Question
Hello - I read a similar question and answer from you, but need you to clarify in this case please. My husband was admitted to hospital (pneumonia) in Europe, and they would not have admitted him had the insurance not been granted. It was. Many emails and phonecalls to this effect. Even when he was discharged, I asked once again if all was okay with the insurers. Some time later, we were contacted by the insurers who had found a loophole in the contract and were now denying payment to the hospital. The hospital is now claiming it from us.
Who is liable? We could not have had the treatment had the insurance not been approved.
We were so disgusted with the medical insurance company after so many years of paying and not claiming, that we since stopped our coverage with them. However, they just dropped the hospital, who is now wanting to get bill collectors onto us. Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Answer
Hi Penelope!
You probably should have not dropped your insurance carrier until after your appeals trying to get them to pay. They have no incentive to work with you when you are no longer a subscriber.
The only thing you can do now is to appeal their denial. Unsure what the denial was but you need to prove it wrong and that it was medically necessary for your husband to be admitted to the hospital. Back up your appeal with Dr's letters supporting this. The more information you send in an appeal the better chance for the insurance company to overturn a denial.
If you did get a pre-authorization or pre-approval then fight the insurance company with this information during your appeal. If you only received a verbal okay, then try to submit names and dates of whom you spoke to.
Insurance companies will find any way not to pay bills so you have to find ways for them to.
Look at your denials to see where to send your appeal, your time limit to do so and the procedure. Every insurance company is different so you must follow their appeal guidelines.
If you get bills from a collection agency at this point I would advise them that you are appealing their denial and ask for 60 days to do so.
Good Luck!
Tricia
