Miscoded medical bill sent to collections
Hi everyone:
(FL)
I am experiencing some billing issues with my provider, and hopefully someone might be able to help me with resolving them. Any advice is helpful, thank you in advance.
I changed insurances April 2025 and my provider accidentally sent it to the old insurance company (even though I gave them the new information at time of visit).
They sent the claim to the old insurance company July 2025, and the insurance company denied the claim October 2025.
They then resubmitted to my current insurance company Feb. 2026 who originally denied the claim for failing to file timely, but then the provider resubmitted May 2026 and the claim was processed.
June 2026, I receive a letter in the mail stating that I owe $275 for this visit, which is a lot higher than the other visits, so I call them to find out why the balance is much higher and obtain a copy of the medical codes and billing statements. Essentially, for this one visit, they used a code that they have never used my 5 years there, and I believe does not match the services provided. From what I gather, this code is for visits 30-45 minutes long, but the visits are always 15-30 minutes, which is the code that is normally used.
I asked the provider via email to review the codes for this visit as I believe it’s incorrect and they let me know that the process takes about 7 days. That time goes by, and I send a follow up to check on the status, and they tell me they need another week. This pattern continues for 6 weeks.
I genuinely believe that this bill is incorrect, and I have tried reaching out to the provider multiple times to get this resolved, so I am frustrated that the provider just sent the bill to collections. I already disputed with collector and told them the situation/ wrote an email documenting the call.
Does anyone know what I can do in this case? I feel like I should report this provider for misusing a collection agency for a bill that they (1) took their time in submitting the claim and (2) were requested to verify the medical codes numerous times via email/phone call.
I am willing to pay what I owe, but nothing more than that.