Message From Accent

I thought my jaw-surgery adventure was over. After all, I had my jaws broken last summer. And though the healing process took several weeks, by the time my braces were removed, I celebrated the finale by posting goofy pictures on this blog.

The End....right?

Not exactly. One random morning while having breakfast, Sean asked if I had opened my mail. I hadn't, so he picked up some letters while I continued to eat. There were the usual credit card solicitations, which I generally ignore. But there was an unfamiliar letter in the pile. The return address stated the company was called Accent. "What's this?," Sean asked. I had no idea, so I opened it with curiosity. It was a bill from Anthem, my former insurance company, that came to me via Accent, a bill-collecting agency. There wasn't a letter to explain the charge. It simply stated that Anthem over-covered me last year for my surgery, and that I am to pay them $4,575 for the difference in their clerical mistake.

What a shocking, unpleasant surprise. Must I state the obvious in that I always pay my bills on time? Why am I being hounded by a debt collecting agency? How can an insurance company cover a person and then renege on their obligations a year later?

There are so many questions. I had 30 days to respond to this claim. I called Accent, but didn't hear from them, so I wrote a letter rejecting the validity of their claim and sent it through certified mail.

This is a blundering mistake on their part, and I will not be paying for their errors. I am not sure how this process will develop, but it's certainly not the end of my jaw-surgery adventure.