mortified by past due bills

This morning I took Chloe to her pediatrician for a “sick child” visit. Before we got to see the pediatrician, I was mortifyingly called into the billing office – “You have a balance of $108. You need to pay this now.” I explained to the woman that if I had gotten a bill, I had paid it but that I’d be happy to pay it now. She then softened her demeanor and said “Oh, well then, you can pay at checkout.” Afterwards, I realized I had been presented onlywith an overdue amount – NOT a bill or a ledger detailing my account.

This bothered me on many levels. We’ve been going to this practice for 13 years. What reason do they have to believe that after all these years of paying on time I’m now trying to get out of paying my (not-so-huge) bill?

After our visit with the pediatrician, I marched back into the billing office and requested a copy of the bill – why should I pay sight unseen? And there it was. We (well, Rob) HAD payed the bill using checks from our Healthcare Spending Account, and the HSA folks BOUNCED OUR CHECK, despite our having plenty of money in the account. And apparently no one told us. We didn’t get any notice, no second bill. How was I supposed to know that the check had bounced, so I could work to rectify the problem? I was fuming mad at that point. Both my pride and my wallet ($25 bounced check fee?) were hurt at that point.

I was incredibly embarrassed that anyone would possibly think that I would write a check for something when I didn’t have sufficient funds to cover it. And now, I’m trying to get past caring what some lady in a billing office, who didn’t even have the decency to print off the bill for me without my having to ask for it, thinks of my financial practices. I’m sure she’s seen much worse and has forgotten about me long ago. (Right?)

balancing the checkbook