Get the money! Excuses you can expect when your debtors don't pay their invoices on time--and what you can do about them.

Let's face it--residents and responsible parties are adept at making excuses about why they can't pay you. Have you ever heard, "The check is in the mail," or "I never got a bill." The better the excuse, the longer they can delay sending a check and the less chance you'll have to recover the money.

You must deal with resident/responsible party excuses early and effectively to get paid for the services you have provided. According to a study from the U.S. Department of Commerce, a balance that is a 90 days past due depreciates to only 74 percent of its original value. When the balance goes out to 180 days late, the study showed that the value drops to only 30 percent. This means a $1,000 balance is only worth $300 after 6 months--if you can collect it.

In dealing with resident/responsible party excuses, the more questions you ask, the faster you get to the heart of the matter. Persevere in asking the right questions and you'll find out very fast what the real issues are.

Here are some common excuses and strategies to assist you to overcome them and get that invoice paid:

1 "I never received a bill" or "I lost the bill." This is one of the most common excuses and the easiest to overcome. With fax machines and overnight mail, the days of this excuse delaying payment for up to 2 weeks or more are long gone. Isn't it amazing how many slow-payers' invoices consistently get "lost in the mail?"

If the debtor has a fax, you can fax the bill and ask him or her to read it back. If a fax is unavailable, send another copy of the bill via certified mail or Federal Express. This removes the "never got the invoice" excuse, as someone at the company will have to sign for it. For chronic slow payers, you might want to send all future invoices In this manner--it costs a few dollars more but the time and frustration it saves is usually worth it.

2 "The check is in the mail." Another oldie but goodie! In my estimation, 90 percent of the time this is just a delaying tactic. Here, you must find out exactly when the resident/responsible party sent the check and verify the address they sent it to. How was the check sent? Was it in the envelope you provided or did they address it themselves? The more you ask, the closer you'll get to the truth.

3 "I don't have any money." While it's always important to be sensitive to your residents/responsible parties' financial situations, this is too nebulous an excuse for you to accept at face value. It is critical that your business office probes to find out what the debtor means. Unless someone has filed for bankruptcy or has properly and legally spent down their assets to qualify for Medicaid, the resident/responsible party most likely does have some money. People pay bills in order of importance. How high a priority do you think your bill is on their list?

Ask debtors specifically why they have no money. Really dig deep here. You might uncover some assets that you didn't know existed, such as bank accounts, stocks, bonds, CD's or property. Can they borrow the money from another family member or friend? Can they borrow off a credit card to pay you? This way the debt is now the credit card companies' problem, not yours.

4 "I have a dispute with the services provided." Nobody is perfect, and sometimes the "dispute with services" is a legitimate statement. It is not legitimate when the first time you hear it is months after the bill's due date, during a collection call. If you were unhappy with a service, would you wait until you received a collection call to complain? It is your goal to find out specifically what the resident/responsible party is unhappy with, when he or she called and with whom they spoke. Ask for specifics here--what exactly are they disputing? Was it the food? Or the supervision? The medications? You get the idea.

5 "I don't owe anything." This is a common excuse in any issues surrounding insurance. Your receivables that involve insurance, such as a Medicare secondary, are usually complicated and time-consuming to collect. In most instances, you must collect from the insurance company first, which isn't always cut and dry. After the insurance company decides what is covered, it is the residents'/responsible parties' responsibility to pay the rest.

For instances not involving insurance, such as private pay and SSI, this is a very simple excuse to overcome. The party owes you the money or it does not. Ask the resident/responsible party why they think they do not owe the money. It might be a legitimate misunderstanding that can be corrected with a brief conversation.

Ethan Kosmin is a long term care accounts receivable consultant with Transworld Systems Inc. He consults on best payment arrangements with residents/ responsible parties and other collections issues. For more information, call 888-643-9658 or e-mail [e-mail].