Got a bill from a lab

BrooklynBee

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:03 pm

tweety1 wrote:

My insurance company told me that if one has insurance they're legally not allowed to send you bills. When I was having issues at one point, I told whoever it was (don't remember who it was) that what they're doing is illegal and if they don't stop sending me bills I'll report them. Never got another bill.

this is definitely true for someone with a Medicaid insurance, I'm pretty sure it doesn't apply to private insurances.

amother

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:06 pm

It’s private insurance. Who’s responsible to pay the bill (in terms of affecting their credit) my parents or me?

amother

Snow

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:12 pm

amother OP wrote:

It’s private insurance. Who’s responsible to pay the bill (in terms of affecting their credit) my parents or me?

I’m 99% sure it’s you. Why would it be your parents? They’re not the patient here. I don’t have any experience with being on my parents insurance though so take my opinion with a grain of salt I guess.

Beautiful

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:14 pm

amother OP wrote:

It’s private insurance. Who’s responsible to pay the bill (in terms of affecting their credit) my parents or me?

Are you on your parents insurance still? The. You would work it out with your parents then I would thing.

amother

Broom

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:15 pm

I also very rarely pay my medical bills, because I’d be homeless if I paid them all.

Labcorp sends to collections really quickly . Other than that I only had one ever go on my credit score. I think it was around $400. I called and they said if you pay half we’ll take it off right now. So obviously I agreed.
This was a few years ago.

You can also offer to pay $10 a month.

amother

NeonOrange

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:18 pm

Find out from your insurance company if they are allowed to collect if the bill is over a year old. I was told not to pay a bill as they were not allowed to charge me as the time limit had passed. It never went to collections as far as I know. I have an excellent credit rating that I check.

amother

Broom

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:22 pm

When I had my first kid they sent me a bill I think for $2500? I told them I could pay $50 a month. They said that’s not enough. I said that’s all I can pay.
Never heard from them again.

amother

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:26 pm

Beautiful wrote:

Are you on your parents insurance still? The. You would work it out with your parents then I would thing.

Yes I am. I’m just wondering if I ignore the bill if they get in trouble

amother

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:27 pm

amother NeonOrange wrote:

Thanks I’ll try it!

amother

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:29 pm

amother Broom wrote:

The lab is called accu medical reference lab

It would take me years to pay off at 10 a month!

amother

Daisy

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:40 pm

tweety1 wrote:

Not true from what I have learned. In network providers cannot balance bill you (ie charge the difference between what they charge and what insurance pays). However they CAN bill you for copay, deductible and coinsurance based off whatever insurance plan says. And actually they are not allowed to waive the copays etc.

Out of network they can bill you for the service.

amother

Snow

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:40 pm

amother OP wrote:

Interesting! The phone number listed on google is not in service… can this be a scam?

That would be great! Hard to say without seeing the bill.

amother

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:42 pm

It seems pretty ligit. Has the referring dr and the date … I did see this lab was involved in a lawsuit tho…

amother

DarkKhaki

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:45 pm

amother OP wrote:

Interesting! The phone number listed on google is not in service… can this be a scam?

What do you mean the number listed on google? There should be a phone number on the bill - what comes up when you search that on google?

amother

Pearl

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 9:51 pm

Call your insurance. If the blood was taken at a Dr's office and sent to a lab out of network, it wasn't in your control. The insurance has a department that deals with this. They contact the lab and negotiate.

I recently had to test my dc for something. The dr ordered the test. The box came to my house and I mailed it back. I didn't think about insurance. It took a few months and my insurance paid for it. (This test was instead of an invasive procedure my insurance happily paid for another dc.)

amother

Broom

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 10:01 pm

amother OP wrote:

The lab is called accu medical reference lab

It would take me years to pay off at 10 a month!

Lol . Thats why they usually will give up if you offer such a payment!

amother

Aster

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 10:07 pm

amother Snow wrote:

It most definitely can affect your credit score if the amount due is over $500 and it has been over a year since it was accrued. I pay all medical debt down to under $500 before a year passes to avoid this.

Source - https://www.cnbc.com/amp/selec.....core/

Is this true? It’s always the case it won’t impact the credit score if it’s under $500?
Are there any other negative things that could happen if you don’t pay a medical bill that’s gone to collections?

imanotmommy

Wed, Feb 28 2024, 10:07 pm

amother OP wrote:

It’s private insurance. Who’s responsible to pay the bill (in terms of affecting their credit) my parents or me?

My experience has been that the "responsible party" is the primary insured. Could be it's not always the case