Having a hard time getting eyecare provider to send me a billing statement with what I owe them

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Yarlonkol12
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Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 4:28 pm

Having a hard time getting eyecare provider to send me a billing statement with what I owe them

Post by Yarlonkol12 »

Last year we had an eye appointment and they billed our old insurance company, even though our file was updated years ago and multiple claims had been filed correctly both before and after that date of service. I think they may have had some IT issue as they also called me thinking I was a different patient.

Months later we got a bill for the balance, assigned to me. After multiple phone calls and attempts by the eyecare place to submit to insurance, the insurance company just suggested that I upload the statement on the website directly. After doing that, it was quickly processed but the insurance check was sent to us.

Approximate numbers:

On date of service we paid $200 out of pocket
Insurance company sent us $250
remaining balance to be paid to the eyecare place is $50

Here is my question:

My preference would be to just pay what I owe to the eyecare place, but this is apparently difficult to do, they are having a hard time generating a corrected statement. I don't know how long it will take them to send me an updated statement so that I can pay the remaining balance. This most recent time they suggested I send them the EOB that was sent to me, which I did, maybe that will help them.

As the insurance company has paid us $50 more than we have paid the eyecare place so far, is there anything I need to do besides call them every few weeks and hope they figured out how to send me an updated bill? What if they just give up and write this amount off, if they do that I am assuming I need to contact my insurance company and return some portion of what they had already sent me?

Thank you for any ideas
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Beachey
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Re: Having a hard time getting eyecare provider to send me a billing statement with what I owe them

Post by Beachey »

You agree that you now owe the eye doctor $50, when they bill you you pay it. Until you get billed, go on with your life.
Maybe next year when you show up for an eye appointment, they say you owe $50 and you hand them your credit card.

A small concern is at some point they try to add on a late fee so make sure you have some documentation that you attempted to pay.
123
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Re: Having a hard time getting eyecare provider to send me a billing statement with what I owe them

Post by 123 »

It can turn into a hopeless effort to try to force a business to correct their records and send you a bill. If you know what you owe them simply send them a check or money order with the balance due, you can include a copy of how you calculated the balance (like the insurance statement). If you're waiting for a nice bill so you can easily use a credit card transaction to neatly pay the balance I doubt it is worth the time and effort.

Many independent healthcare providers use small outside service bureaus to do their billing. When things get out of whack it is often useless to contact the healthcare office, they assume the outside service bureau is handling it and may not do anything. Just send copies of your explanation and EOB along with your payment and hope that whoever gets the stuff will figure it out. Even if payment is send directly to the office there may be an outside bookkeeper who deals with it all.
Last edited by 123 on Thu Jun 30, 2022 11:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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8foot7
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Re: Having a hard time getting eyecare provider to send me a billing statement with what I owe them

Post by 8foot7 »

It's crazy to think about this for even one more second. You have attempted to do the right thing. $50 is noise. If the doctor ever comes calling for it, pay it happily. Otherwise forget it. Anything else will cost you and the provider and the insurance company more in time and paperwork than $50 is worth.
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snackdog
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Re: Having a hard time getting eyecare provider to send me a billing statement with what I owe them

Post by snackdog »

Typically businesses like this will try to collect some ridiculous amount a couple years later when they straighten out their books. Not much you can do in the meantime but keep good records.
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Katietsu
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Re: Having a hard time getting eyecare provider to send me a billing statement with what I owe them

Post by Katietsu »

Now that you have provided the EOB in writing, I would quit thinking about it for a few weeks. You are much more likely to get a response.
Topic Author
Yarlonkol12
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Re: Having a hard time getting eyecare provider to send me a billing statement with what I owe them

Post by Yarlonkol12 »

Thanks all, I'll wait and see

My primary concern was that, atleast at the moment the insurance company has paid me more money than I have paid out to the eyecare place, wasn't sure if that's some kind of big no no that I needed to rectify on my own or not. Hopefully now that they have EOB they will send me the final bill
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michaeljc70
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Re: Having a hard time getting eyecare provider to send me a billing statement with what I owe them

Post by michaeljc70 »

8foot7 wrote: Thu Jun 30, 2022 11:09 am It's crazy to think about this for even one more second. You have attempted to do the right thing. $50 is noise. If the doctor ever comes calling for it, pay it happily. Otherwise forget it. Anything else will cost you and the provider and the insurance company more in time and paperwork than $50 is worth.
+1

Customer service is abhorrent these days.
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