Health insurance didn't pay bill when they approved it from 5 years what can i do about it now?

Question

I had my wisdom teeth removed about five years ago, the doctor required that I had anethesia to avoid choking on pieces of them because they were fragile from cavities. They had to run the insurance claim through twice because the insurance denied it the first time the second time they approved it Then they never paid it after I had the surgery done now the bill is still in collection and is hurting my credit report. P.S. I was covered under my stepfathers insurance at the time

Answer 1

If the surgery happened 5 years ago, too much time has passed.  Your odds of getting any payment from the insurance company are less than 0.0000000001%.

There are time frames on the policy for appealing denials and for filing claims in general.  If you wait too long, they don't have to pay anything.

Although its too late in this case, in the future, it will be helpful if you keep track of payments that go out to your medical providers so you don't get stuck with another bill like this.  (You will receive an explanation of benefits every time a claim is paid on your behalf, so that you can track this information for yourself.  If you have a service done and don't receive an explanation of benefits in a reasonable amount of time...say, 2 months or so...start following up.  Unfortunately, if you don't follow up and make sure the payments go out, you can be stuck with the bill.)

Answer 2

You need to get the insurance billing number and go to the dentist in person. As for the manager of the place and have them redo it.

Answer 3

healthcarreful

Answer 4

Five years after the fact is way too late to do anything. You should have been on top of this right away - most insurance plans have a 45 to 90 day window (and NEVER more than a year) to appeal denials of claims.

The bill will be in collection until it's paid off. There's a common misconception that it will "go away" after 7 years - that's not true. It wil be sold to another agency and be cycled like this FOREVER.

At this point, all you can do is make a payment agreement with the collection agency.

Answer 5

You could try and contact the insurance about the status of the claim. It is highly unlikely that they would consider the charges at this point.

The time to handle this would have been the first year after the services were rendered. The only thing that mattered was that you were covered at the time the services were rendered. The fact that you terminated your coverage after the fact had NOTHING to do with the claim in question.

You are ultimately responsible for the bill. See if you can make a deal with the collection agency to pay the bill. Then at least call the insurance to find out if there is any recourse.