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[puckhead]

They also have much easier lifestyles than other doctors.

I always said if I married a doctor it would be a dermatologist. It's not like they get a lot of middle of the night emergency calls.......

I remember going to one as a teen for acne. Granted this was back in the mid 70's but the treatment was antibiotics, dry ice rubbed on my face and the best - a sunlamp

You would have chosen wisely.

[Fred93]

I always said if I married a doctor it would be a dermatologist. It's not like they get a lot of middle of the night emergency calls.......

Met a guy who is a cardiologist recently, and we discussed this very subject.  He told me a story about his friend the dermatologist.  Apparently the friend has Arnold Schwarzenegger as a patient.  He got a call at 3AM one morning because Arnold was scheduled to be on a movie set at 8AM and you see ... Arnold had a pimple.

Emergencies come in many forms.

[Mtnchick]

I always said if I married a doctor it would be a dermatologist. It's not like they get a lot of middle of the night emergency calls.......

Met a guy who is a cardiologist recently, and we discussed this very subject.  He told me a story about his friend the dermatologist.  Apparently the friend has Arnold Schwarzenegger as a patient.  He got a call at 3AM one morning because Arnold was scheduled to be on a movie set at 8AM and you see ... Arnold had a pimple.

Emergencies come in many forms.

Yeah, but for those one or two "emergencies", I'm sure they're paid well Plus then I could brag to all my girlfriends that my hubby worked on the Terminators zit

[lenderguy]

Adding to what Puckhead says, a lot of doctors go into areas that encourage cash payments, such as plastic surgery or dermatology.  A lot of dermatologists also have their own skin care lines etc or sell makeup.

I had to get a procedure done that hasn't been approved yet by the FDA.  The one guy in the USA who does it (actually has in office somewhere in Los Angeles) does it off label.  That means cash payments.  I was able to get the procedure done overseas, and including my travel expenses, the cost was half as much as it would have been if I went to the LA guy.

There's also a lot of medical fraud.

I went to a doctor out of state, and it turns out he was "out of network" on my insurance.  The stuff I actually get done is quite cheap, thank god, and the initial consult retailed for about $300.  Between the doctor's office and my insurance company, it took NINE MONTHS to get the final bill for my out of pocket expenses.  My only thought was, "No wonder why this country's medical system has problems."

[GaAs]

I can also see how people get unknown medical DQ's.  Here's my story:

About five years ago, my very young son needed some fillings filled.  He wouldn't sit still for the gas, so the dentist recommended that we put him under general anesthesia and have him worked on by an oral surgeon (he was 3 at the time).  We made some calls to our health insurance provider and determined that this would be covered.

And it was.  He had his teeth filled and capped, we got the EOB's and paid the copayments, and went on with life.

Fast forward six months.  We started getting calls from a collection agency demanding that we pay the bill for the outpatient clinic which had provided the operating room and anesthesiologist.  Huh?

So I did some quick research on the debt collection laws, figured out what my legal rights were, and asked that the collection agency send us written proof of the debt and that they only contact us in writing (they complied).

The proof of the debt was a statement from the clinic showing the charges which the insurance company said had been paid months before.  So we called the insurance company....

....to make a long and frustrating story short, with the help of the insurance consultant who manages our health plan, we discovered that several months after the insurance company paid the bill, they unpaid it.  With no notice to us, they reversed the payment to the clinic.  The clinic made no attempt to contact us when this happened, just turned the bill directly over to collections.

Apparently the clinic bill had been submitted to our dental insurance, when it should have been submitted to our medical insurance.  So we got the clinic to resubmit the bill to the medical insurance, and called the company daily until we got the EOB showing it was paid (which we then sent to the collection agency with a F.O. letter).

The kicker: the medical and dental insurance policies were both provided by the same company.

[Cushie]

I could write for hours on this subject but I'll just give you one thing to keep in mind, mtnchick.  My insurance pays at different tiers based on out of pocket expenses.  I'll confess that I'm not as on top of things as I should be in this regard. 

The other day I got an adjustment for three months worth of bills from my insurance company.  Turns out I was paying 30% co-insurance but my OOP had hit a certain point so I should've been paying only 10% OOP.  That ended up netting us a savings, and potentially rebate from certain doctors, of $915 for the month of February only. 

One other thing on not as good of doctors in primary care.  I just switched my Medicare to Kaiser so I don't have to deal with deductibles, co-insurance or extraneous bills.  It's something I weighed heavily - do I want to continue to receive the best care and drown in bills or am I willing to give up quality care to allow my family to live better.  I was looking for a primary care doctor.  This will sound biased, but it's also realistic.  I don't understand accents well, at all.  I noticed that 90% of the primary care physicians did not speak English as a first language.  With my medical problems I also spent a lot of time looking at their education.  In most cases they were from no-name schools.  The good ones with good educations weren't accepting applications.

The doctor I eventually chose is one who recently gave a talk on "after care for prostrate surgery."     But he was the best of the bunch that I had available to chose from.

[SGriff]

The kicker: the medical and dental insurance policies were both provided by the same company.

For the record (I work in a multi-line insurance company) that's a classic case of one hand not knowing what the other is doing. My office is in the same building as 3 other divisions of this company - and none of them interact between clients. If you have a life insurance policy with us, I can't access it from my desk in long-term-care.

[bankomatic]

I completely understand the DQs due to medical bills. Sadly there are few ways to verify that medical bills is what caused the DQs and not something else since prosper won't let me see where the dq came from.

I had to go to the ER a while back and they ran some tests on me. I recieved a bill in the mail for my co-pay and paid it. Later I got a bill from one of the doctors that did the tests, apparently those are charged seperately from the regular ER visit. They didn't even try billing my insurance, they just sent me the bill to deal with. I had to go through calling them and my insurance company and writing letters to get the bill get paid by the insurance compnay. It was a very annoying process, and had I still been sick I couldn't have dealt with it and the bill would have went into delinquency. It greatly annoyed me that I had to be involved at all as I pay good money for my insurance, and I don't want to spend time while I am sick dealing with these matters that should be between the hospital and the insurance company.

[Cushie]

I completely understand the DQs due to medical bills. Sadly there are few ways to verify that medical bills is what caused the DQs and not something else since prosper won't let me see where the dq came from.

I had to go to the ER a while back and they ran some tests on me. I recieved a bill in the mail for my co-pay and paid it. Later I got a bill from one of the doctors that did the tests, apparently those are charged seperately from the regular ER visit. They didn't even try billing my insurance, they just sent me the bill to deal with. I had to go through calling them and my insurance company and writing letters to get the bill get paid by the insurance compnay. It was a very annoying process, and had I still been sick I couldn't have dealt with it and the bill would have went into delinquency. It greatly annoyed me that I had to be involved at all as I pay good money for my insurance, and I don't want to spend time while I am sick dealing with these matters that should be between the hospital and the insurance company.

Very good points.  I know with my previous medical DQs I was sick - sick, sick, sick and didn't have the time or energy to deal with medical bills on top of daily doctor visits, surgeries, etc.  That's one of the reasons my credit got so bad.  It was just one more thing that reminded me I was close to death and if I was going to devote my energy, what little I had, to one thing it was going to be my family.  Not some annoying creditor.  It's not the correct way to think, but it's true.

I have now been dealing with my insurance company on a claim for one solid year.  It's an ambulance bill.  First they said I sent my claim to the wrong department.  Then the wrong address.  Then they said I needed to include a procedure code (um...I'm not a doc.  I don't know what that is.  I attached the original bill with the claim).  Now they want to know why two life squads were called.     I even sent a letter from one of the life squads that detailed why two were called (we're rural - one is basic life support and non-transporting while the other transports and is advanced life support.  The non-transporting one shows up ten minutes before the other.  I needed that ten minutes).  I can not wait to see what the newest excuse is.  In the meantime, however, I've paid that bill in full with monthly payments over the course of ten months.   

[HollowOak]

Y'all may want to check out Quicken Medical Expense Manager I don't use it, but it may be of benefit to anyone managing complex medical affairs. On top of that, I believe it has a 60-day no-questions-asked money-back satisfaction warranty.

[Mtnchick]

Y'all may want to check out Quicken Medical Expense Manager I don't use it, but it may be of benefit to anyone managing complex medical affairs. On top of that, I believe it has a 60-day no-questions-asked money-back satisfaction warranty.

Thanks, HO, I'll check it out.

That's one of the good things about BCBS - at least here in GA. I've NEVER had an issue with them paying bills on time and sending detailed EOBs (knock wood). SO FAR all of the usual suspects that don't have agreements with a lot of the insurance companies seem to have them with BCBS. Then again, I could buy a really nice car for what I pay for insurance every month, so I guess it all evens out.

In talking to a friend of mine in Panama (the country), I swear I'm getting my "Mommy Job" (tummy tuck/boob lift) there. 

[ira01]

One other thing on not as good of doctors in primary care.  I just switched my Medicare to Kaiser so I don't have to deal with deductibles, co-insurance or extraneous bills.  It's something I weighed heavily - do I want to continue to receive the best care and drown in bills or am I willing to give up quality care to allow my family to live better.  I was looking for a primary care doctor.  This will sound biased, but it's also realistic.  I don't understand accents well, at all.  I noticed that 90% of the primary care physicians did not speak English as a first language.  With my medical problems I also spent a lot of time looking at their education.  In most cases they were from no-name schools.  The good ones with good educations weren't accepting applications.

My wife has had Kaiser her whole life, and I joined a little over a year ago when I left my law firm.  Although they are certainly not perfect, we have been relatively happy with them.  I don't think it is accurate to view Kaiser as "giv[ing] up quality care."  The three primary care doctors I've met (our current one, my wife's long-time former one who retired, and the kids' pediatrician) all speak perfect english, and we've been happy with them.  YMMV.

[Cheerful_Lender]

The one DQ I could have on my record (hasn't shown up yet) is a medical payment I refuse to make.  The bill originated 2 years ago and I still get the bill in the mail every 6 weeks or so.  Any idea how long they have to put this on my record and how long it will stay there once they ding my record with it?

[Mtnchick]

The one DQ I could have on my record (hasn't shown up yet) is a medical payment I refuse to make.  The bill originated 2 years ago and I still get the bill in the mail every 6 weeks or so.  Any idea how long they have to put this on my record and how long it will stay there once they ding my record with it?

Interestingly enough, I had to deal with this recently for the exact same hospital I just went to.

Back in 2000 I had to go to their ER. Visit was $50. I paid it. They sent me a PIF letter. 4+ years later I start getting letters from a collection agency for $2k+. Obviously I refused to pay it. I would send a copy of a PIF letter to both the hospital and the collection agency. This went on for 2 years, every few months. I haven't heard from them in about 2 years - I wonder if they're going to try to tack it onto my current bill. 

Besides sending reams of paperwork to everyone, I have no better suggestion

ETA - I also sent copies to the CRAs and got the DQ removed.

[traveler505]

The one DQ I could have on my record (hasn't shown up yet) is a medical payment I refuse to make.  The bill originated 2 years ago and I still get the bill in the mail every 6 weeks or so.  Any idea how long they have to put this on my record and how long it will stay there once they ding my record with it?

Most medical providers do not report to CRAs.  Once they turn the account over to a collection agency (assuming that they do that), it is likely that the collection agency will report to one or more CRAs.  (Quite a few medical providers use local collection agencies, which, unlike the bigger guys, sometimes do not report to all three.)  The referral to a collection agency can happen at any time.

Once the negative information appears on your credit record, federal law requires that it be removed when it reaches 7 years from the from the date of first delinquency, which is defined as six months after you were supposed to pay it.  (The CRAs tend to delete at the 7 year mark, and ignore the extra six months.)  

Of course, a favorite game of collection agencies is to mis-report the date of first delinquency (a/k/a "re-aging") so that it stays on your record longer than the law permits.