting out of hand.

They have pretty much said $60 is all they will do.

So here is my question.

If I refuse to pay, they stated that the bill would go to a collection agency. I am not really scared of the collection agency, but my question is.

Can they leave a bad mark on our credit report?

I am thinking that they can not effect our credit report with out a law suit against us, because we never applied for credit with them. They do have our SSN’s but we don’t have credit with these people, they are just billing us for services.

I know if things went to court it would be crazy expensive, but I don’t think ethier party wants that. My guess is they will write this off, if I don’t pay.

Of course I regret not being able to use their facility ever again, but another place has just opened up, so oh well.

 
Rep Power: 0

Although you may be in the right, you are willing to pay $40 to make it go away....so what is another $20? It is cheap peace of mind.

 
Rep Power: 232

That is why I love Canada.

I have a buddy who was denied a loan because he forgot to return his movies from blockbuster, and his bill went through collections. It was something stupid like 40$

 
Rep Power: 308

yeah we ended up paying for it.

My wife didn't want the hassle on her report. According to one of the credit agencies, Anyone with an account with them can report you. Seems like absolute BS to me. I'm not sure what forms they have to fill out to make a claim against you, but it sounded like they didn't really need any evidence, just fill out this form and bam, they get bad credit.

 
Rep Power: 242

Yeah thats the way it works bro
Telephone conversations dont mean squat. You get EVERYTHING in writing. I mean everything. Wether it is dealing with reporting agencies, collection agencies, or original creditors.

 
Rep Power: 308

Yeah, It's frustrating. There is no way to get around calling to get information. If you need to see the doctor there is never really time to write them a letter to ask the questions and wait for a response, so you just call.

What I am learning Is that you really have to keep track of EVERY conversation. Write down the date and time, write down the full name of the person you talked to and write down exactly what they said.

 
Rep Power: 242

I know what you are saying, and that is actually good practice for your own sake. While speaking to these people you need to get the important stuff in writing. Fixing credit mistakes and issues is NOT a fast process. Someone in the line always jerks you around.