Dr. Elariny's More than 120 Days Past Due First Bill

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

Yesterday, I got my very first bill from Hazem Elariny's office.

It recited that it was " >120 days past due. " Chilling to the blood

of anyone who's about to apply for a mortgage, as I am.

I saw Elariny for a BPD/DS consultation in December 2000; he did

the pre-op work in January. We then parted. In July 2001, Elariny

billed my insurer for the consultation and pre-op procedures. His

office sloppily coded the bills as " treatment for obesity, " and BCBS

turned them down flat. Elariny's office had not communicated with me

at all, and had not asked my assistance, but I wrote to BCBS on my

own initiative and the bills were paid in August. Elariny then

proceeded to bill BCBS again for the office visit and scopes for

which BCBS had just paid him, and when BCBS rejected the bills as

already paid, he dispatched to me his first and only bill for my co-

pay (several hundred dollars, because he isn't a BCBS preferred

provider), with its bald declaration that it is more than four

months " overdue. "

The bill itself disproves its own claim of lateness, as it doesn't

list any prior billing activity.

I just talked to Elariny on the phone, and he defended

the " overdue " notice as " accurate " on the ground that the insurance

company hadn't paid him promptly (why didn't he bill them promptly,

or properly?)--and then he hung up on me.

My credit rating is sterling, and I have done nothing to tarnish

it. I am not amused by this situation.

I'm told that many doctors delay for months in billing insurance

companies, patients, or both. Do those other doctors also send

out " past due " notices when they finally get around to billing the

patient?

Kay B.

Lap DS 3/2/01

Doc: Not Elariny