What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA
Two ambulance services were used to handle an emergency in April 2009. My nephew's daughter was the patient. It is a complicated situation, at least to me. The patient was located in the jurisdiction of Fire Company A (FCA) so FCA dispatched an ambulance. Patient needed Advanced Life Support which FCA does NOT have so neighboring Fire Company B (FCB) also dispatched an ambulance. The ALS EMT from FCB rode in FCA ambulance to the hospital. Both Fire Companies submitted claims to nephew's insurance. Since FCA is not part of nephew's insurance network, insurance company paid nephew directly for the entire claim. Nephew then made the mistake of using this money to pay FCB since he got a bill from them first. FCB had been paid directly by nephew's insurance company for part of their claim and FCB then billed nephew for the balance. When nephew got a bill from FCA he was confused. He called FCA and thought he had it resolved. FCA kept sending nephew bills and late notices until he finally asked me to help him figure out what was wrong. A couple quick calls resolved the issue. Insurance company is going to reprocess claim for FCB and send them a check. Since they have already been paid in full by nephew, FCB will send the overpayment to nephew. In the meantime, nephew has paid FCA.
Problem: FCA has added a 35% interest charge to their bill which amounts to $203. They will not remove this charge. It does say on their invoices that "Delinquent accounts may be subject to interest penalty." Even though the "two ambulance" situation is very confusing, my nephew did pay the wrong bill and let the situation go way too long before asking me for help. Nephew is at fault, but OTOH, can FCA legally slap a flat 35% interest fee on the unpaid balance?
The insurance company does not pay any ambulance claim unless an Emergency Room claim is in the system at the moment the ambulance claim hits. There is an Emergency Room claim in the system now, of course, but, apparently the Fire Company claims got there first. And, the insurance company "system" does not automatically reprocess an ambulance claim once the Emergency Room claim hits. The insured must call the insurance company and ask them to do it. Who would ever know this??? Basically, the insurance company had the money to pay FCA for over a year but somebody had to ask them to release it.
Two ambulance services were used to handle an emergency in April 2009. My nephew's daughter was the patient. It is a complicated situation, at least to me. The patient was located in the jurisdiction of Fire Company A (FCA) so FCA dispatched an ambulance. Patient needed Advanced Life Support which FCA does NOT have so neighboring Fire Company B (FCB) also dispatched an ambulance. The ALS EMT from FCB rode in FCA ambulance to the hospital. Both Fire Companies submitted claims to nephew's insurance. Since FCA is not part of nephew's insurance network, insurance company paid nephew directly for the entire claim. Nephew then made the mistake of using this money to pay FCB since he got a bill from them first. FCB had been paid directly by nephew's insurance company for part of their claim and FCB then billed nephew for the balance. When nephew got a bill from FCA he was confused. He called FCA and thought he had it resolved. FCA kept sending nephew bills and late notices until he finally asked me to help him figure out what was wrong. A couple quick calls resolved the issue. Insurance company is going to reprocess claim for FCB and send them a check. Since they have already been paid in full by nephew, FCB will send the overpayment to nephew. In the meantime, nephew has paid FCA.
Problem: FCA has added a 35% interest charge to their bill which amounts to $203. They will not remove this charge. It does say on their invoices that "Delinquent accounts may be subject to interest penalty." Even though the "two ambulance" situation is very confusing, my nephew did pay the wrong bill and let the situation go way too long before asking me for help. Nephew is at fault, but OTOH, can FCA legally slap a flat 35% interest fee on the unpaid balance?
The insurance company does not pay any ambulance claim unless an Emergency Room claim is in the system at the moment the ambulance claim hits. There is an Emergency Room claim in the system now, of course, but, apparently the Fire Company claims got there first. And, the insurance company "system" does not automatically reprocess an ambulance claim once the Emergency Room claim hits. The insured must call the insurance company and ask them to do it. Who would ever know this??? Basically, the insurance company had the money to pay FCA for over a year but somebody had to ask them to release it.
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