I just got dunned for a bill that isn't even due yet.

[Ilsa]

My son recently had some outpatient tests in a hospital. The insurance (decent) was filed, the deductibles applied, the discount applied, a payment around $1,200 was made by insurance, with a $500 balance for me to pay. The statement was dated 1/24, and I received it 1/28, if memory serves. I wrote the check for the entire balance this morning and put it in the mail. I figured that was a reasonably quick payoff of the balance from the first week of January's services.

But the hospital had a robocaller call me, asking me to call a toll free number to discuss our account. The robocaller didn't say what organization it was representing. I called the number out of curiosity and it was the hospital's bill collection services! We weren't even at 30 days since the statement was issued!

I have a call in to their PR office to see what they have to say, but has anyone had dealings like this before where they are being contacted less than two weeks after the bill is mailed?

[elleng]

1. No, but I feel good that you called them; THANKS!

[Sherman A1]

2. I would go out of my way to make them very

uncomfortable. This simply is not right. I would file a complaint with your State's Attorney General's office, the Hospital licensing board and other agency which may have jurisdiction. Or at least let them know that you are seriously considering do this. Inform them you want a statement marked paid in full --- Right Now.

[Newest Reality]

3. No, I haven't yet.

Maybe preemptive dunning is a good way to assure a payment now? Might be a new trend, to go with all the other wacky stuff from the Insane New World and its wonders to foreclose.

Profits are the most important thing in this world now, and all.

[Kennah]

5. In 2009, wife was going in for a planned C-section

Hospital called a few weeks before to collect $300 payment--the copay we would owe them.

We paid it, and on the day of the C-section while we were there she got run past billing one more time to collect the $300. We told them we had already paid it, they did some running around, and confirmed that oh yes we had paid.

Causes me to wonder if one is spurting blood or flat lining would they turn you away if you don't pay the copay there and then. With hospital and ER visits, it's been my experience insurance does not demand you pay it there and then at the time of service the way some do for routine doctor visits.

[Kennah]

4. A few years back, I had one that called AFTER I'd made a payment

I probably owed around $80, and the job I worked at that time paid us weekly. Got the bill, and sent off $20 through bill pay.

Couple days later, I get a voicemail at home saying, "You must pay at least $30 each month or this will go to collections."

I called 'em up and said I had planned to pay $20 a week to pay it off, but because of the call I would go with their $30 a month demand.

By and large, I've found medical billing folks reasonable, and they wanted less than I was offering. However, their shitty attitude and tone just set me off.

Anymore, I call or talk to them, and let them name a number. They usually are less demanding than what I'm willing to pay. It is getting fucking ridiculous in the corporatocracy.

[pipi_k]

6. Yep...

I was getting crafting books for a while, and one time I got a "This is your second notice" thing before they had even sent me the bill.

I sent them the check along with a real nasty letter and a demand to cancel my account at once.

Same thing with a company that sold seeds and live plants. Told them what I thought of their tactics and how embarrassing it is to have one of those envelopes show up at the house making me look like a friggen deadbeat.

Cancel.

Never send me another catalog again, thank you very much.

[JoePhilly]

7. In most cases, Hospitals are not supposed to harass you.

They contract with the insurance companies for various services and only after they settle those, would they SEND you a bill for a co-pay.

But ... I had a hospital try to bill me for the difference between what my insurance covered (and contracted for) and what they, the hospital, wanted to charge me. In many cases, they can't do that. In essence, they were billing ME to recover the difference from what their contract rate was with the insurer. Which they can't do.

So you may want to look into that aspect. I nearly paid them $500 thinking I had to, but I called my insurance company and they said "no, that is wrong."

So don't just pay it. Call the hospital and tell them that you think your insurance should have covered it. Then call you insurer and tell them that there is an issue. Then work it out so you know exactly where the money goes.

By doing so, they can't say you ignored them. You are simply asking to be shown a full accounting. Your insurer should be happy to help because they want ALL of the money to pass through them anyway. At least that was my experience.

[Ilsa]

8. The amount was correct:

Let's say the original bill was $2,100. There was a $400 contractual discount, an insurance payment of 1,200, and the remainder of $500 was part of our deductible. I had already seen the EOB and was satisfied about the amount.

The statement didn't have a "due date" on it, though. I paid it all because I am able to do so and because of the exceptional work of the staff there.

[JoePhilly]

12. Ok on part one, and your last part makes sense to me too ...

On the contract amount aspect ... depending on what was needed, lots of mistakes get made. I had a situation in which the hospital and an affiliated doctor both billed me but they thought I was delinquent becaue it took them very long to get their own billing in order, so they were holding me accountable for a month or two of delay, although the delay in billing was on their end.

And ... agree on not wanting to hurt the staff who did the real work. You end up in the hospital, the staff is great, takes good care of you, and then the administrative staff makes your life hell afterward ... and you do not want the nursing staff to get blamed because they did their jobs well.

[RagAss]

9. Yes...it's called balance billing and it violates their agreement with Insurance Company.

[mrmpa]

10. Our local hospital will give you a 15% discount if the bill is

paid within 10 days. This is for ER, OR and tests. It is something that saves quite a bit of money.

[Canuckistanian]

11. "To get dunned"

That's the second time I've read that term today - I'd never heard of it before. Is it a regional expression from somewhere?

[nosmokes]

13. no, you just outted yourself as a youngster...

[Canuckistanian]

19. I did?

That's nice to hear. I just turned 53 in December.

Thank God I'm not over the hill. :D

[Ilsa]

14. I suppose it means any bill, but I think it means

To receive a lot of pressure to pay an obligation quickly, on the verge of harassment. I think it's an Old English or Irish or Celtic term.

[NutmegYankee]

15. Definition

Dunning Meaning and Definition from WordNet (r) 2.0

1. dun adj : of a dull grayish brown to brownish gray color; "the dun and dreary prairie" n horse of a dull brownish gray color
2. a color varying around light grayish brown; "she wore a dun raincoat" v
3. treat cruelly; "The children tormented the stuttering teacher"
4. persistently ask for overdue payment; "The grocer dunned his customers every day by telephone"
5. cure by salting; "dun codfish"
6. make a dun color

See also:
http://academic.scranton.edu/faculty/gramborw/sap/dunning.htm

[Canuckistanian]

21. Ah thanks

I tried putting the term in Wiki, and it directed me straight to "Debt"

[RedCloud]

22. Do you need a bailout since you went to debt?

[Change Happens]

16. Don't ever go to hospitals for tests...Find a stand alone lab, imaging center...etc.

My Sonogram was $2200.00 at the local hospital, stand alone place called Signet Diagnostics? $480.00. I shop every single time, and you know what? Someone at the same local hospital told me about this trick and where to go!!!

[Ilsa]

24. My son's tests were too specialized: pediatric cardiac MRI and MRA.

There aren't many stand-alone clinics that can do that, because of the anesthesia alone. And since this was the first time fir him to undergo anesthesia, I wanted a full-fledged acute care facility in the event of hyperthermia or some other reaction.

[Change Happens]

26. Good luck with everything...You can probably appeal any charges they may send you:

I recently appealed a claim, copied HHS and my local state officials...etc. Humana has so far acted decent, they don't like being turned in to regulatory bodies...Never had anyone chase me down for payment right after they invoiced me.

I had a larger bill last year, they agreed to be paid $50.00 per month until it was paid off. I decided on the $50.00 per month thing.

[kiva]

17. Got a call yesterday because I was 5 days late on a credit card

payment - I bought a house, moved, new semester started, lots of stuff going on - but they were correct, I was late. The guy on the phone wanted more than twice the minimum payment (payment that was late plus next month's payment plus late fee) that was due 5 days before, saying I needed to pay that to "get current" with my account. Since it was 25 days until next month's bill was due, I told him I would pay the late payment and the fee, but that was it.

Yes, I know that making a late payment was poor business on my part, but this guy kept insisting I needed to pay the larger amount, finally giving up at the end and accepting what I was willing to pay. Yeah, they are becoming way too pushy.

[sendero]

18. A few months ago..

... we moved. We closed our telephone account at the time. Two weeks before the last bill was due, we got a letter from a collections agency, asking us to pay the money we owed. My wife called them, and they said they could accept a credit card payment right then.

Then they gave us the amount. It was 8 dollars more than we owed. My wife asked "what is that for?" And they said "service fee". "What service? The account was current". Well she declined to pay them and paid the phone company directly. Even after that, they kept sending us letters until I sent them a reply telling them about "legal remedies" that were available to me if I heard one more word about this debt that didn't exist.

They left me alone after that.

The part that chaps me is the phone company turning stuff over to collections when it isn't even due. Just a way for them to soak you for a few more bucks on your way out the door. I won't do business with those jackasses again.

[mcar]

20. I've had similar things happen with hospital bills

For one, we never got a bill from the hospital, just a collections agency bill. When I called the collections folks to say 'wha?', they agreed it was totally strange and made me a deal where I paid less than 1/2 the amount owed and they called it quits. I sent a letter to the hospital, letting them know that I would happily have paid them the full amount (since they did a very good job), had they only sent me a bill. Never heard back from them.

The latest was just this week. I've been paying a medical bill off $30 a month and the idiot medical practice still sent it to collections.

Considering that these medical places get only pennies on the dollar when they turn these bills over makes me wonder why they're so quick on the trigger. As another poster said, I've almost always had good outcomes when I call the hospital or medical facility and work out a payment arrangement but at least bill me first. :eyes:

[lonestarnot]

23. They could be in violation of the fair credit reporting act. You may want to check.

And I'm no lawyer.

[eppur_se_muova]

25. Sprint sent my phone bill(!) to a collection agency before the "payment due" date ...

got the letter from the agency about the same day I got my bill. (PO Box -- don't check it every day.)