Should I have just paid it?

Last Thursday I received a letter from a collections agency stating that I owed them $223.25 The only other information contained in the letter was a name and a date of service of May 30, 2003. That is not a typo--May 30, 2003.

Now, despite the date, my first thought was crap, I forgot to pay a medical bill. For the last 2 years or so we have had private insurance with a high deductible. It rolls over every year and I can never keep track of whether we have met the deductible. Regardless of whether it's met or not, I'll get a bill stating that I owe the entire amount. A few weeks later I'll get a bill saying I don't. So, I thought maybe I missed one. Then I thought, wait--2003. I had insurance through my employer and they always paid for everything.

So, I called the collection company to see what information they had. They had nothing. I did a search online for the doctor's name in Las Vegas, where we were living in 2003. Once I found her information I started to vaguely remember that she was an OB/GYN that I went to see one year for my annual exam. I remembered there were a few things about her practice that I didn't like so I decided not to go see her anymore. Anyway, I called the office. They said my account was paid in full. The billing person suggested I contact the lab and gave me a number.

I'll recount with bullet statements:

• Called Lab Corp. Was transferred to a different department. They confirmed that a bill was not paid by the insurance company because my "benefits had been met". Spent several minutes waiting for her to find my file that had been purged. Was asked to confirm address. Their fabulous investigative team deleted the address on record--which was my address until 2006 and replaced it with an address I had in 1995.
• Called number I found online for Blue Cross. Was told I had wrong number and was transfered.
• Wrong number again.. transfered.
• Wrong number again.. No transfer.
• IM'd former coworker who explained that Blue Cross is no longer the insurance provider for company. Therefore he had no contact information.
• Called Lab Corp to see if they had a phone number, but they were closed for the day.
• Monday morning--called Lab Corp. Spent several minutes waiting for her to find my purged file and to tell me they did not have any insurance information on record.
• Called doctor's office who was able to give me a generic phone number and my subscriber ID.
• Called generic number and was routed to the proper department. Was told that they paid the benefit two weeks prior.
• Called Lab Corp. Waited several minutes for my purged file to be found. Was told that two specimens were drawn two weeks apart and sent to the lab.
• Remembered the biggest reason I didn't go back to that doctor's office for subsequent exams--the nurse botched the pap smear and I had to go back to have another specimen collected.
• Contacted the doctor's office to have them send a letter to Lab Corp stating that the second collection was a redraw and shouldn't have been billed to me or my insurance company.
• Received call from doctor's office stating they called Lab Corp to get an address to mail the letter, but the person couldn't find me in the system.
• Called Lab Corp back--waited for them to find my purged file. Obtained the needed address.
• Called the doctors office back with the address.
• Forgot to tell the doctor's office to send a copy to me. Called back and left a message with my fax number.
• Received a call from doctor's office stating they couldn't fax it--it had to be mailed for privacy reasons. Gave home address.
• Called Collection Agency to give update. Was told they really don't care what I had to say--they need something from Lab Corp.

Honestly, I'm pretty sure I left out some calls. I know I talked to the insurance company and the collection agency at least once more. All in all, I spent 3 hours on the phone.

Here's the EXTRA funny part. The original bill for the specimen draw was $92. The insurance company paid $12.10 for the first draw (so that's the allowed billable amount). The collection company was seeking $223. Un-freaking-believable.