Just received medical bill 4 years after procedure!

[Anonymous]

I had a lenghty treatment back in late 2005 into early 2006. I had several visits to the doctor over the cours of 9 months. I thought I paid everything I needed to with insurnce covering the rest. I threw out all my paperwork after 3 years since I thought everything was fine.

I just received a bill (not a collection notice or past due acct notice) requesting payment for the balance. Since it has been so long ago and I now don't have any back-up to verify if I even owe any more money, do I need to pay? How do I approach the doctors office on this? I feel at a disadvatage since I thought there was a 3 year statue of limitations on contract in DC and MD so I can't even go through my old statements (not that I'd want to - there were a lot of visits).

[Anonymous]

Was your insurance through work, and if so are you still employed there? My HR department (and particularly our external benefits manager) has been surprisingly helpful in some disputes I've had with my insurance company. They might at least be able to help you untangle the insurance company's side of the story (it's possible, for example, that the insurance co initially approved the claim, then deinied it 11 months later). And if that insurer still works with your company, HR might be able to apply pressure to get the insurance co just to pay up, so that they don't lose the contract with your company.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I would think that legally their delay in billing you would mean they forfeit the right to collect, either because of a SOL or whatever. Do some web research and maybe call one of those non-profit entities that help people with medical bills and collections issues. Then write the doctor a letter telling them you aren't going to pay because of [whatever you find out], and see what their response is. If you're on secure legal ground, they might just skip it - maybe they sent you a bill just in case you were compliant enough to pay it without questioning it.

[Anonymous]

Some info here:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/54458.page#387819

[Anonymous]

Is it actually from the hospital? I would look up the hospital billing number and call to confirm details. NOT a number provided you on the document.

This actually happened to my friend and it was a scam from a phony law firm.

[Anonymous]

I was curious about this and found this:

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/SOL-by-State.html#47

[Anonymous]

Call the Dr's office. Their billing dept. should be able to explain everything to you. Some doctors send out their billing and those companies really don't do a fair job for the doctors. I am sure that if you call they will appreciate your efforts and may even cut you a deal.

[Anonymous]

I had a procedure done at Sibley 3 years ago and get a check each year on the anniversary of procedure. I tried to call and got clueless responses. I think the billing is very wacky.

[Anonymous]

Can you ask them to provide you with a document showing everything they billed for, date of service, what insurance paid, what you paid, etc... this may be helpful in piecing things together. I had a similar situation once-not 4 years though. It's something they billed the insurance for a couple of years after the fact, the insurance denied payment because they had a contracted agreement regarding the max time after a prodecure to bill for so the hospital automatically billed me. When I spoke with the billing office, and went back and forth with them several times, they ended up making adjustments so that I was only responsible for the portion that I would have paid in the first place, which in my case, was 20% of the allowable charges. I was pleasantly surprised that the billing office tried to work something out. I guess I could have disputed that amount due to the time but I decided not to since it was only a couple of hundred dollars, and I had received great care so I just let it go.

[Anonymous]

I had a similar situation that was about 5 years old. I decided to ignore it and see what happened. One thing I worried about was if I did pay it, it could (in theory) hit my credit as a late payment. I got two written notices, didn't pay, and never heard from the company again. It was maybe $100 invoice. It has been 10 years, at least now. Honestly I'm not sure if I actually owed the money.

[Anonymous]

Ha. Georgetown Eye Center -- A LOOOONG time ago -- asked if I woudn't mind repaying a bill since someone had lost the check I wrote and several other checks other people wrote. I said, "No way, not unless you pay for me cancelling my first check to you." They went away.

How long ago was this? Twenty years ago. Yeah, back when people wrote checks. The Dark Ages of home finance.

[Anonymous]

i had a similar situation a few years back ... 4 years after getting treatment at an urgent care center, i got a bill for $975. no kidding. i tossed it in the trash, figuring the statute of limitations had run on it. guess i was right ... i never heard from them again.

FYI, in most jurisdictions the "default" statute of limitations is 3 years, so unless the jurisdiction of the so called "creditor" has a specific exception for medical expenses or something else that fits your situation, i'd say you're in the clear.

[Anonymous]

pp 8:49 here. here is your DC statute:

§ 12-301 Limitation of time for bringing actions.


Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, actions for the following purposes may not be brought after the expiration of the period specified below from the time the right to maintain the action accrues:
(1) for the recovery of lands, tenements, or hereditaments -- 15 years;
(2) for the recovery of personal property or damages for its unlawful detention -- 3 years;
(3) for the recovery of damages for an injury to real or personal property -- 3 years;
(4) for libel, slander, assault, battery, mayhem, wounding, malicious prosecution, false arrest or false imprisonment -- 1 year;
(5) for a statutory penalty or forfeiture -- 1 year;
(6) on an executor's or administrator's bond -- 5 years; on any other bond or single bill, covenant, or other instrument under seal -- 12 years;
(7) on a simple contract, express or implied -- 3 years;
(8) for which a limitation is not otherwise specially prescribed -- 3 years;
(9) for a violation of the District of Columbia Mental Health Information Act of 1978 (D.C. Code, sec. 6-2001 et seq.) -- 1 year.
(10) for the recovery of damages for an injury to real property from toxic substances including products containing asbestos -- 5 years from the date the injury is discovered or with reasonable diligence should have been discovered.
This section does not apply to actions for breach or contracts for sale governed by § 28:2-725, nor to actions brought by the District of Columbia government.


now be aware of the "discovery of harm rule", which states that the statute does not begin to run until the injured party (i.e. your creditor) knew or reasonably should have known of the harm. now i don't know the facts here, but seeing as they billed you for other aspects of your treatment, i think you could reasonably argue that the creditor reasonably should have known of this purported injury.

also note that the statute says "except as otherwise specifically provided by law" which means that this may not be an exhaustive list of the statutes of limitations out there.