Bernadette1
New Member
I didn't see a field to type my state... I live in Idaho, but this doctor's office is located in Washington.
In March '08 I paid for a medical workshop which included lab fees, other tests and materials for the workshop. I had my labs drawn and attended the workshop.
A couple weeks later (appx. June 6th) I received a bill from the lab company for the labs I had drawn for the workshop, for which I'd already paid. The original lab requisition was supposed to be billed to the doctor's office and I wasn't supposed to receive a bill.
I called the lab company and explained that this was supposed to be billed to the dr's office. They informed me that the dr's account wasn't set up to accept billing and I would need to call the dr's office. I called the dr's billing office and explained the situation. I was told to send a copy of the bill to the office and that they would take care of it. I did that the very same day, with a letter explaining the situation.
Approximately a month later I received another bill from the lab company. Once again I called the lab company and explained the situation (mostly so it would be on their file), and they told me they put a 30 day hold on the account so I would have more time to get this taken care of. I called the dr's office again and left a message for the billing lady which was not returned so I left another message. She told me I should be speaking with the accounting supervisor. The same morning I left the message I also sent an email to the 'info@' address of the dr's website.
I received a return email from the accounting supervisor. She informed me that the lab company had not billed the office the correct amount and that they were trying to get the charges adjusted before they paid the lab bill. She attached a word document to the email which is a letter stating that I'm not responsible for the balance. I asked her to please print a copy on letterhead and mail it to me, which she did.
It's been about three weeks since this last email (2 months since I first received a bill) and the lab bill is still not paid. My take on the situation is that since I paid the doctor's office for the labs already, they should pay the bill and then dispute the amount with the lab company, because this has the potential to affect my credit.
I would like to know:
-if the dr's office is legally obligated to pay the bill or if I am stuck
-if the letter stating I am not responsible for the balance would do anything to protect my credit
-what I can do to get them to pay it so I don't have to deal with the credit agencies in the first place.
Thank you.
In March '08 I paid for a medical workshop which included lab fees, other tests and materials for the workshop. I had my labs drawn and attended the workshop.
A couple weeks later (appx. June 6th) I received a bill from the lab company for the labs I had drawn for the workshop, for which I'd already paid. The original lab requisition was supposed to be billed to the doctor's office and I wasn't supposed to receive a bill.
I called the lab company and explained that this was supposed to be billed to the dr's office. They informed me that the dr's account wasn't set up to accept billing and I would need to call the dr's office. I called the dr's billing office and explained the situation. I was told to send a copy of the bill to the office and that they would take care of it. I did that the very same day, with a letter explaining the situation.
Approximately a month later I received another bill from the lab company. Once again I called the lab company and explained the situation (mostly so it would be on their file), and they told me they put a 30 day hold on the account so I would have more time to get this taken care of. I called the dr's office again and left a message for the billing lady which was not returned so I left another message. She told me I should be speaking with the accounting supervisor. The same morning I left the message I also sent an email to the 'info@' address of the dr's website.
I received a return email from the accounting supervisor. She informed me that the lab company had not billed the office the correct amount and that they were trying to get the charges adjusted before they paid the lab bill. She attached a word document to the email which is a letter stating that I'm not responsible for the balance. I asked her to please print a copy on letterhead and mail it to me, which she did.
It's been about three weeks since this last email (2 months since I first received a bill) and the lab bill is still not paid. My take on the situation is that since I paid the doctor's office for the labs already, they should pay the bill and then dispute the amount with the lab company, because this has the potential to affect my credit.
I would like to know:
-if the dr's office is legally obligated to pay the bill or if I am stuck
-if the letter stating I am not responsible for the balance would do anything to protect my credit
-what I can do to get them to pay it so I don't have to deal with the credit agencies in the first place.
Thank you.
