Medical Collections

[danelleo]

I just pulled our reports from TrueCredit, it's not reporting on any of his reports. So I guess lucky us we get to pay it off. Hey I guess at least it's not on his report.

[Trish]

That's definitely a good thing!

What I would try and do next is talking to the OC/healthcare provider again and ask them to recall the debt from the CA. If the debt has only been assigned and not sold.....then they can do that. That way the CA is out of the way and you can just pay the OC without any issues.

BUT if they tell you no and try to refer you to the CA, you will have to use the HIPAA letter. From that link.....you can go to Why Chat's site and use the "Form letter to Original Healthcare Provider" with insert a.

Be sure to read the instructions right above the letter regarding endorsing the money order/cashier's check. (Do not use a personal check)

[danelleo]

Totally lost, maybe because it is the end of the day, but where do I find the HIPAA Letter at?

[Trish]

Here ya go. Why Chat's Credit Confusion - HIPAA LETTER

[danelleo]

Trish, I should write this letter even if it is not reporting to any CRA?

[Trish]

You know........it's been a while since I've done the HIPAA process.
Just to make sure I am telling you right (since the debt is NOT reporting), let me check something out and then I will let you know ASAP, ok?

[danelleo]

Sounds good Trish, thank you!

[Trish]

Ok, I just wanted to make sure. I personally have never had a medical debt with a CA that wasn't on my CRs......so I asked Why Chat since he is the HIPAA guru.
And per his instructions.....

You need to send the CA who has contacted you this;
Why Chat's Credit Confusion - Letter To Collection Agency

It may not be reporting for a variety of reasons.
It may be too old, it may be too new.
You may be in a State that does not allow medical accounts reporting
You may be in Mass. which doesn't allow ANY CA reporting without written authorization from the OC.
It may not be a valid account, i.e. it may be a written off discounted amount after insurance and the CA contacting you may be a "garbage" CA/JDB who obtained your data from a data miner and has NO direct authorization from the OC.

If you are SURE the debt is valid, and SURE that the CA the OC referred to is the SAME CA that has contacted you, then you can pay the OC directly with the HIPAA letter insert "a".
Why Chat's Credit Confusion - HIPAA LETTER
Follow ALL the directions, do NOT leave out any language relating to reporting as you do NOT want it showing up as a paid collection on your reports.

[danelleo]

Trish, thank you very much. I know the debt is my husbands. The part I just don't understand is that the OC claims they sent out letters every month from Feb. 07 til Nov. 07 and then they sold it to CA and we are just NOW being contacted about it? Almost 18 months later? I don't see how that is right. The OC told me the address they had on file, which was the wrong one to start with, it was my dh parents house and not our house that we were living in at the time. I asked my in laws if they had ever gotten a bill from the OC and they said no. So there is something fishy going on to me.

[Trish]

Hmmm........that is odd. You would think the letters would have been returned to them if they were sent to the wrong address. :confused:

Or if they were actually sent to your in laws.....surely they would have let you know. Not sure what you can do about that.......but either way if you know that you do owe the bill (have you asked for an itemized bill? If not, you should) then the best thing to do is go ahead and pay them. At least this way you are not dealing with or having to pay a CA.