Medical Collections

[shrcek]

I have 5 medical collections on my Equifax report. 3 of them are from the same CA and the other 2 are from another. They are not showing on my Experian report and I am unable to get TU yet. I have read the Why Chat's HIPPA procedure but I want to make sure I understand it correctly and proceed in a way that is applicable to my particular situation.

 

So, step 1 - opt out - done that.

step 2 - delete old addresses - NA as I have no old addresses that relate to any of these accounts

step 3 - send Medical Dispute Letter to the CRA.

 

Then wait for response.

 

Is this correct?

[calichick]

I think your Step 3 is incorrect, unless you mean the Pre HIPAA dispute letter?

 

Step 2, delete ALL old addresses no matter if it's not related to those accounts. The only one you should have is the one you're residing in.

 

BUT, wait until WhyChat confirms what I just said.

[kls0654]

Are you sure about deleting old address if these is not related to this collection account ?

[calichick]

That's just my opinion, but wait until WhyChat responds to this

[kls0654]

Waiting....

[Why Chat]

You only need to delete old addresses IF they are where you were living when the medical accounts were engendered. The instructions are, ( I thought) quite clear.

 

 

Next try to delete old addresses IF you have moved since the date of medical service,

[shrcek]

I think your Step 3 is incorrect, unless you mean the Pre HIPAA dispute letter?

 

Step 2, delete ALL old addresses no matter if it's not related to those accounts. The only one you should have is the one you're residing in.

 

BUT, wait until WhyChat confirms what I just said.

 

 

I think your Step 3 is incorrect, unless you mean the Pre HIPAA dispute letter?

 

Step 2, delete ALL old addresses no matter if it's not related to those accounts. The only one you should have is the one you're residing in.

 

BUT, wait until WhyChat confirms what I just said.

 

 

I have 5 medical collections on my Equifax report. 3 of them are from the same CA and the other 2 are from another. They are not showing on my Experian report and I am unable to get TU yet. I have read the Why Chat's HIPPA procedure but I want to make sure I understand it correctly and proceed in a way that is applicable to my particular situation.

 

So, step 1 - opt out - done that.

step 2 - delete old addresses - NA as I have no old addresses that relate to any of these accounts

step 3 - send Medical Dispute Letter to the CRA.

 

Then wait for response.

 

Is this correct?

Ok, so I have sent the initial dispute letter to Equifax and it has been received. I received an email today that says the dispute process has begun with a link asking me to agree to accept results of the investigation online. Do I want to do this? Do I need to wait for results by mail or does it matter?

 

My next step, as I understand it, is to wait for the results from Equifax. And then it depends on the outcome of the dispute. If the accounts are verified and I receive a letter from the CA with information matching my records, I can pay the OC using HIPPA letter insert A. If the accounts are verified and I don't receive anything from the CA, then I send them the Medical Dispute Validation letter.

 

Is this correct?

 

Also i did not include the dates of these collections in my initial post so I want to make sure that I am correct in using the HIPPA letter program and not the SOL letter program. First dates of delinquency are 4/2010, 9/2009, 3/2010, 5/2009, 7/2009. I live in WA state so I believe the SOL for written contracts is 6 years so i believe I am within the SOL on all of these. Also, one is showing as paid, the others are unpaid.

 

So for now I think I am just waiting for the results of the disputes and to see if the reporting CAs send me anything. Am I missing anything?

[Why Chat]

Are you saying you ONLY sent a dispute letter to Equifax?? Do these accounts appear on your other credit reports??

 

Otherwise all your steps so far are correct.

 

It is NOT a good idea to allow your disputes to be entered into the online system, so I suggest you refuse an on line response.

[shrcek]

Are you saying you ONLY sent a dispute letter to Equifax?? Do these accounts appear on your other credit reports??

 

Otherwise all your steps so far are correct.

 

It is NOT a good idea to allow your disputes to be entered into the online system, so I suggest you refuse an on line response.

Ok, I got my results from Equifax today. 4 out of 6 were deleted - yay! Thanks, WhyChat! Now to deal with the other 2. They are both unpaid and I have received nothing from the CA since I disputed with the CRA. So I believe my next step is to send each CA a medical DV letter, correct? And once I receive confirmation of receipt, I also send the follow up dispute to the CRA. Is this all correct?

[Why Chat]

 

Are you saying you ONLY sent a dispute letter to Equifax?? Do these accounts appear on your other credit reports??

 

Otherwise all your steps so far are correct.

 

It is NOT a good idea to allow your disputes to be entered into the online system, so I suggest you refuse an on line response.

Ok, I got my results from Equifax today. 4 out of 6 were deleted - yay! Thanks, WhyChat! Now to deal with the other 2. They are both unpaid and I have received nothing from the CA since I disputed with the CRA. So I believe my next step is to send each CA a medical DV letter, correct? And once I receive confirmation of receipt, I also send the follow up dispute to the CRA. Is this all correct? Correct

[shrcek]

Ok, so I sent the medical DV letter to both CAs. And got delivery confirmation back so I sent the follow up dispute to Equifax. After sending that, I received validation from one of the CAs. It matches my records so do I send payment and letter to OC or do I wait to see what equifax does with my follow up dispute?

[Why Chat]

Ok, so I sent the medical DV letter to both CAs. And got delivery confirmation back so I sent the follow up dispute to Equifax. After sending that, I received validation from one of the CAs. It matches my records so do I send payment and letter to OC or do I wait to see what equifax does with my follow up dispute?

Does the "validation" show a RECENT updated account statement from the OC ??

 

Wait to see what Eq does with the follow up diuspute.

 

As I understand it, the subject account has been deleted from every CRA except Eq.??

[shrcek]

The "validation" is just a copy of a print out of balance history, dates and description of charges from th OC. It is stamped "collection assignment" at the top and signed and dated 6/15/12. The most recent entry is 5/09/12 that says pre-coll letter.

 

Equifax is the only report this particular collection account is on.

 

Does that change anything?

[Why Chat]

The "validation" is just a copy of a print out of balance history, dates and description of charges from th OC. It is stamped "collection assignment" at the top and signed and dated 6/15/12. The most recent entry is 5/09/12 that says pre-coll letter.

 

Equifax is the only report this particular collection account is on.

 

Does that change anything?

Possibly-- when was the date of service??

Was this a Dr.'s office or was it a hospital bill.

[shrcek]

It is an anesthesia bill from two surgeries. One was jan. 2012 and the other April 2012.

[Why Chat]

It is an anesthesia bill from two surgeries. One was jan. 2012 and the other April 2012.

Are they valid bills?? Do you have your EOMBs from your insurance??

 

If your EOMBs show that you owe the charges ( patient responsibility) then pay the OCs with the HIPAA letter insert "a"

 

If your EOMBs show that you do NOT owe the charges, then send the OC the HIPAA letter insert "b" 1

 

http://www.whychat.5u.com/hipltr.html

[shrcek]

 

It is an anesthesia bill from two surgeries. One was jan. 2012 and the other April 2012.

Are they valid bills?? Do you have your EOMBs from your insurance??

 

If your EOMBs show that you owe the charges ( patient responsibility) then pay the OCs with the HIPAA letter insert "a"

 

If your EOMBs show that you do NOT owe the charges, then send the OC the HIPAA letter insert "b" 1

 

http://www.whychat.5u.com/hipltr.html

 

Ok, I sent payment to the OC with insert "a" and I traced the money order to see if they have deposited and they have not. They received it 5/23 so it's been a little over a week. Do OCs ever refuse payment? If so, then what?

[Why Chat]

It can take as much as 2 Months for the OC to deposit the money order. They sometimes can't quite figure out how to deal with it. They can't send it on to the CA because of the endorsement restriction. They can't refuse it because a money order is the same as cash and the State regulations prohibit them from refusing cash payments for services, ( these laws were meant to protect uninsured patients from being turned away because they had no credit cards or checking accounts).

[shrcek]

It can take as much as 2 Months for the OC to deposit the money order. They sometimes can't quite figure out how to deal with it. They can't send it on to the CA because of the endorsement restriction. They can't refuse it because a money order is the same as cash and the State regulations prohibit them from refusing cash payments for services, ( these laws were meant to protect uninsured patients from being turned away because they had no credit cards or checking accounts).

Well, to my surprise when I checked my reports today via the backdoor that collection entry is gone!! Only one medical collection left on EX that I'm waiting for results of the follow up dispute since they did not validate......16 more days. And then to deal with 2 charge offs that are proving to be more difficult.

 

Thanks for your help Why Chat!!

[shrcek]

TU success - All 3 medical collections I disputed with TU were deleted upon first dispute letter the CRA. This method works!! You mention HIPPA and they jump! I only have one medical collection on 1 report left and hopefully it will be deleted upon follow up dispute with EQ. Will know in about 2 weeks.

[SouthernTreat]

Congrats, shrcek!

[shrcek]

 

It can take as much as 2 Months for the OC to deposit the money order. They sometimes can't quite figure out how to deal with it. They can't send it on to the CA because of the endorsement restriction. They can't refuse it because a money order is the same as cash and the State regulations prohibit them from refusing cash payments for services, ( these laws were meant to protect uninsured patients from being turned away because they had no credit cards or checking accounts).

Well, to my surprise when I checked my reports today via the backdoor that collection entry is gone!! Only one medical collection left on EX that I'm waiting for results of the follow up dispute since they did not validate......16 more days. And then to deal with 2 charge offs that are proving to be more difficult.

 

Thanks for your help Why Chat!!

Ok, so I got the results of my follow up dispute on my one last medical collection and it was verified. Since the CA did not respond to the DV and the CRA verified after follow up dispute, what do I do now?

[Why Chat]

 

 

It can take as much as 2 Months for the OC to deposit the money order. They sometimes can't quite figure out how to deal with it. They can't send it on to the CA because of the endorsement restriction. They can't refuse it because a money order is the same as cash and the State regulations prohibit them from refusing cash payments for services, ( these laws were meant to protect uninsured patients from being turned away because they had no credit cards or checking accounts).

Well, to my surprise when I checked my reports today via the backdoor that collection entry is gone!! Only one medical collection left on EX that I'm waiting for results of the follow up dispute since they did not validate......16 more days. And then to deal with 2 charge offs that are proving to be more difficult.

 

Thanks for your help Why Chat!!

Ok, so I got the results of my follow up dispute on my one last medical collection and it was verified. Since the CA did not respond to the DV and the CRA verified after follow up dispute, what do I do now?

OK, so you have one account which you paid to the OC with the HIPAA letter insert "a" still reporting to one CRA??

 

File a complaint against the CRA with the FTC and the CFPB

http://whychat.5u.com/hipaaftccomp.html

 

Make sure you state that the CRA refused to properly investigate, the reporting CA did not respond to your letters and that this was an unknown medical account which had been properly investigated and deleted from the other 2 CRA reports. DO NOT say it was paid!!

[shrcek]

 

 

 

 

 

 

It can take as much as 2 Months for the OC to deposit the money order. They sometimes can't quite figure out how to deal with it. They can't send it on to the CA because of the endorsement restriction. They can't refuse it because a money order is the same as cash and the State regulations prohibit them from refusing cash payments for services, ( these laws were meant to protect uninsured patients from being turned away because they had no credit cards or checking accounts).

 

Well, to my surprise when I checked my reports today via the backdoor that collection entry is gone!! Only one medical collection left on EX that I'm waiting for results of the follow up dispute since they did not validate......16 more days. And then to deal with 2 charge offs that are proving to be more difficult.

 

Thanks for your help Why Chat!!

Ok, so I got the results of my follow up dispute on my one last medical collection and it was verified. Since the CA did not respond to the DV and the CRA verified after follow up dispute, what do I do now?

OK, so you have one account which you paid to the OC with the HIPAA letter insert "a" still reporting to one CRA??

 

File a complaint against the CRA with the FTC and the CFPB

http://whychat.5u.com/hipaaftccomp.html

 

Make sure you state that the CRA refused to properly investigate, the reporting CA did not respond to your letters and that this was an

unknown medical account which had been properly investigated and deleted from the other 2 CRA reports. DO NOT say it was paid!!

No, the one I paid the OC got deleted. This one I sent the CA a DV to which they did not respond and the CRA a follow up dispute telling them I requested DV and the CA did not respond and WWw verified it again.

[Why Chat]

OK, file the complaint, list all the steps you took and state that the other CRAs properly investigated this unknown medical account and promptly deleted it. Check your report and see if the account is marked as "disputed" if it is not, add that failure to follow the law to the complaints.

Edited June 10, 2013 by Why Chat