Q&A: Sued by an Eye Doctor.?
Posted in Types on 16. Jul, 2010
Question by BlackBerry Fan!: Sued by an Eye Doctor.?
I just got a call at 9pm last night while I was at work. The call was to my cell phone from a guy saying I was getting sued by an eye doctor I had gone to last year for some laser surgery for Diabetic Retinopathy. He told me that if I paid a couple grand “in good faith” I would have some options. I told him I don’t even have a couple hundred to put together. All he said was that if I didn’t come up with any money they would follow through with the suit. Do I have any options in this? The insurance company I had at the time was supposed to cover this and somehow never did. Should I contact them or is it too late? Right now I don’t make enough money to pay a lawyer and don’t have time to be in and out of court. I have a wife and two kids, a house payment, a car payment and barely have enough money for a cup of coffee from Starbucks. Anyone have any advice?
Best answer:
Answer by Sir Richard
Get hold of the insurance company right now, tell them the situation and get them involved with this guy. Sounds to me like he’s trying to extort you anyway, so I wouldn’t do anything too hasty.
Don’t sweat it until you have to and at the moment you don’t.
Add your own answer in the comments!
this may be some scam.
If you’re being sued, at least you should know the ground/reasons of what you are sued for. You should check with the clinic/doc what they are suing you in the first place.
If it is due to some outstanding payment issues, perhaps you could work out some installment plan; if it is due to other reasons there are always ground to negoitate if you’re sincere.
Good luck.
Call your insurance company you had at the time and ask them why they chose not to cover the surgery. It could be that the doctor billed it incorrectly or something. Could it be your deductible? Also, are these the doctor’s charges or the facility charge? Meaning, your doctor may have been in network and covered by your insurance but the facility he uses to perform surgery is out of network and not covered. It could also be for the anesthesiologist. Find out, specifically, what they are billing you for.
This is a classic scam method.
Never ever give someone money “In good faith”. I would contact your insurance company and your lawyer immediatly about this.
Everyone had great answers that you should follow through and think about. You should try to find your Explanation of Benefits to see if it was covered.
Never pay anything to anonymous callers. First contact the doctor’s office and insurance company to verify what your account status is.
Never give out your bank information to someone over the phone, especially someone who called you and you don’t know.
A collection agency (if there really is one) has to notify you in writing of the debt under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf
If you receive notification from a collection agency, then you should request validation of the debt. Do this by writing the collection agency a letter saying, “I dispute the validity of the debt. Please send me verification.”
I would also contact the insurance company.