Refusal to pay for services rendered - Healthcare

[jilrjppt]

I am a healthcare provider curious as to what our legal options are to deal with a person who did not tell us they had used all allowed medical visits elsewhere and sought treatment from our facility and now that insurance has denied us payment, this person refuses to pay us. Saying we should have told them they were out of visits, but we did not know because they did not tell us and all insurance policies say it is the patient's responsibility to know their benefits and not the provider. We gave full treatment successfully, but now patient refuses to pay. He has not shown up for scheduled appointments to meet to discuss this and we have graciously offered payment plans that they agreed to, but then never makes payments. Now they are flatly refusing to pay saying "good-luck" getting payment.

I feel like this is a theft of services...not much different than if they came into a store and stole items.

I hope that collection agencies are not the only option...they are useless. Can we garnish wages?. The amount is over $1200 for one account.

Thank you

[Creeker]

If a collection agency won't take the case, take them to small claims court. I believe you first have to have a judgment before you can garnish wages.

[chirogirl]

Im pretty sure that filing insurance claims is a courtesy but not required by a medical facility. I agree with Creeker on small claims court being an option. Im not sure how wage garnishing works, but a collection agency (if they are able to collect anything) will get 1/3 or your payment. Which in my opinion is better than nothing at all due to that would be about what you would have received from the actual insurance company once contractuals had been applied.