my sister is on her 3rd pregnancy, medicare has covered everything.. up until now..?

Question

her fiance made about 50 bucks over the limit and they were denied. Her doctor's office gives up until the 7th month to pay, and who has the money to do that? I want to pay this for her because she hasn't been able to see the doctor because of this and she needs to. I know there is confidentiality and all.. but what are the chances of me going in there and saying, "i'd like to pay (insert my sister's name) doctor bills" and them letting me.. I don't want any info about anything.. I just want to pay it without her knowing. Any help guys? Thanks! And please leave all sacarstic, rude comments to yourself. If you have nothing better to do than to make fun of people for asking questions... than you are pretty pathetic.

Answer 1

You can pay anybodys medical bill you want to, they will take your money...and lots of it............Nuf Said

Answer 2

Is there a reason you don't want your sister to know? Would she feel bad about taking money from you?

I don't know that a doctor's office can just give you someone else's bill and have you pay. Normally, bills have an explanation of the services provided and those services fall under the doctor-patient confidentiality laws. You might call YOUR doctor and ask them how they would handle the situation -- I'm sure most doctors would handle it the same. Then, if YOUR doctor gives you some good advice, call up her ob/gyn and tell them the plan!

Other than that, just tell your sister you want to do this for her, and if she refuses to take the money as a "gift," tell her its a loan and she can pay it back when she's able.

Answer 3

You can definitely pay for her services without seeing her records. Her care provider's office will be happy to have the money and be able to give her care. Simply go in and give them your credit card to charge all costs to.

I do recommend making sure your sister knows about you paying or she may very well not go in anyhow. You can also ask sis if you can come to her appointments to help pay or if she is fine with you just paying by credit/debit card and not attending. She may like the support though.

You're an awesome sister.

You could alternatively go into the office and let them know that all bills are going to be paid by you. When your sister gets the bill, you can write a check. Most offices want payment up front, however, if you make special arrangements with the office, they are often lenient.

Answer 4

I have worked at many doctors offices through out the past couple years. And they do not care where the money come from. Or how it gets there. They will not be able to give you a receipt stating what it was they saw her for, but they will be able to give you a general receipt with the amount you paid. That does not void confidentiality in any way. In the HIPAA form she signed about confidentiality, it clearly says that no medical information will be released to anyone without authorization. But it also clearly states that if payment is due, drastic measures can be taken to pursue payment, but no medical information will be released upon doing so. If your sister is like mine, I understand where you are coming from, some people appreciate the help, but will never accept the help willingly. But thats why they are our sisters, and it dont matter how mad they get about it, they will always love us. I myself have paid my b.f bills on occasions, with my checks, and never have I been refused. They just cant tell me what am paying. Or why it is that amount.

Good Luck, They wont tell you no. And if they do.. fight it, cause its illegal. I have included the statement that says this, word for word :)

Answer 5

If you go to the doctors office with cash or check/credit card.. They will not deny your payment for your sister.. In fact if you are willing to pay the whole bill or even half all you have to do is tell them so.. Doctors arent picky about where the payment comes from as long as a payment is made.. It is very nice and loving of you to be willing to help your sister out at a time like this.. The bills from pregnancy can add up quick.. She is lucky to have someone like you in her life.. Best of Luck and Congratulations to your sister.. She is blessed..

Answer 6

I am pretty sure that you can just go to the office and pay it. The only problem is that she will most likely still be stressed about money until someone tells her that it has been paid. I say pay it, and then tell her that you did. You are a wonderful sister, by the way!

Answer 7

I am not sure, but you should be able to do it. It's not like you are going in a saying give me her medical records, you are paying a bill. Most of the time they don't care how the bills are paid just that they are paid.
Best of luck to your sister and the new baby!

Answer 8

You are the best sister in the world! What you need to do, is go to her Doctor's office and talk to someone in the accounting or billing department. Explain to him or her what you want to do. Tell them you want your sister's bills sent to you. There should be absolutely no problems as far as confidentality issues, as they are not disclosing any information to you. You might also want to alert the front desk staff to just tell your sister, when she asks about her bill, that 'It's all taken care of.' If she wants any more information, they simply have to tell her that they are not allowed to discuss it. You rock!

Answer 9

You can pay anyone's bill if you want to. As long as they get the money they wont care, people who dont know the person wouldnt pay their bills and its not like you are asking them to give you information or anything so it should be fine :)

Answer 10

i think that it is awesome that you want to help out your sister, but i dont know how you are going to be able to pay without them knowing, because, you may run into problems with patient privacy.(trying to pay for medical bill, most places will not even open the file unless you are the patient) maybe just send them a money order made out to them in the mail unsigned. But, in all honesty, if you care about your sister, you may want to talk to her about being careful the next time, if they cant afford this one, they may run into problems in the future that you may not be able to help them. good luck!

Answer 11

They can't tell you how much she owes, if you can somehow get that out from her, I'm sure you could walk in with a check and pay for it and they wouldn't complain, but if she asked I'm sure they'd tell her where the money came from. Of course you could find out how much she owed and go in and pay cash, that way they wouldn't know who gave them the money. You could just say that you came to bring the money to pay for X's bill.