For various reasons, bills can sometimes turn up a year or two after a medical service is provided. There may be a problem in record keeping at either the medical provider or at the insurance provider, and the situation may require some detective work on your part. You might contact the medical provider to see whether their policy is to submit bills directly to the patient or to an insurance company. It is possible that they have submitted the claim before and had it denied.
Also, check with your health insurance company to see if the claim was received near the time of service and what the company’s decision about payment was at that time. Ask if you can resubmit the bill. The insurance company may request that you provide an itemized billing statement from the medical provider with a description and cost for all of the services that you are now being billed for.
Be proactive in solving this problem. You don’t want to find yourself involved with a collection agency if the bill remains unpaid.
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