Hello CN! I'll try and be as brief as I can with my situation and say up front that I really do appreciate any advice! - June 06 I got into an ER to receive treatment for a severe burn on my hand. My insurance does not cover the entire bill, I knew that going in but my old lady's mother works in that ER so we figured it was a good place to go. - October 06 I get a notice from a collection agency, Universal Accounts, Inc. out of Pasadena CA. They tell me my account got turned over to them from the hospital and I owed them the money now. No I didn't miss a step, I never got a bill from the hospital. I never got a summary from Universal. Just a form letter saying the creditor name (hospital) and the amount. - I sent a challenge letter at the end of October asking to validate the debt and asked for an invoice. Unfortunately, and very foolish of me, I sent it standard mail. I never got a response. - Sometime later (the exact date eludes me) I called into UAI and asked to speak with someone about it. They did tell me what it was for over the phone and I did acknowledge it was mine and asked to set up a payment plan. Their plan they were proposing was totally unacceptable to me so I asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor was one of the rudest people I've ever dealt with in a customer service situation. He went as far as to say if I didn't pay the bill "I'd be sorry". At which point I promptly told him what he could do with himself and hung up. - I tried calling the hospital, I left three messages in their billing department (it's a small hospital) saying I want to pay my bill, please call me back. Never once got a call. - January 26, 07 I got another letter from UAI saying the same thing (creditor/amount). I wrote back another challenge letter asking for proof. At this point I realize it was a bit of a far fetched letter because I knew it was mine, but to this date I've never received a bill, if I'm going to pay something I want an invoice. This time I sent it certified. - January 29, 07 Yep, 3 days later I get a response to my certified letter saying they sent me statements over and over (never did) told me I was playing games with them and basically said they'd sue me if I didn't pay them (actually they said they'd pursue what they said in their January letter, which was the standard we'll sue you if you don't pay). ** Another mistake on my part, I didn't respond to that letter. Had every intention of doing so, but I slacked and didn't do it. My bad, I know it. - March 3, 07 - 11.30pm (This is a Saturday). Bang bang bang on the door. I get served papers... What the... 11.30pm?!?! Anyway. Guess I played around too much and the bitter little man who said I'd be sorry probably put my file on the top of the stack of the "F with these guys" pile. - Today, March 07 - I go to the hospital, with my old ladies mother and we get the head of the accounting department and I explain my story, she calls UAI, gives me some sob story about how I need to deal with them. I look at her like she's got a tree growing from her head because I can't believe that she doesn't want my money. Doesn't she realize that she actually makes more money by taking my payment directly rather than letting the CA take their cut? Wow. Does she not care that they never sent me a bill, they never returned my calls? I mean I have peoples names that I called... I have a person who works there right next to me... I'm not a gimp off the street. Long story short she takes my payment. I have a receipt. I paid the original amount. Amount paid and amount owed for services: $1,193.00 Amount CA is suing me for: Around 1,800 I can't find the exact amount. They want vig + attorney fee's, filing fee's etc. So my question... Since I've now paid the bill, have a receipt. Do I call UAI? Do I just show up in court? Obviously I'd like to avoid court, I certainly don't want anything on my record and I don't want to pay any additional money. Where do I go from here? I'm sorry this turned out to be a marathon post and I sincerely appreciate any advice! -Russ
File the answer and provide a copy of the receipt showing it's paid. More than likely you'll be responsible for more fees as you paid after they have already filed court papers and you were served.
Collectman, Thanks a bunch for the reply. I guess it's frustrating to me since the hospital is the one who screwed up here, yet I end up paying for it in the end. Is there a way for me to avoid this going on my credit report. I have Truecredit and it hasn't appeared there yet. When you say "file" you mean with the court right? Sorry to ask a dumb question, I've never been sued before so I just want to be sure. Thanks again! -Russ
Yes you should have been served with a copy of the complaint and an answer form to file back with the court within so many days. Again you might be responsible for the costs of being sued so keep in mind about that.
Make sure that you emphasize in your answer that at no time did the hospital send you a bill... Second, you want to find out who OWNS your small hospital, more than likely it isn't as 'small' as you think it is... A lot of major companies go around buying up 'small' hospitals... And a lot of these companies have gotten into hot water including class action suits for deceptive billing... I'll give you an example, the local hospital here caused me to be injured... YES, THEY CAUSED THE INJURY!!! I tell everyone there that I will not allow them to treat me (Would you trust the people who caused the injury to treat it?!?!?!). NINE MONTHS LATER, I get a collection letter from one of the notorious CA's with a three letter name, for the hospital... YES, THEY WERE TRYING TO BILL ME FOR LETTING THEM INJURE ME! Needless to say, my first response to them was, "IF I HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN ON THIS MATTER, YOU HAD BETTER INCLUDE A CERTIFIED CHECK FOR $1,000.00." (Ok, slightly simplified, but that was it.) Then, I get a letter from the hospital trying to say that the bill was valid, the same day, I received a CLASS ACTION notice for the company who OWNS the hospital for deceptive billing, including billing for services which were not rendered... So, I send to the company and to the hospital a suit. Miraculously, they finally decided to agree, that I surely never consented to treatment... Try doing a BBB search for the hospital; or look up the hospital in your states corporate search engine... Those may be able to reveal the man behind the curtain.
*cough* The second half was right... The hospital group was HMA - Health Management Associates; out of FL...
Another issue to check is whether the hospital correctly filed a claim with your insurance. If the hospital was in-network, they may be contractually obligated to both file such a claim timely (within specified period of services), and to take the already agreed upon insurance payment rates, or else they may not be allowed to collect anything from the patient. The CA will, of course, always claim it is too late, you owe the list price, it is all your fault, or whatever, but your insurance company may have the power under their contract to make them eat it. That would also force it off your reports.
A follow-up on that thought... Call the insurance company and see whether they made payment, and obtain the explanation of benefits for the bill... Your insurance company may also be able to provide you with a copy of their canceled check, should they have paid the hospital, and for some reason the hospital 'forgot' it...
