hospital didnt have my insurance from a visit 2yrs ago- $411 bill on credit report- cant afford-now what?

Question

2 years ago I needed the morning after pill, it was a Sunday so all clinics were closed. I went to the emergency room, it was a 5 minute visit. For fear of parents, I told them I didn't have insurance, even though I did. They gave me papers to sign, the pill, and that was that. I was so freaked out about getting pregnant that I was just happy they gave it to me. Don't judge me, I was 18 and niave. They didn't try to offer any reduced/no cost care programs or payment plans, didn't really explain anything really. I had no idea such things were available or I would have asked. NOR did they inform me that the morning after pill was still effective up to 72 hours after unprpotected sex. Yes, I know it is slightly reduced in effectiveness, but I feel they should have told me if they knew I could wait a day and avoid a $411 bill. It's already on my credit report. Is it too late to give them my insurance or to negotiate with the hospital? Do I have any options? I feel a bit wronged by them.

I guess I'm not really blaming them for not telling me about the 72 hour thing. I'm just frustrated.

What I really need to know I guess is about forgiveness programs... after they report it to a creditor is it too late to still negotiate with the hospital? Will they even consider this kind of stuff for my kind of circumstance?

Answer 1

Okay, first, it is not too late for you to ask about a "charity" case. I have done this 3-4 years after the fact because I had no idea that it could be done until recently. Call the business office of the hospital and ask for an application for a charity case on an old account. You can tell them that it is already in collections, give them your SSN and the date of service and they can pull it up and tell you what you need to do to qualify. It does not matter if it has already gone to collections or even if they already have a judgment against you, if it passes as a charity case it will all be voided. If there is a judgment it's a little more difficult because after you get the approval on the charity you have to send a copy to the collection agency that got the judgment and demand that they file a VOID judgment on it.

Call the business office first, see where they stand on the charity situation. If they think you can qualify fill out the forms and send all necessary information back. It can take awhile to process so keep checking with them. If they can't approve it then you can claim that they didn't bill the insurance properly and YES, they can go back and re-file the insurance after the fact, even 2 years. All that matters is that you had coverage at that time, not if you have it now.

Answer 2

Usually insurance will go back 6 months to a year to pay old claims.
They will not go back 2 years on a claim.

Since you had insurance and you told the hospital that you didn't, you cannot hold the hospital responsible for not billing your insurance.

Generally the hospitals won't volunteer the information about bill pay help unless you mention that you may have problems in paying the bill.

As for them telling you or not telling you that you could have waited 72 hours, it wouldn't have mattered since you would still have the bill for the ER. You probably would have saved the cost of the pill, but not the visit. (the people at the front desk are not doctors and really cannot give that advice out)

Go to the hospital and speak with them. They may work with you on paying the bill with payment installments.

edit+++++

After 2 years I don't know if you would still qualify for any of the bill help programs. You might ask them about it anyway.

If they will work with you on a payment plan, request that they remove the negative tradeline they placed on your reports after they have received your final payment.

If they say they will allow a payment plan and remove the negative - get both the payment plan and the negative removal agreement in writing !!!!!!!!!!

It's never to late to "try" to deal with the original medical provider rather than dealing with the collection agency. The medical provider can always recall the debt from the collection agency.

Answer 3

It's probably a little late to try to collect from insurance. A lot of insurance policies have a time limit to turn a claim in anyway.

If it has already been turned over to collections, it's also a bit late to negotiate with the hospital for a reduced bill. You should have done that two years ago when the bill started coming.

About the best you can do at this point is call whoever has the bill, collection agency or hospital if they haven't turned it over, and see what you can negotiate.

Tell the exactly what you said here. You don't really have much of an explanation for ignoring it for two years but you can try to just tell them your story and tell them you want to get it paid and what can you work out.

Ignoring it at this point is just going to make it drag out even longer and make your credit report even worse.

Answer 4

Chances are you received a bill from the hospital about this before it was reported on your credit report yet you didnt reply. when you told them you didnt have insurance did you think they would give you free treatment. No they arent going to do that either and they dont have to give you alternate insurance information you walked into the EMERGENCY ROOM which meant I need immediate treatment. Just pay the bill and learn from your mistake.

Answer 5

Frankly, the coverage enterprise could no longer care much less.. because of the fact it does not impact them. no longer basically like the Obamacare device is to any extent further advantageous. in case you would be unable to or do no longer pay your scientific institution costs ( AKA taxes ) the government is going to snatch each and everything you very own or placed you in detention center for tax evasion.