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Out of pocket medical expenses HELP

an's picture

So...I haven't posted in a while because I am trying to dettach but when it comes to affecting me and my family's finances I will not be passive.

The SKids had to go to the orthodontist for thier braces. The divorce agreement says that the out of pocket expenses aftre the insurance has paid are to be shared in half. Well...BB paid a 3100 in deposit and sent us the bill for that requesting that DH pays his portion. I insisted that he call the dentist, and after much do abot the HIPAA laws, the billing person said that yes indeed BB did pay 3100 but the dentist will pay her back the deposit in the amount of 3000 that they expect to get from the insurance leaving a balance of $100.

She keeps sending emails to see if DH has sent the check for his portion of 3100. I am livid at her - this is considered insurance fraud in my eyes. He is supposed to call her tonight. Any ideas?? How can we approach this issue with her??

Stepmomtogirls's picture

I would pay the dentist the $100, and get copies of all the bills, payments, and anything else to keep on file for when you go to court (you know BM will take you to court over this, its what they do). I wouldn't even talk to her about it, just have your husband pay the remaining balance.

Elizabeth's picture

We made an arrangement with the dentist to split the total in half, then we paid monthly. If you're like us, you can't come up with 3100 in the blink of an eye. BM agreed to pay half, then tried to make us pay all by claiming she never said that. Luckily, our orthodontist evidently had gone through that before and had gotten it in writing, with BM's signature. See if you can work out a deal to truly pay half. BM used to take SD, then they would ask her to pay (she was WAY behind on her share) and she'd turn around and tell DH HE was behind and try to get him to pay her share. Didn't work!

LONGTIME SM's picture

We had this problem with BM. Basically, she was to get 1/2 of balance only after insurance paid. We always made her send EOBs from her insurance or whatever insurance covered the children as proof of the balance. This of course infuriated her because she also wanted to make DH pay for portions that the insurance company had already paid. We held her to the DD saying that we could only tell the portions that were paid, written off and the reamining balance from the EOB. Since the EOB stated we were only responsible for 1/2 after the balance after paid by the insurance company there was not much she or her attorneys could do about this.

So I suggest that you write her a certified letter explaining that you will send your 1/2 only after you recieved the EOB from XYZ insurance company showing the unpaid balance as per your divorce decree. Don't tell her whta you discovered at the Dentist s office - let her hang herself - all the better when you ge tit in writing. If she persists then get the bill after insurance is paid from the dentist and send her $50.