Long story short(er), d/h was working for someone who apparently took a month off from paying health insurance premiums!! From what I can gather, this happened at least twice, with no notice to any of us. The company has since closed & filed bankruptcy. (Big surprise with such great tactics!)

I am now receiving bills and collection notices on a debt of a couple of thousand dollars for a visit by my d/d to the ER during one of these lapses. When we went to the ER, we were certainly under the impression we were fully covered by our insurance, and I know there is a procedure whereby they verify your insurance, usually within a couple of days. This was MONTHS ago, and now I am being inundated with the bills and even phone calls.

Am I just to eat this and pay this bill??? I am furious!!!!!!!! I would be grateful for any guidance if any of you have knowledge of the laws surrounding this type of employer misconduct.

Thanks so much.

Wow. Sorry that happened to you. I am just surprised that the hospital didn't verify that your insurance was active at the time. They ALWAYS scan it into the computer...so if it wasn't, they would have told you.

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E. Roosevelt

A company is temporarily shut down and did not pay employees? insurance premiums. Can the employees pay the premium to continue coverage?

Hope this helps some. Good luck.

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Thanks. I appreciate the information. Not sure why the hospital wouldn't have notified us immediately. I know they always verify coverage, so I am guessing the insurance company had not yet entered the cancellation in their system. It was the beginning of the month, so who knows.

Had we known, we would have paid the premium directly. As it stands, it is too late.

I guess I will just continue communicating with the emerg. phys services & radiologist to see if they will work with us. I know I can notify the State, since he collected money from employees for these premiums and misappropriated it, but it really won't change anything for us.

Amazing how people can do stuff like this and sleep at night.

Call Clark Howard! He is a wonderful consumer advisor. Is he on the radio in your state? If not you can listen to him on line at ClarkHoward.com Home: Save More, Spend Less and Avoid Rip-Offs on clarkhoward.com Here is his phone number. He is on the air from 1-4 on the east coast.
Call The Show:
Talk to Clark 1-4pm ET:
(877) 87-CLARK or
(404) 872-0750

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I worked in billing for a major US insurance company...if an employer paid late and the payment posted after the 30th of the month the insurance would be terminated, back to the previous paid in full month. The employer had the chance to reinstate, but had to pay all back premiums owed and pay to current, but the insurance would be reinstated with no lapse in coverage. It is possible that the insurance was termed the day your dd went in, but reinstated back with no lapse and the claims "fell thru the crack". Call the insurance company directly (number on the back of the card) and ask if coverage was active on the date of services. If yes, ask them to reprocess the claims. If the insurance was terminated on the date of service and never reinstated then there in not much you can do. COBRA is not an option. If DH is still out of work, check out state/county sponsored programs....they can often go back 3 months to cover claims. Sorry this happened to you and your family! Please let me know if you have other questions.

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"It's not about how much baggage you have, it's about whether or not you can carry your own baggage with grace and dignity."

I had something like this happen with baby number three . . . After having the baby, they tell me that the hospital doesn't take my insurance and they started sending me bills . . . Over $10,000 in bills . . . I contacted the hospital adminstrator directly and told her there was no way we could pay it, she asked if I could pay $100 a month and pay it off and I said "NO", this was baby number three and I'm not working . . . well I explained that I had insurance and it was current but just her hospital didn't take it and if I had gone to a different hospital that I wouldn't owe a penny . . . finally she said well if you could pay $500 today that she would waive all the other fees. I paid and it was over.

Sometimes they would rather have a little $$$ than nothing at all. Hope that helps you.

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Mommy to three wonderful boys, Justin (11), Nicholas (9) and Scottie (8)

I've worked as a Claims Analyst, Auditor, Trainer & Underwriting Manager in group health insurance. Call the hospital and see if you can negotiate a fee. If you were covered under a PPO ask them if they will negotiate your bill to the PPO allowance. This would mean a considerable savings to you plus the hospital benefits by getting their money much sooner than if they balance bill you. We negotiate many claims at work, the circumstances are different, however, have given this advise to friends with no insurance and the provider accdepted the negotiated amount.

HTH,

Laurie