My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: NJ

I got a 4+ year old bill in the mail this week and it was the first time the Dr's office contacted me about it. They are billing me for visits that were not paid by the insurance company. My insurance was a HMO type with a copay.

My issue is the Dr's office was arranging for the authorizations from my insurance. The Dr was in network. They normally (never) would not treat me until the authorization was approved. They are claiming I had no authorization for the visits and are billing me 4+ years later. The copay was paid for each visit.

I have a couple of issues. First I think they intentionally did not get the authorizations because the insurance was only going to reimburse a small amount of the charge and I would not be responsible for the remaining balance under my HMO policy. The other issue is if they decide to legally pursue this can I insist on paying them what the insurance company would have reimbursed them?

Any other advice would be appreciated on how I should go about this.