please some american help ... getting invoices from doctor

What you are experiencing is pretty much business as normal in the U.S. health care system. A simple visit to the hospital can result in two years worth of paper work: the hospital bills your insurance company, your insurance company denies the claim, the hospital bills you, you call the insurance company and they say it was a mistake, the hospital bills you again because your insurance company denies the claim again...this goes on over and over, with multiple bills from the doctors, the hospital, and various labs. If you are lucky and your insurance company finally pays, you may still get another bill from the hospital (or doctor or lab). The double billing may be because of the overwhelming complexity of the health care billing system, or it may simply be that they are trying to get double paid for one job.

Write a letter to each of the billing agencies clearly stating that your travel insurance company requires an official invoice for each claim, and that no payment can be made until such invoice is received. Most likely you won't get the invoices, but the billing letters will stop after a while. This is another standard part of our screwed up health care system.

Tom

 

Qbee, I think you misunderstood: F.W.D. paid cash for the medical services, but now needs a receipt (invoice) in order to be reimbursed by his insurance company.

"diplomate of the american board of urology" probably means that the doctor is a member of the American board of urology, which might be a professional organization of urologists.

Emails are easy to lose, or they get blocked by the doctor's spam filter. A phone call goes to a receptionist who may not know what to do about it.

My suggestion is to write a letter, and if possible from where you are, send it certified mail, along with a copy of the receipt they gave you, and explain why that receipt is not acceptable, and what kind of a receipt you actually need.

It's possible, though, that whatever receipt they gave you is the only kind they have.

 

No, I didn't misunderstand. He can call or write for the invoice, but the odds are low that he will get it overseas, and even lower that the insurance company will pay up if he does get it. Most likely he will spend more time than the money is worth, but then that is the cornerstone of health insurance.

Tom

 

HIPAA will make sure that doesn't happen.

Tom

 

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It's a US law that protects the privacy and security of patient information.

It likely would keep the doctor from releasing any information to an intermediary, but it would not prohibit the intermediary from forwarding requests or other information to the doctor on your behalf. It would be worth a try.

 

I wonder if the good Dr. Fusco might have some advice in this matter.

Nick

 

call the doctor's office and ask for the phone number for the doctor's billing service. then ask for the phone number for the hospital billing office. you will need to speak to those people directly, to request a copy of an official invoice. if you tell them it is required by your insurance company, they should be understanding and help you out.

 

Riiiiight.