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Old 11-17-2009, 09:33 PM
Trish Trish is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MackMomma View Post
Okay, I read through the HIPPA dispute process, and that is definately the way to go for me with the majority of my medical collections. However, does this process work if you try to set up a payment plan with the OC/Hospital? As in, insert (a) would work, but I can I re-word it to say somethink like this?:

(insert a)
Enclosed please find my remittance of ($___) for payment in full of this account.

(insert this if the payment is less than billed)Please accept this payment of ($____), or XX% of amount billed as payment in full on this account. By cashing this money order/cashiers check, you accept this amount as payment in full.

This payment in full is for services as per the attached fee schedule from XXXX XXXX) Where would the "fee schedule" come from? Could I just come up with one and present it to them along with this letter?

Please note, my remittance is payable ONLY to (hc provider) and may not be signed over or transferred to any third party collection agency, as this would constitute an additional violation of HIPAA and State Privacy Act rules .
Copies of this correspondence and a copy of the remittance check may be used for any further actions with State or Federal agencies

........

Thanks!
No, according to whychat, you should not use the HIPAA letter until the account has been paid in full.
What you should do is the medical dispute letter first. Make sure it is a valid debt. Once you get the info back from that, contact the original healthcare provider and make payment arrangements. If this debt has been transferred to a CA, you need to ask that they recall the debt from the CA and you will pay them directly.
Use the HIPAA letter with the last payment to the HCP and then continue the HIPAA process from there.

If you feel that the bill is inflated, you can sometimes find a recommended fee schedule for your state's hospitals (you would have to google this. I am not sure exactly where you would find it). If you find that your bill is considerably higher than the recommended fee for your state, you would need to show this to the billing dept and see if other arrangements can be made.

Hope that helps.
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