Question
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Indiana
My problem began about a year ago when I recieved some checks from my insurance comapany adding up to about 1,500.00 dollars. Right away I called the insurance company to see if they had made a mistake and they assured me that these checks were mine and the only thing that may happen is that the Dr.'s (who we were currently paying) may start sending us more bills. I called the insurance company 2 more times over the next day and when I felt confident that this was in fact my money, I opened a savings account and put the checks in the bank. Since then I have pretty much paid off my daughter's hospital bills (using the insurance money) and things were starting to look good for us. Now the insurance company sends us a letter saying that they made a mistake sending us the checks and we must pay the 1,500 back. They have not attempted to call, but we are recieving calls from a collection agency. We don't want to be jerks but we dont know what we should do or are obligated to do. Please help.
Beas
Answer
Do you have any evidence that you are legally entitled to this free cash? If not, return it right away.
Answer
I love people who think that their insurance company PAYS THEM to go see the doctor.
My best guess would be that your carrier paid the physician and facility for any and all medical bills regarding your case**************. the fact that you were paid was most likely an error. If you have turned the money over to the physician/facility, then their account for your case should have a credit balance- - they can either refund you so that you can pay back the insurance OR they can directly refund the carrier - so that their account can be "zero balance".
Either way, you are responsible to correct it and to make sure it gets done... you can't make one phone call and expect this to go away - it's probably going to take several calls between the physician/facility and your carrier.
Answer
Indiana
I think I was misunderstood, I don't think the insurance company should pay me to go to the Dr. My insurance company sent checks to me. I called them numerous times because I thought surely it was a mistake. The insurance company assured me numerous times that the money was indeed mine. One year later the insurance company came back with a letter telling us that they had made a mistake and we need to pay them back. The money was spent paying hospital bills. I need to know if there is some kind of regulation on how long they had to correct their mistake (especially since I tried to give it back as soon as I recieved the checks).
Answer
I hate when the carrier pays the patient, this often happens...... they probably thought you were turning the checks over to the provider's office, which sounds like you did.
They often do what is called a "post payment review" - perhaps they paid you and the provider and this was overlooked until a recent accounts payable audit.
My suggestion to you is to call the physician and ask them if they are in an overpayment status on your account. If they are, tell them your insurance carrier is requesting a refund from you**************. they may send the carrier a check or they could refund you and you can send the insurance company a check.
You'll need to call the provider/facility though to find out.