medical bills for stepkids
My husbands x wife had 3 or 4 kids one of them had dental sug. he did carry ins on her but the dr never filed the claim. since then we now have a collection acct on our credit, the ins did pay the bill this week leaving a balance of 70.00. my question is should step parents who do not addopt the step kids pay these bills? is it not the bio parent who should pay these? what is the legal part of this all?
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The doctor can't send you to
The doctor can't send you to collections if they didn't file a claim with your insurance.
You said insurance just paid leaving a balance of $70...so whomever is listed on the doctors paperwork as "financially responsible party" is the person legally responsible for the bill. If that portion of the paperwork isn't available, you need to go by what is in the custody agreement under medical copays and balances. If that's unclear the final rule is whoever is listed as primary carrier on the insurance is the party responsible for additional balances after insurance pays out.
~The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for.~
Oscar Wilde
she is. ins and dr r playin
she is. ins and dr r playin blame game. ins said it was never filed and dr said it was. collection agency will not offer any info.
i wanted to know what the law states so i can send it in writing tried finding it on inet with no luck.
If she is listed as
If she is listed as financially responsible the doctor has absolutely NO legal grounds to send anyone else to collections Except for HER.
If the doctor filed the claim, they should have a record of the insurance companies response available to give to you. It is entirely possible they DID file the claim but insurance misinput it or lost it...it happens in our office sometimes and I'm the only person in charge of claims so I know i wouldn't just NOT send something...so the office could be telling the truth but they still can't send anyone to collections without giving them a collections letter first and giving them a chance to pay or resolve the balance. To do otherwise is just bad business practices. And to send a person to collections who isn't listed as financially responsible on any paperwork is just illegal. That would be like my SD's mother saying to a doctor, "oh forward all of my bills to Barbie...she's responsible." No signature or approval from me or anything...that's SO illegal.
~The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for.~
Oscar Wilde
BM in our case took sd to
BM in our case took sd to emergency room one time and signed that dh was responsible party. She actually signed his name. SD had insurance, it wasn't until we got a late letter that we found out bm did this. DH gave her a copy of the insurance card and bm told us she took it to the hospital, but about 3 weeks later we received a letter stating if we did not take care of this bill we would be turned over for collections. At this point I called the hospital and gave them the info they needed to file with insurance. Then I called bm and told her if she was taking them for care then she needed to be the responsible party and if we take them then we are the responsible party. Told her also that she had no right to sign dh's name, that was illegal. She never listens to dh, but it seems when I get involved she does.
...the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it. - The Lion King
did you call the hospital, I
did you call the hospital, I know that they still have that paperwork.....can't you force her to pay by showing that the signatures don't match? That she forged the signature.
If the nurse saw that this woman signed someone elses name she shouldn't have allowed it.
I would call the hospital--just to make sure it doesn't happen again.