For anyone who's read my blog, you'll know I got a call from a collections agency claiming that I owed over $100 for an outstanding bill for 'OB/GYN care' I received in June 2009. While I was indeed pregnant at that time, I was not seeing an OB and the only medical care I can remember receiving that might involve OB/GYN care was a trip to the ER for bleeding, which was completely paid off by September, so far as I can remember.

I demanded that they send me the bill, as I was unaware of it. They told me that if I just paid over the phone, that I could avoid any negative action on my credit history. Again, I told them they would have to send me a copy of the bill because I was not about to pay something that I had no knowledge of, when I believed my medical bills to be reconciled.

The collection agency was not able to give me any details of the service rendered.

In expressing my fury over this - I had thought we were finally done, and why was this coming up a full YEAR after the fact?!? We hadn't received any past due or failure to pay notices. - a friend of mine who previously worked as a credit counselor cautioned me to demand proof of service and not just a bill, which I, as a patient, have a right to. She further warned me that about seven months after bringing her twins home from the NICU following their premature births, she received a collections notice about a bill for circumcision - for her daugher. She went on to tell me that it is a sad fact that collections agencies prey on people who have had traumatic hospital experiences and illnesses, because so many bills come in from so many departments and in sad situations like ours, people just want to pay and forget about it, so they make up bills and often aren't questioned fully about them.

If this happens to you - and I know of at least 1 other bill I never questioned because I so desperately wanted to be done with it all - please question it and make certain you aren't paying more than you owe. It's absolutely sickening what people will do for money.

Yikes! I called about every bill I didn't understand. Made quite a nuisance of myself to the hospital.

We recieved a collection notice too a while back, and Henry was fully covered by the state, it made me furious. They did however send me a copy of the bill and a description, though the person I talked to was a total asshole. I hate them, fuck them for billing us for dead babies.

love to you honey...
M

This happened to me about a year ago but it wasn't related to the loss of the boys. It was a call about a Nordstrom account that I had (paid and closed) about 8 years ago. The account had been paid in full. I made sure all my credit cards were paid off when I moved to NC. The collection agency told me that I owed $200 on the card and with interest and penalities, the total was $1250. I told them that the card had been closed for many years and that I wanted proof that I had charge this $200 on the card. The agency told me if I wanted to settle, they could make me an offer for $350 instead of $1250. I told them I still wanted proof of the charges. I was told that if I requested proof, the settlement offer was no good. I would owe the full amount so it was just better for me if I would pay the $350 right then over the phone. Of course, common sense kicked in and I started getting all the information from them I could - name of the person I was speaking to, phone number, supposed account numbers for me, address, where they were calling from. We had pulled our credit reports when we bought the house and I didn't remember there being anything negative about the Nordstroms card. I then said that I didn't believe this was a real agency and that I was calling my State's consumer protection/fraud division. Turns out, this was a popular scam going around. The "agency" pulls your credit information and then picks a card and tries to convince you that you owe the money. The person on the phone even said, "maybe you thought you paid the card off but you forgot that last payment." Beware, they make the payoff seem really low so you will just pay it and make it "go away."

barf. On top of losing a baby, paying hospital bills seems obscene to me (we're in Ontario, Canada), so to have someone prey on people who are suffering after the fact is even worse.

I'm so so sorry that you're being harassed for possible scam payments. That really sucks.