Feb 15, 2026
Tim and his wife thought the toughest part of in vitro fertilization (IVF) was behind them.
But two years after fertility treatment at an Ann Arbor, Michigan clinic, debt collectors are chasing them to pay thousands for services the couple claim they never received.
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Tim called into The Ramsey Show for advice on how to put the issue to rest, once and for all (1).
He told co-hosts George Kamel and Ken Coleman that he and his wife considered paying the erroneous charges to be done with it, but felt that would be wrong on principle.
“We don’t feel like we should pay this certain amount of money that’s left over,” Tim said. “So we kind of seem stuck.”
Kamel and Coleman agreed, but zeroed in on one key challenge.
“This is partially on you, Tim, ’cause you’ve been letting this just fester for years,” Kamel said.
He and Kamel gave Tim a blunt lesson in how quickly medical billing disputes can spiral — and what to do about them.
Why IVF bills are especially prone to errors
IVF is pricey — up to $30,000 per cycle (2).
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Insurance coverage is limited or nonexistent in many states, meaning patients pay large out-of-pocket sums under intense emotional and time pressure.
Fertility clinics often rely on third-party labs, anesthesiology groups and outside billing vendors (3). A single treatment can generate multiple bills, bundled charges and overlapping procedure codes.
Errors can slip through unnoticed — or be paid to keep treatment moving.
Tim and his wife paid for the treatments they received, but flagged the disputed charges with the clinic back in 2023 and withheld payment.
The billing department “said they’d look into it,” but that was the end of the discussion.
There was no documentation forcing the billing provider to correct the record. Then collection notices started coming.
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Kamel and Coleman said the couple’s mistake was letting the billing issue drag on unresolved.
Paying part of a bill while hoping the rest gets fixed later often backfires. Once charges are sent to collections, your leverage drops dramatically.
The hosts stressed that informal conversations aren’t enough. Phone calls don’t protect patients unless they’re backed up in writing.
Worse still, Tim revealed that the physician who treated them at the clinic was a family friend who could have intervened on their behalf, and they never asked him to do so.
Coleman and Kamel were flummoxed.
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Tim protested that the billing department wasn’t the physician’s area, but Coleman noted that a doctor’s written confirmation that specific procedures were never performed could have carried significant weight in challenging the charges.
“You’re in the right,” Coleman told Tim. “But you gave up too soon.”
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What they can still do now — even in collections
This case isn’t just about IVF. It applies to any high-cost medical bill where patients feel pressured to pay first and ask questions later.
The hosts laid out a step-by-step path patients should follow to deal with unfair billing charges (and possibly avoid them altogether):
Demand an itemized bill from the provider and immediately flag errors.
The bill should list:
- procedure codes
- service date(s)
- charge(s) for treatment(s).
If the bill includes services that never happened, report it.
If errors aren’t addressed promptly, be relentless and document everything.
Emails, certified letters, and call logs matter. As one host put it, the goal is to become “the squeaky wheel they want off their desk.”
Escalate to corporate billing if your concern isn’t resolved.
Tim noted the Ann Arbor fertility clinic he and his wife used shut down. But it is part of a corporate chain that continues to operate elsewhere. That means a corporate billing office exists — and can correct records tied to a closed location.
Request a debt validation letter.
Under federal law, consumers have the right to demand proof that a debt is valid.
Ask for a compliance audit.
Medical billing departments take compliance issues seriously. A retroactive audit can force internal review — especially if the clinic location has closed or changed ownership.
The system may be complex but patients who document, escalate and refuse to accept vague answers still have a fighting chance.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
The Ramsey Show (1); Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (2); Reproductive Biology Associates (3)
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Monique Danao is a highly experienced journalist, editor and copywriter with 8 years of expertise in finance and technology. Her work has been featured in leading publications such as Forbes, Decential, 99Designs, Fast Capital 360, Social Media Today and the South China Morning Post.
