Can a physician's billing department with hold filling a patient's medication b/c of an overdue bill? ?

Your steroid dependency is not so much due to a physical addiction like that of narcotics, but rather because steroid dependence alters the way your body secretes hormones necessary for life function. Steroid maintenance has to be tapered off in a very controlled fashion, although it is generally possible.

The prescription issue has to be a mistake. It is a severe breach of medical ethics to withhold pharmaceuticals from a patient while awaiting payment for other services (though if you do not pay for the pharmaceuticals, that's a different story). Talk personally to your doctor, and if it is a billing issue (again, other than paying for the pharmaceuticals themselves), report the office to the board of health and the AMA and find a new doctor.

If these are basic prednisone-type steroids, you should be able to take the prescription elsewhere and fill it rather cheaply.

This unfortunately is allowed but not ethical in my mind. Technically your doc is providing a service by filling the script, especially if he has to see you for a check up re the meds. If you are past due on your payments they can refuse to see you if they choose until you pay. I had the same thing happen to my sis, my parents refused to pay a doc bill for my sister and the doc refused to see her even though she needed to be seen every month for a serious condition, it was terrible. Sometimes the doc doesnt know what is going on so if you have a legitimate reason for not paying try to call him and speak to him..no one in billing, just him or his nurse and explain the situation. If you still have a problem call the billing dept and try seeing if he will fill it if you make a payment and set up a plan, prove your financial situation and they will probably take 20 and help you. Good luck