I just got a bill in the mail from a radiologist, wanting me to pay $29 for him reading a CT scan on my ankle last month.
The bill claimed that I owe them $29.
Now, my insurance co-pay is $20, and if the bill had read $20 I would have paid it without question. $29, though? Why?
I called, and the gal in the billing office told me that their contract with my insurer requires that they write off the $29. but “it’s not automated.”
Unless the patient calls to dispute the bill, they don’t write off that money. If the patient doesn’t call or pay the bill, it goes into collections, despite the fact that it isn’t a legitimate charge.
Why do I think they aren’t going to get around to automating it?
Anyway—it pays to check on these medical bills rather than just accepting whatever the statements say.
