HIPAA Dispute/what now?

[jwelch47]

On 12/08 I sent the HIPAA dispute letter to TransUnion and Experian. TU just sent word that they deleted but I recieved a letter from Experian today along with a credit report dated 12/14 that says this.

"When a medical bill is seriously past due, the provider may use an internal collection department, hire an attorney or contract with a collection agency to collect the payments, and this information may be reported to us since it is a financial obligation. Once the payments have been collected, the account will display as "paid/collection" and may remain on the report for seven years. By law, we cannot display certain medical information relating to physical, mental, or behavioral health or conditions. Although we do not generally collect this type of information, it may appear in the name of a data furnisher, for example "Cancer Center." To prevent this, we mask the names of data furnishers that provide us medical payment history when we provide your information to others.

This requirement does not extend to the payment hirstory that the data furnisher provides us. Your payment history with this creditor will be displayed in reports to others however, the company name will display only as "Medical payment data."

What do I do now? I'm not even sure who the original creditor is so I can pay them. It just says (my citys name)Health Park. Not sure what that is.

[jwelch47]

P.S. I also did an online dispute for this the start of november and it came back verified/updated.

[Trish]

They still never provided you with the information you requested. This happened to me before.. ugh.. PITA
File an FTC complaint stating that they didn't provide you with what you requested. Send a copy of the FTC complaint along with another medical dispute letter stating this is the 2nd time you are requesting this information.

And there is NO other identifying info for you to figure out who the OC is?
I know the CRAs mask medical accts......but YOU (being that it's your report) should be able to see the info and they should be able to provide it to you. Oy...

[jwelch47]

How do I properly file an FTC complaint? Can I do that online? How in depth do I get about the complaint, should I list the CA and account number and state that I disputed once, then asked for name and address of medical provider, date and type of service, who service was for, and who provided info, and that none of that was addressed? Sorry, I'm not familiar with FTC complaints at all.

Also do I send basically the same HIPAA letter as the first, only stating that this is my second attempt to obtain the info?

[Trish]

Originally Posted by jwelch47

How do I properly file an FTC complaint? Can I do that online? How in depth do I get about the complaint, should I list the CA and account number and state that I disputed once, then asked for name and address of medical provider, date and type of service, who service was for, and who provided info, and that none of that was addressed? Sorry, I'm not familiar with FTC complaints at all.

Also do I send basically the same HIPAA letter as the first, only stating that this is my second attempt to obtain the info?

You can go to their website and they have a very easy online complaint form...
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

You do not need to list account numbers or CR# (and never give out your ss#)...but list the problem in detail... why you sent the dispute, what you asked for and what you got instead.
*important* Right before you submit the complaint (on your last page - I think it's where you verify what you've written)....PRINT it THEN. If you wait until after you submit, you won't be able to print your complaint (it's stupid but that's the way their form works). Otherwise you just get a "thank you for your submission" page with a complaint #......but no details. So print before you submit!

And yes just send the exact same medical dispute letter but at the top state this is your second attempt at requesting the information. You can state you didn't receive any info you requested and therefore you have filed an FTC complaint and are requesting the info again.
You can (if you want) even state that if you do not receive the requested info that they should delete the TL since they are not doing a proper investigation in a timely manner.

[jwelch47]

Thanks Trish. Ok I just recieved a second letter from Experian saying "Please refer to the personal credit report you recieved for the name, phone number, and address of the credit grantor who verified this information. Pursuant to Section 61 1(a)(3)(A) of the FCRA, we will not be investigating your dispute again at this time. . . If you have additional relevant information that was not presented when you previously disputed the information, you may mail it to us and we will reinvestigate your claim. . . . Unless you send us relevant information to support your claim, we will not investigate this information again and you will not receive this notice again regarding this particular dispute.

Very helpful people. Anyway as I said before I already disputed this once and it was verified. I started this one before I read up on how to go about all this and I phoned the CA and asked them for validation. That was first of November. Then I disputed online. After that I sent DV letter to CA and they received on 11/28. I have not received anything back from them yet(I know they technically have another week left because I don't have any proof that I asked for the info in early november). I know the amount is incorrect, CR says $96 and they said on the phone its $190 or something like that and also it has 1 month listed under terms. This is so frustrating. Do I proceed to file an FTC complaint and send 2nd HIPAA letter or will they ignore it?

[Trish]

UGH.......I HATE Experian. :glare:
Yes, I would still do the FTC complaint and the 2nd letter.... BUT in the meantime (just since we pretty much know EX will refuse to investigate)......this is what I would do if you do not know who the OC is.... (I have had to do this before)..
Normally I wouldn't recommend calling a CA......but if you cannot figure out who the OC is, you need to contact the CA and just play dumb and simply ask who they are collecting for so that you can make sure it is a legitimate debt. Side step ANY questions and do not give them ANY information. Get the healthcare providers name and then say thank you and hang up.

THEN once you have the OC's name, contact them and ask them about the debt, how much it is for....etc. Then you can send the OC the payment along with the HIPAA letter..