I had to deal with the stress at my primary care doctor's office
A few days after talking to someone at my primary care doctor's office, I was still thinking about what happened and why I was so mad and upset. It was stressing me out because the woman in the billing department told me that my account would be going to collections soon. The last thing that I need right now is for that to happen because that just adds stress to my life. Stress usually equals more MCI symptoms. I am doing the best that I can right now and they need to be understanding! It takes a lot to make me mad! I have excellent credit and I don't need this small medical bill to ruin that!
I could not believe that my primary care doctor's office is treating me like this. I have always paid my bills on time when I had excellent insurance and they just need to show me some compassion and understanding. I decided to type up a letter and I addressed it to my primary care doctor. I explained about this recent phone call and this is part of the letter, “When I was working two jobs, I was making over $30,000 a year and I was always able to take care of any bills that I had. But since being on disability, my income has drastically decreased to only $14,000 a year. I'm doing the best that I can. I would appreciate my bill of $136.98 NOT going to collections. I don't appreciate these threats because it just adds to my stress which decreases my cognition and makes it very difficult for me to function. I will continue to make payments on this bill every month, but I can't pay more or I won't have enough money to live on, buy food and medications. Sending this bill to collections changes NOTHING because I'm not lying when I say that I can't pay the minimum on this bill! It is the truth! So, sending it to collections will just add stress to my life, but it won't change how much money you are getting towards this bill.”
After I typed and printed the letter, I called my Mom and I told her about the letter. She said that my doctor will probably never see it. I told her that I didn't care who read it as long as my bill of $136.98 does not go to collections. After I mailed this letter, I never got another phone call from my doctor's billing office. I did receive a bill each month and each month I paid it before it was due. I tried to pay either $20 or $25 when I could. When I couldn't pay that much, I paid $15.00 and that was better than them getting nothing from me. I managed to pay that bill in full but it took me awhile. I have no regrets about sending the letter because they shouldn't have treated me like that. During the time that I still had a balance, my doctor's office would not let me make any other appointments. Luckily, I never needed them!
I even thought about leaving the practice, but then with my cognitive problems, I would have to get used to a different office and doctors. I wasn't really sure that I wanted to put myself through that. I'm so proud of myself for taking care of this problem.