Here's the story... I saw my doctor... he said I needed surgery.. I told him to check with my insurance, because I have no money - he said okay - he called me and said my insurance would cover 100% of the surgery - I agreed to surgery - surgery happened - 2 months go by - I get bills from all over the place... from my doctor, from the medical facility, from anesthesiologist - they all say that the insurance company took back the money they had given them... so I now I have to pay everything - the total comes to about 10k - and I DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY!!!!
What are my options here? If I refuse to pay, will they sue me, or will I go to jail... please help me.
well, its your responsibility to see what your insurance will cover- not the doctor's....
you wont go to jail, but if you dont work out a way to pay, it will go to collections, which will go on your report. for this amount you will prolly get sued and your wages will get garnished.
what you could do, i guess, is wait for all these to go to collections, then file bankruptcy
Ask him to give you the written approval from your insurance that made him call you and tell you that everything is covered by your insurance.
Once you have that letter, get a lawyer and sue your insurance company for denying responsibility after they gave their OK to this surgery.
Either your insurance is a fraud and needs to be sued or your Doctor is a fraud and needs to cover the fees because he lied about the fact that your insurance would cover the surgery.
I agree with Reena
It appears that the insurance company did approve this surgery, since you stated they paid and then took back their payments.
Most likely they did this for a possible pre-existing condition you did not disclose so they voided your policy or denied it. Insurance companies are notorious of taking your premiums, then when you present a claim they go thu your medial history to see if you failed to disclose this condition, thus denying the claims. But, this should be done prior to the surgery and approval, not after and then denied, since it they did this prior and stated not covered, at least you would be aware you would be on the hook.
Get the approval from the doctors office. Then find out specifically from your insurance company why they denied. Then talk to a lawyer to see if you would prevail if you sued or not. Otherwise, you will be responsible for these bills.
good luck
Here in the USA, anyone can sue anyone else for anything.
But yes, since the insurance took back the money (maybe you lied to them about a preexisting condition, and voided the policy?), you owe them for what they did.
You won't go to jail. They'll take you to court, and win - and they'll get a judgement. From that moment on, you have to pay the $10K, plus legal fees, plus interest, until it's paid off. They can garnish your wages, too, until forever, until it's paid off.
Yes your doctor can sue you. He's not going to accept a $10,000 loss. He will probably send your account to collections so that they can come after you. If you are employed they can get a court order to garnish your wages. You need to find out what your options are. Not paying and claiming that you have no money are not going to work in the long run.
What you fail to state is the REASON the insurer "took back" the payments. You have no case against the doctor. It was YOUR responsibility to check coverage and preapproval requirements with your insurer. That's the unpleasant reality.
They will sue you. You'll probably be forced to file bancruptcy to keep your assets.
Regardless of insurance, you are ultimately responsible for the bills.
You need to contact the insurance company directly.