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Step kid medical bills are waaaaayvto complicated

Wah-wah-11's picture

So a few weeks ago BM sends DH messages demanding he pay his portion of the SKs medical bills. DH tells her he has not seen any bills and she needs to send him copies of all the bills he needs to pay on. She of course refuses and says it's not her responsibility & he needed to contacted all the places and get copies himself. And he again tells her if she wants him to pay she will send copies. She says she will at the next drop off .. And she didn't & still hasn't. So I call the pediatritians office today and they tell me yes SS has a bill there but we can not have a copy of it without BMs permission bc it's in her name. I explain DH and BM share physical & legal custody, DH is responsible for insurance & by court order 50% of all their medical bills .. But no they can not give him a copy of the bill bc it's in her name. I said ok then I want something from your office stating we tried to get a copy of the bill so we could pay it & have a copy for our records .. They wouldn't do that either & gave the infamous "they need to work this out between themselves" ... Seriously?

Pretty sure that legally they have to give h a copy of the bill

Comments

twoviewpoints's picture

BM needs to send copies to Dh. The pay is in her name and mailed to her. The office doesn't have to release copies of bills they have under BM for one, as far as the office is concerned DH doesn't owe these bills and is not responsible in their office for the bill.

Unless arrangements are made with the office pre-kids appointment/services for DH to be person billed (or partly responsible for the billed services), as far as the office is concerned, DH has no billed services outstanding.

As Bm already took them, services have been provided, and account is under BM, she needs to submit a copy of to DH. He will pay her directly. Does your Co state the how-to that BM has to follow? Such as 'BM has 90 dys to submit copies of medical statement to NCP for reimbursement'.

Has your insurance paid their part of the medical claim on these current bills yet? Can you bring up online the kids under DH and see what the claim was, how much they paid on it and when?

Wah-wah-11's picture

Co only states each parent is responsible for 50% of the children's medic bills. No specifics other than that. I can pulls up EOBs online but it's not accurate for how much is owed bc BM carries them on insurance too ..

Glassslipper's picture

We have the same 50/50 for medical expenses, both with BM and my ex. They both are responsible for the bills legally because the insurance is in their name, and is billed on their account. To receive payment they have to submit copies of the bills to us or else we refuse to pay.
One time BM didn't have proof of payment of a copay. She lost the receipt, tried to claim the bill shows a visit and all visits require a copay so you owe half my copay.
NOPE! No receipt, no payment! For all we know it could have been the yearly physical that doesn't require a copay, or she could have reached out of pocket for the year.
If she doesn't like it, she can file for review with court.
If your BM can't show proof of the bills so you know what your responsibility is. DON'T PAY HER!
That's my take on it, but we're very black and white by the CO! PERIOD.
lol
Once my ex lost over 800.00 in medical receipts for DD.
His loss, he admitted "I fucked up, so I will just have to eat the cost...oh well."

Wah-wah-11's picture

During the divorce BM told the judge she emptied her retirement acct to pay for the kids medical bills.. Had no proof of it .. And the judge still told DH he owed her for half of the bills. His lawyer asked for proof and told her lawyer DH would not pay until she provided proof .. That has been years .. All she did was show checks that she or her mother wrote out but it didn't show whose bill it was written for..

Glassslipper's picture

Yea, that wouldn't fly with us.
It could be a medical copay for BM, you don't know till you see bills for the services with dates of service.
I'm sure the judge wants him to pay his half as he orders but he should outline what proof is required.
Our stipulation states "to be submitted to the other party for reimbursement within 30 days"
BM would save up a year of bills and submit them to us for repayment.
Lawyers said no!
Within 30 days, if you hold it longer than 30 days, it's too late to submit to the other party.
I think it's CRAP! that they expect your DH to just look at checks for "medical" payment and assume they are for his kids and not fake.
BM could go write a fake check to the local hospital right now and send a copy to your DH, claiming "I paid this" and you guys would be on the hook for half?
That's crap, I would refuse.

Wah-wah-11's picture

Some of the "checks" she sent copies of were her moms & it would be to a pharmacy or a doctor and on the memo line it would say for BM

Wah-wah-11's picture

I'm not sure how it's an issue bc the bills from this dr office use to coke to our house & she changed that .. They won't give anything saying we tried to get the bill

QueenBeau's picture

In our state, BM has to provide the bills within 60 days or something like that to get payment.

misSTEP's picture

This is all on BM. HIPAA rules are VERY strict and they could get in big time trouble if they gave out things with an unrelated adult's information on them.

If she wanted to get paid badly enough, she'd cough up the bills.

What does it say in the CO? Most of them require the one parent to give copies to the other parent.

Wah-wah-11's picture

I know the HIpPA laws but this is a legal guardian who by law responsible for the bill and they are refusing to help. It's not a bill for BMs care it's for the kid. She apparently could call and have it changed I go from us to her. She's not making payments and we are trying to.
There is nothing in the court order about providing copies to one another. I'm not sure where all the kids have medical bills but she's been hoarding them for years and just randomly starts demanding he pay on them & usually she wants him to pay her and not provide proof she has paid. I fact last time this came up was bc one of the kids had a huge bill that she didn't tell him about and she was taken to court over it and right before the court date her lawyer contacted DH and said DH was going to have to attend & it was going to have to modified bc he is legally responsible for half .. So we had come up with a few hundred dollars real fast to pay his portion to keep from going to court & pay his lawyer for the emails