Interesting situation (financial)

[Broomstick]

I had a mouthpiece made in September. Never went to pick it up because it turns out I don't need it (won't help my situation).

Got a notice recently regarding me owing an $8500 payment.

A recent voicemail mentioned something about if I don't pick it up, I have to pay $8,500.

Not sure what I signed since I didn't read the fine print. 

Is this how it works? Insurance doesn't pay until the transaction is fully completed?

Am I supposed to go down and pick up something I don't need, just to make good so insurance will pay them?

Seems kinda stupid, but it looks like this is the situation.

[Dormeo]

The company that made the custom device for you does need to be paid, right? No reason why they should eat the cost. Meanwhile, the insurance company isn't going to pay for something you don't have. If there's a moral, I guess it's "read the fine print"!

[jaswilliams]

Why would insurance pay for something your not using or not received to do so would be insurance fraud... As the device was made especially for you it needs paying for as it cannot be used by anyone else (unlike a CPAP machine) whoever made it needs paying the amount agreed at time of order.


What is the confusion here you ordered it so either you or your insurance must pay. Who decided it won’t work for you without trying it that is just a guess, why was that not thought about before getting it made ?


Sorry if this offends I am not arguing about the price of the mouthpiece more your surprise that because you didn’t collect you have to pay

[SarcasticDave94]

There might have been a time to notify whoever was making this device specifically for you and cancel the order. 4 months later is too late. However, it was made for you the patient. And you are held responsible. Be an adult and find out what options there are, if any exist now. These options are very likely less now that 4 months have passed than there were in September.

In the past, I've been in a situation where I owed a several thousand dollar hospital bill. I'm unable to work and certainly couldn't pay it. I talked to various customer service and billing agents with them and found some debt reduction charity thing within their organization. I had to send my financials including tax info. They accepted my case and reduced it to $1.00. Bottom line, I had to act. Nobody else did the work.

[ApneaQuestions]

This is also why the American system has a lot of paperwork that the patient signs before getting ANY treatment (except in a life-death emergency).

The paperwork always says..
1) The patient agrees to pay for everything
2) We will try to bill your insurance for you but... if the insurance company does not pay up... the patient will pay up.
3) I f there are any bad side-effects or screw ups... don't blame us we did our best.

I think the only thing you can reasonably expect at this point is..
a) You pick up the device
b) The provider then bills insurance
c) You pay any applicable copays/deductibles etc

I don't want to worry you too much but..
If you accidentally went to a provider who is "out of network" for your insurance, you may even end up paying the entire bill.

We need to make sure we know IN ADVANCE who is and who isn't "in network" with our insurance.
That's how the system currently works in America and we all need to learn this and know this to avoid any nasty surprises.

Another thing I always do is to call the insurance before having anything done to confirm if the procedure and the provider are all covered or not.
Some procedures simply are not covered at all (for example cosmetic surgery).

It's a lot to think about (especially if you are ill at the time) but it needs to be thought about to avoid the nasty "surprise" later.

[Nightynite]

You need to address this, there’s the potential for this to damage your credit rating.

[Broomstick]

It's under control.

[farnsy]

Is it just me, or is $8,500 for a mouthpiece a little pricey? I'm surprised your insurance pays for jewel-encrusted grillz.