How the hell did that happen?

I have a very responsible system for my medical bills. Every couple of months I call and say I want to pay all balances over 30 days old and put them on a credit card that I pay off regularly. I used to pay bills each month as they came in. Then I would get refunds from the hospital all the time. So I gave up on that system.

For the record this week when I went to the doctor they said I didn't need to pay my co-pay because I had a credit balance.

So to my surprise, yesterday I got a statement showing a balance going back to February which had a note that it would go to collections if not paid asap. So I called this morning and paid three outstanding bills, one each from January, February, and March. The January one had just gone to collections. I asked about that since I knew it took about six months until the insurance company decided what they would pay. I was told basically they look at the visit date and not the date it was actually billed before deciding to send things to collections.

How helpful. I have never had anything in collections before. How mortifying. And why couldn't I pay all these bills last time I called in October?