didn’t do it, wasn’t there, can’t prove nothin’
Wall Medical Group, of San Francisco, sent me a statement with a “previous balance” of $1537. This was the first I’d heard from them, so I’ve no clue what the $1537 is for. (I have had no medical treatment other than dentistry since 2003.) Their billing department does not return my calls.
Just the other day one of the local TV stations ran a story on the growing problem of medical ID theft.
Apparently people without medical insurance are using “borrowed” SSNs and names to get treatment. Which not only means that someone else pays the bill, but that someone gets incorrect medical information on their record.
A quick Google turned up this version of the news story:
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/news_to_use/14733324.htm
The news stories seem to have been triggered by this:
http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/medicalidentitytheft.html
Seems it’s not that kind of fraud.
This week a human answered the phone at Wall Medical, and told me that the charge was incurred in August 2000. I did have surgery about that time. Wall’s claim was denied by my insurer, and they say they’ve been billing me ever since. Evidently the leprechaun assigned to intercept their statements died a few months ago.
Shortly after I first posted, I heard from someone else who has been getting dunned by Wall Medical for a seven-year-old charge; he says his insurer denied the claim because Wall did not submit it timely. I haven’t yet got in touch with my (former) insurer.
It appears that Wall Medical eventually gave up on me.