Civil Surgeons in NYC: A bad experience.

[libyloba 0]

Some time in January, my husband went to a Civil Surgeons in NYC and he paid $250 dullards for his examination and blood test.

We later received a bill for $780 dollars from Columbia Presbyterian. We called and asked them why the new charges, why were we receiving a bill from them if my husband went to a private clinic, he already paid it in total and we had the received to prove it? We then called Dr. Jean Simon (the surgeon) and he said that it was a mistake and that he will take care of it.

The next month we received another bill, we call Columbia Presbyterian again, and this time we talked to the head of accounting, he said that Dr. Jean Simon took the blood test and then sent it to them to analyzed it. He also said that they had this kind of problems with this doctor before.

We called Dr. Jean Simon again and he apologized and said once again that he will take care of it.

Since January, every month we get a bill. Here are my questions, is there anything we can do (like sue) to get this sorted out? Who do we sue? Do we just give up and let these people take advantage of us? If we choose to ignore the bills, is my husband credit going to be affected? Shouldn’t there be a law to protect the client from Scammers (that what they are) like this?

P.S. We got the DR from the USCIS website.

Thanks,

Liby.

Experience

[Mononoke28 137]

I'm not sure how you can take care of it but you need to try to fix this issue ASAP since it will eventually be sent to a collections agency and that can damage his credit dramatically.

I would personally stop all the calling and go there in person with all the receipts to raise hell.

Diana

[Heliosphan 1]

Go in person and have him document something that it will be taken care of, recanted, removed from his account. His word over the phone means nothing.

These bills are mostly 2nd and 3rd notices. Like the previous poster said this will soon be forwarded to Collections and you DEFINITELY don't want that to happen.

PS keep whatever receipts you got!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

It probably isn't a scam other than their fees might be higher than somewhere else. A doctor charging $250 to see you for the first appointment is not unheard of. They normally call it "consultation". That's just his fee for spending his time with you that day. The next appointment might be $95 or $50.

If you have blood tests done, or x-rays, or biopsies then you're charged by the place (hospital or lab) that does it. If it's an x-ray or scan of some type, then you get a third bill from another doctor (radiologist) who views it and writes up the report to send back to your doctor. It's very overwhelming. If you don't have insurance, you should try to find out if there is charity hospital or low cost clinic in your area in case you need to go in the future.

They could turn you in to the credit bureaus, but I think medical bills might be handled differently than not paying credit cards. I think different states probably have different laws about it too. Somebody with more experience with credit reports would have to comment on that.

I hope you get it straighten out. I would go in person to Columbia Presbyterian and be polite and say "we didn't know we would have these other charges. Is there someway you can reduce part of it since we have no insurance?" If you go in screaming that they are liars and cheaters, then you may not get much sympathy from them. They might work with you because most of them have agreements with insurance companies to take less than their fee, so maybe they would work with you in some way.

Edited May 9, 2008 by Nich-Nick

[libyloba 0]

It probably isn't a scam other than their fees might be higher than somewhere else. A doctor charging $250 to see you for the first appointment is not unheard of. They normally call it "consultation". That's just his fee for spending his time with you that day. The next appointment might be $95 or $50.

If you have blood tests done, or x-rays, or biopsies then you're charged by the place (hospital or lab) that does it. If it's an x-ray or scan of some type, then you get a third bill from another doctor (radiologist) who views it and writes up the report to send back to your doctor. It's very overwhelming. If you don't have insurance, you should try to find out if there is charity hospital or low cost clinic in your area in case you need to go in the future.

They could turn you in to the credit bureaus, but I think medical bills might be handled differently than not paying credit cards. I think different states probably have different laws about it too. Somebody with more experience with credit reports would have to comment on that.

I hope you get it straighten out. I would go in person to Columbia Presbyterian and be polite and say "we didn't know we would have these other charges. Is there someway you can reduce part of it since we have no insurance?" If you go in screaming that they are liars and cheaters, then you may not get much sympathy from them. They might work with you because most of them have agreements with insurance companies to take less than their fee, so maybe they would work with you in some way.

Well, The DR (jean simmon) first told my husband when he first called them that the $250 was supposed to cover all (not just the consultation), as per the DR himself. He did not mention any 3rd parties when my husband first spoke to him. Health insurance will not cover this expense as it is in relation to ones green card.