Q: Can a physicians services company still bill months after hospital charitably written off services and "closed account"?
I received a bill recently for services that had happened close to nine months ago. I had been approved for financial assistance for those services from the hospital and received a letter saying that "my account [was] closed" around six months before receiving this new bill. Can someone still bill for services on something that has been "closed"?
A:
A Texas attorney could advise best, but your post remains open for four weeks. More details could be helpful here. But as a general matter, a patient could be billed by more than one entity for services received in a hospital. A hospital could have its primary billing and collections office, but in addition to that, there could be additional "satellite" entities that bill separately - physician's billing, radiology services, durable medical goods, etc. It's possible that might have happened here, but one would need to see your file to be certain. You could call the office that issued the bill and ask what led to a bill, following your understanding that the bill was charitably closed, as you describe. If you are unable to resolve, you could consult with a collections attorney for the best course of action. Good luck
Tim Akpinar
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