Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

They can bill you as long as they want, then send it to a collection agency that can try to collect for several years.

Unfortunately, you must pay. (Whether you have insurance now is irrelevant).

When you get medical care, you owe for it. While some doctors as a courtesy may bill your insurance, the bill is yours and it is solely your responsibility to follow up with the insurer and be sure it is paid. You did not do that.

In some cases your insurer may still pay now, but there likely is policy language that required you to act sooner, meaning they will deny the claim as stale.

If the bill is large, see a lawyer about possible bankruptcy if the insurer won't pay. My office handles those.

You have to read what you signed in the doctor's office when you received treatment. Does it say you will be responsible for the bill if the doctor cannot obatin insurance payment. If so, The courts have held �Where a debt is not at once due and no time is specified for its payment, it is due and payable in a reasonable time or upon demand subsequently made and the statute of limitations does not begin to run until after demand." Scarboro v. Ralston Purina Co., 160 Ga.App. 576, 578, 287 S.E.2d 623 (1981) .

Where, by the contract of the parties, express or implied, the money or debt which is the subject-matter thereof is payable only upon a demand in fact therefor, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until an actual demand for payment is made. The demand, however, must be made within a reasonable time, which is ordinarily the period of the statute of limitations; but where the parties contemplated a delay in making the demand to some indefinite time in the future, the statutory period for bringing the action is not controlling as to the question of reasonable time.

So, in short, if there was language in your agreement that made you liable if they couldn't collect the money from the insurance company, the statute didn't start to run until they made the demand.

You should contact your insurance company to discuss the matter with it.

Assuming that the bill is for services rendered in 2008, the statute of limitations has not run yet. You can contact your insurer, but insurance carriers typically do not pay 1 or more years after the treatment if the claim was never filed. However, you can try. Often, doctors do not submit claims properly. If it was filed and denied, it was YOUR responsibility to dispute the denial with your health insurer. You may be able to negotiate this down (if you can get proof from your insurer that the claim was not properly filed) or you may be able to work out a payment plan.

Feel free to contact me if you would like assistance in resolving your obligation.

Rachel Hunter

Attorney at Law

[email protected]

(678)-687-9693

Admitted in Ga, PA & NC