Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia
I have been a patient of my doctor's for several years. About a year ago I incurred a bill. Since then I have been making payments every two weeks on the bill. When I go in to see the doctor I pay for the visit so no extra accrues on my bill. Although there was never an agreement on payments written up, I have been very consistent for an entire year and the agreement was initially verbal.
This last week, I had strep throat. I called to make an appointment. Nothing was mentioned about my past due bill when I made the appointment. When I arrived however a billing person I did not know was there and demanded full payment of the bill. She told me that if I did not pay I would have to leave. Being desperate to see the doctor, I decided to take the money for my mortgage payment and use it to pay the bill, figuring I'd just have to be late on my mortgage and incur fees there. My question is this: was it legal for her to deny me service (the balance of the bill would have been paid off in 2 months anyway)? And change the terms of payment agreement?
4 Answers from Attorneys
You have no right to force a private physician to retain you as a patient, so yes they can deny service. As far as changing the terms of a "payment agreement," you stated there was no agreement. The fact that you paid what you could (or wanted to) does not make an agreement (it takes two to "agree"). The staff could have let you know before you arrived, but that is a courtesy issue, not a legal issue.
The strep throat must've been pretty bad for you to take the money for your mortgage payment!
I hope you're feeling better!
Yes, unfortunately, its legal. Doctors are not banks and just because you were on the Easy Paymeny plan that does not mean that the doctor went along with it. I am surprised that it went on for as long as it did. Most health care providers are getting very aggressive and are now turning bills over for collection if unpaid for 30 days.
There is not much that you can do. The doctor may or may not know what his staff is up to. Next time, get an agreement in place before you receive the treatment.
I would write to the doctor and tell him what a poor way it was for his billing person to treat you. I'd then look for another doctor or hope that you do not get sick.
You didn't have any legal written agreement so what the doctor did was legal. Having said that, I'd change doctors under those circumstances.
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