Whychat, thank you for all your help and everyone else up to this point and forward!

Well, I have followed the Pre-Hippa process, the CRA verified. I got the Money order and sent the Hippa letter, they took forever to respoind, however I got a letter back today. I must say I was not pleased witht he result. I am ready to move on to step 3 with your assistance! What do you recommend I do from here?

Here is what they said i the letter:

September 26, 2007

George Washington
1232 IMINHELL, CA, 91666

Patient Name: Screwed Customer
Facility: Ignorant Regional Medical Center
DOS: 5/12/02-5/13/02
Account #: 555555555

Dear I Wish I Wasn’t Me:

I am in receipt of your letter to the Legal Compliance Department at Crap Shoot Regional Medical Center regarding account # 5555555. Central Financial Control is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tenet. Crap House Regional Medical Center is managed by Tenet. Your check for $1118.21 was included. I am returning the check to you for the following reasons:
1. The total balance owed on the account is $1,633.23. The principal is $1,118.21 and the interest is $515.02.
2. We do not accept checks with restrictions placed on them. Cashing this check would constitute accepting your terms and we do not agree with your terms.
3. Central Financial Control has correctly reported your debt as unpaid.
4. The hospital has not violated HIPAA. HIPAA, the medical privacy rule that became effective in April 2003, allows a health care provider to disclose information to a collection agency. HIPAA also says an overdue bill can be reported to a credit reporting agency. Collection of an unpaid bill is considered a payment activity under HIPAA. Thus, it is not necessary that you give your consent before a medical bill is referred to a collection agency or before a negative entry is placed on your credit report.
HIPAA says the healthcare provider or health plan may disclose only the following information about you to a collection agency or credit bureau: Name and address, date of birth, social security number, payment history, account number and name and address of the one claiming the debt. This is the information that was provided to Central Financial Control. Please send a check to Central Financial Control for $1,633.23. Once the payment is posted to your account, your credit report will be updated to reflect that the account was paid in full. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at (666)666-6666.
Sincerely,
Idiot Who Will End Up In Court
Senior Managed Care Specialist
____________________________________

Wow! Your OC sounds like a smarta$$. I know this isn't helping but it would serve them right if you ended up in bk and they didn't get a dime. I can't believe they sent the check back and all because of some stupid interest.

If the ONLY "terms" you put on the endorsement section was "for deposit only account of xxxxx" and did NOT add anything else, then the hospital is in violation of State statutes on medical billing.IF YOU ADDED "PAYMENT IN FULL" TO THE ENDORSEMENT, THEN YOU ARE SCREWED

File a complaint with your State AG office, and the Medical/Hospital regulation authority for your State.
Your complaint should state that you sent a bank money order,( copy front and back enclosed) which is the same as cash to the hospital for payment on an account for services rendered to you on xx/xx/xxxx. ( Do NOT send them a copy of the letter from the "idiot")

That the hospital refused your cash payment and sent you back the money order in violation of State statutes and the Federal Fair Billing Act.

Send a brief letter to the "Idiot Who Will End Up In Court Senior Managed Care Specialist" stating that you have filed the enclosed complaints and will be filing additional complaints with the OCR on HIPAA violations for refusal to accept a cash payment for services as mandated by State and Federal laws and continuing improper and illegal communication with 3rd parties in violation of the HIPAA privacy rules. State that their refusal to accept the payment does not negate the fact that you tendered the payment in full to them in cash equivalent thereby eliminating any possible continued business purpose of their communication with 3rd parties under the HIPAA privacy rules.Include this phrase: "I reserve the right to take additional legal action against your hospital and your hospital's agents for damage to my credit caused by your lack of compliance with Federal and State statutes"

Hold on to the money order. Check to see how much time you have to get it refunded or have it sent back to the hospital if they reply with a request for it.

Whychat,

Thank you for replying, I did include that statement , I thought that I was just supposed to copy and paste the letter and edit it with the information personal to me. I am so down right now, I can't believe I screwed this up, this was supposed to help me finally be able to get a car... At this point I am lost. Should I even bother sending out these other two letters?

WHOA!! The "statement" in the LETTER "payment in full" is OK, it is the money order ENDORSEMENT that can't be added to.

If you JUST used the "for deposit only" endorsement on the money order and did NOT add anything to THAT, then you are fine, and they are in violation, and you can go ahead with the letters.

Let me try to explain, a TRUE "restrictive endorsement" ON A CHECK that binds someone to accept LESS than what they believe they are owed can NOT be enforced without their consent.

The endorsement that the money order can only be deposited into the account of the named payee is NOT a "restrictive" endorsement as it does not require them to accept it as payment in full, it only requires them to deposit it into their OWN account.

Whychat,

Once again thank you! Whew!! Im glad you said that....Well the sad, maybe comical thing is I beat myself up after I mailed it because I FORGOT to write "For deposit only" on the money order. So in essence there were no restrictive terms whatsoever. I will now go forward with the letters and post them up for your approval. If I have to refund the money order before it expires, is it okay to get another one later, to pay them, if they request the money instead of "more trouble"?

WHAT???!!!.

Are you saying they returned an undeposited money order with NO "for deposit only" endorsement on it AT ALL???!!

That is even BETTER!!

Hypothetically, they could have signed over the money order to the CA, which would have cancelled out the HIPAA program.

Yes, you can refund the money order before it expires. If you DO send it back to them, at their request, ADD the "for deposit only" endorsement to the back.

I know this thread is OLD as all heck, but I would have loved to have known what happened with the OP next. I hate it when there's no ending, even if it isn't a happy one!

DANG!!!!