Duplicate/Multiple billing for medical expenses

[ArkRescue]

I am starting to believe that companies will bill you over and over for

(1) charges you are not supposed to pay under your health plan
and
(2) charges you ARE supposed to pay

I have called the billing party to say I have an HMO (at time I did) and I don't pay that. Oh ok they said, we'll notate your account. Had I paid it do you think they would have refunded my payment back to me at any point? Probably not because I have been dumb enough (was easier to write a check and not look into it) to pay stuff I wasn't supposed to and never did I get a refund.

I have been billed over and over for co-pays that I pay at the time of service. When I call to inquire I am told oh that's because the payment didn't get credited to the account on the same day due to and it'll balance out at the end of the month, then it doesn't and I keep getting billed monthly, only NOW I've been back there again and this time their Credit Card machine was down so I couldn't pay. They say pay when you come the next time, so I do then I get a bill in the mail for a double visit billing - WTH?

I am coming to the conclusion that if you do not keep easy to access records of EVERY single medical visit and the accompanying co-pay if there is one, you will pay for services that you were not supposed to pay for, and you will be billed multiple times for something you've already paid.

I am a busy person, and I do not have time to keep calling these people about all these multiple billings and the collections folks who call saying I owe when I do not - this is crazy. I can't be the only person this happens to.

 

[Idunno]

You are not alone...

It has happened to me too. The problem I ran into was that the billing company that the doctor used for his services was different than the billing company that the rest of the clinic used. The doctors billing company was in Texas and the clinic billing company was in Illinois. The actual clinic I went to was in Oklahoma. I paid in full by check at the time of service in OK, but got billings from both Texas and Illinois for the same services. The check hadn't been deposited when the billing companies sent the bills out. Took me nearly a year to get that mess straightened out....and it stayed on my credit report for a couple years after that before I got them to remove it.

 

[ArkRescue]

It has happened to me too. The problem I ran into was that the billing company that the doctor used for his services was different than the billing company that the rest of the clinic used. The doctors billing company was in Texas and the clinic billing company was in Illinois. The actual clinic I went to was in Oklahoma. I paid in full by check at the time of service in OK, but got billings from both Texas and Illinois for the same services. The check hadn't been deposited when the billing companies sent the bills out. Took me nearly a year to get that mess straightened out....and it stayed on my credit report for a couple years after that before I got them to remove it.

With it being only 1 service date, it shouldn't have been that hard for them to understand. That's why I use the Credit Card to pay - I KNOW I can find that "receipt" in an instant (no looking in a file, shoe box or bottom of a drawer LOL). I get tired of being forced to PROVE I paid.

I think that in some cases the billing is known to be duplicate and they have no intentions of tracking whether you paid the same bill multiple times (nor do many care). I think the collection agencies also figure if you pay them multiple times - that's just more money for them if you're dumb enough to pay the same bill several times instead of calling to question it. But if you do call, they FORCE YOU to PROVE you paid it (they don't check their records and SAY - OH YES WE GOT THAT PAYMENT, SORRY) so if you can't find your receipt, they expect you to pay again and you will or they will ding your credit.

 

[creative1]

A doctors office I use (and they are local and nameless) sends out bills that reflect billing charges and insurance payments, but NEVER show payments I have made on my account. I have never heard of any company sending out bills but never show your payments made on your statement! I have to keep track of it cause they don't. I have called several times about it and they don't seem to understand basic accounting practices. They don't seen anything wrong with it. Tried to explain that there is a beginning balance, minus payments made, then balance due.

 

[abcxyz]

I've had this happen. I ended up solving it by telling my provider- he had no clue this was going on because he sub-contracted the billing part out.