Has anyone had this happen before ? I am not very happy about this. Background: I have always paid the dentist..always..been going to dentist for years. This particular dentist, however, demanded payment up front..right after the work..which I *guess* is fine..however, how many people honestly know how much a filling will be ? Most , no, make that all of the dentist I have been to before have billed me which I paid.

Yesterday, I get a bill for $209 for supposedly my deductible I didn't pay $18 months ago ? I know they always take the ded. up front. I have been to the dr. since then and the financial sec. has never brought it up.

I will be going over there to speak to the billing clerk in person. I feel this is outrageous.

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Similar thing happened to me when youngest dd was born. All the hospital bills, etc. were paid and done with. Then several months or a year later, I get a random bill from a doctor I'd never heard of. I called and found out it was the anesthesiologist. I was pretty irritated that they couldn't bill in a timely fashion.

I also got a dentist bill once I think over 90 days. It had been submitted to insurance and I don't know what all, but it was the 1st time I'd see a bill. It had a finance charge at the bottom. You better believe I called and told them I would NOT be paying any finance charge. I told them it maybe be over 90 days, but it was the FIRST time I'd seen it. I pay all my bills very promptly. They apologized and waived the finance charge (onle a couple bucks, but it was the principle of the matter).

Lisa

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Update: The dentist agreed to lower it by 50%...we shook on it. I just did not think it was fair to get a bill 18 months later.

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Cubmom2 I am happy to hear that you were able to lower your bill in half and I agree it was not fair to receive a bill 18 months later. Try to have a nice day. Peace. Catherine

What was the post mark date on the envelope? Just to be sure it wasn't floating around out there for 18 months thanks to the USPS.......

In July, I got a statement from my dentist for $1. It couldn't have been worth it to them after the paper, envelope, personnel and postage to "net" .56 after those costs.

dl

I wonder if there is a deadline to collect. I wonder if they overlooked it or why it took so long.

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I know how you feel I am getting a bill from my Doctor saying I owe them 239.00 from 2005!!!

Thats just crazy first of all I HAVE to pay the co-pay first before I see him, then he is claiming some pap smear charges WTheck ?? I have a Gyno I never ever had him do any paps,, he was only a yearly appt. for blood work.

Needless to say I have not and will not go back there I felt pretty Iffy with him anyway.

I had a similar thing happen to me several months ago. I got a bill from one of my doctors for a visit I had in early 2007. I paid it, but wrote on the invoice that if they can't bill me in a more timely manner in the future that I will take my business elsewhere. I explained that there is no way by now I could even remember what the visit was about and whether this was a clerical error or not. They never wrote back and apologized, but I felt better for having let them know that I DID notice how long ago the visit was.

if you have insurance and they don't file with your insurance in a timely manner, they generally have to write off the charges completely. always tell them to file the claim with your insurance company even a year later. they will tell the dr what they are going to pay and what you will owe and you could end up owing nothing because they didn't file the claim in a timely manner. if they refuse you can always get an itemized copy of the bill and file it yourself and then go back on the dr if your insurance company says you don't owe him/her anything and and the dr participates with your insurance. you shouldn't have to pay for their mistakes in billing.

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It would be very frustrating to have had your window of reimbursement from your cafeteria plan come and go and lose money you had banked specifically to pay for medical things because you didn't spend it in the right year.