He said the family received a reprieve on the outstanding $30,000 medical bill that the province recently sent to a collection agency. After breaking the story of her family’s nine-month wait for Medicare cards to CBC News, McGee received a call from the owner of the collection agency hired to pay off the debt. He said he promised to put the bill on hold. He told her he had no idea about the backlog of Medicare claims in the province. “It’s a huge relief, to say the least,” McGee said Tuesday. While they still have “a lot of paperwork” to go through, McGee is thankful “the family’s personal finances will not be adversely affected now or in the future.” The McGees applied for New Brunswick Medicare cards in October and have racked up more than $30,000 in medical bills since then, including routine childhood vaccinations, an ER visit for a stomach bug and mental health care that required hospitalization. The family’s unpaid medical bills had been sent to Eastern Credit Management, a Saint John-based collection agency. About two weeks ago, the agency told the McGees they had 30 days to either pay in full or provide a Medicare number. If they didn’t, they would be reported to a credit rating agency. McGee said she has now been assured her report will not be sent to a credit rating agency at the end of the month. When contacted Tuesday, Eastern Credit Management owner Tom Creamer said he was prevented from discussing specific cases because of privacy laws, but said his company has the flexibility to work with debtors, even putting collections into stand by. “In our industry, we don’t know until we talk to somebody what the situation is,” Creamer said. “And typically we’ll try to address that with our customers. We don’t want to cause anyone undue stress or difficulty at all. So if we can help them work through the system, we’ll try to do that.” The CBC previously reported that the province is working through a backlog of Medicare applications due to a record number of immigrants settling in New Brunswick and a historic wave of Canadians moving east. A statement from the Department of Health on Monday said the effective date for Medicare cards may be retroactive, making it possible to be reimbursed for eligible services. But in the meantime, unpaid bills like the ones the McGees faced are being sent to collection agencies. On Tuesday, McGee said she and her husband, a nurse who lived in New Brunswick, were questioning their decision to move to the province from Maine. But after going public with their story, McGee said they were heartened by the outpouring of support from New Brunswickers — some even reaching out to help pay their outstanding medical bills. McGee said they’re not getting any money, but the offers have helped quell their second thoughts about moving here.
“The response to the article really calmed our fears there and made us feel like, yeah, it’s going to be OK. We just have to give it some time. The people here are nice, even if the provincial government is dragging its own feet of”.

title: “Family Receives Reprieve From 30 000 Medical Debt Incurred Pending Nb Medicare " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-04” author: “David Gardner”

He said the family received a reprieve on the outstanding $30,000 medical bill that the province recently sent to a collection agency. After breaking the story of her family’s nine-month wait for Medicare cards to CBC News, McGee received a call from the owner of the collection agency hired to pay off the debt. He said he promised to put the bill on hold. He told her he had no idea about the backlog of Medicare claims in the province. “It’s a huge relief, to say the least,” McGee said Tuesday. While they still have “a lot of paperwork” to go through, McGee is thankful “the family’s personal finances will not be adversely affected now or in the future.” The McGees applied for New Brunswick Medicare cards in October and have racked up more than $30,000 in medical bills since then, including routine childhood vaccinations, an ER visit for a stomach bug and mental health care that required hospitalization. The family’s unpaid medical bills had been sent to Eastern Credit Management, a Saint John-based collection agency. About two weeks ago, the agency told the McGees they had 30 days to either pay in full or provide a Medicare number. If they didn’t, they would be reported to a credit rating agency. McGee said she has now been assured her report will not be sent to a credit rating agency at the end of the month. When contacted Tuesday, Eastern Credit Management owner Tom Creamer said he was prevented from discussing specific cases because of privacy laws, but said his company has the flexibility to work with debtors, even putting collections into stand by. “In our industry, we don’t know until we talk to somebody what the situation is,” Creamer said. “And typically we’ll try to address that with our customers. We don’t want to cause anyone undue stress or difficulty at all. So if we can help them work through the system, we’ll try to do that.” The CBC previously reported that the province is working through a backlog of Medicare applications due to a record number of immigrants settling in New Brunswick and a historic wave of Canadians moving east. A statement from the Department of Health on Monday said the effective date for Medicare cards may be retroactive, making it possible to be reimbursed for eligible services. But in the meantime, unpaid bills like the ones the McGees faced are being sent to collection agencies. On Tuesday, McGee said she and her husband, a nurse who lived in New Brunswick, were questioning their decision to move to the province from Maine. But after going public with their story, McGee said they were heartened by the outpouring of support from New Brunswickers — some even reaching out to help pay their outstanding medical bills. McGee said they’re not getting any money, but the offers have helped quell their second thoughts about moving here.
“The response to the article really calmed our fears there and made us feel like, yes, it’s going to be OK. We just have to give it some time. The people here are nice, even if the provincial government is dragging its own feet of”.