If you have been in any hospital in the past 6 years, and are concerned about future hospitalizations, you need to read and understand the new MedFico "credit rating system".

Here is the link to some material I have prepared on this subject, I will update it as new information becomes available.

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

I hope the mods will "pin" this post in the forum.

on http://whychat.5u.com/medfico.html

should the letter also request confirmation of fulfillment of request within 30 days?

That way you would have a written record of agreement to compliance from hospital.

Or do you think this would cause potential disputes and more issues?

You also comment that it is unsure if this would be covered under the FTC statutes of the FCRA or FACTA or any other Federal or State Consumer Protection statutes.

Why would it not be covered by fcra and facta if deta is gleaned from CRAs and is in fact a form of consumer credit reporting?

To answer your first question;
A CMRR receipt is sufficient to show that they have received the letter.

The letter I formulated is in acordance with the HIPAA rules regarding requests for rescinding permission, as I do not know of any ruling so far from the FTC as to the status of this new credit "rating" organization.

I have sent several letters to various groups and the FTC asking for a clarification, as yet, no reply.

Please Pin

The reason I asked about asking for confirmation is due to the fact you stated that it may or may not be covered by existing laws.

If it is later determined that it is not governed by existing law, my question was if there would be any value in having a previous letter of compliance before any ruling, opinion, offical FTC statement, etc. Would an existing agreement of complaince in not providing records (in the form of a affirmative responsive to letter from hospital) have any value?

The letter is designed to use the existing KNOWN statutes that DO cover the issue, i.e. the HIPAA statutes that allow for someone to revoke their prior signed HIPAA release.

At the point at which OTHER statutes may or may not come into play, then there MAY be additional compliance factors that could be addressed under THOSE statutes.

bump...if you guys haven't read this, you should.

bumpty bump...This really is important and should be pinned

if you have not yet read whychats post and site regarding this you should

Should this letter be sent to hospitals that our minor children have been in? We, as their parents, are signing the HIPPA release, so should we rescind for them too?

If you had any billing problems, whether or not they appeared on your credit reports for your children's services, then yes, make sure you state your childs name as shown on the MIB report. And make sure you obtain your childs report, and not just your own.
http://www.mib.com/html/request_your_record.html

here's the article that speaks of the danger of becoming "medical big brother":

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2008/01/the-doctor-wi-1.html#posts

that's the last thing we need on top of others looking into our credit score for a house or a car or anything we need

*sigh*

I have read several new articles on the subject by various Attorneys in different States who believe that IF the FCRA does not cover MedFico, their individual State's medical privacy laws will.

bumping up in the hope this gets pinned.

bumpty bump

DITTO

PLEASE PIN!!

Thanks for tapping me on the shoulder - sorry I didn't see this.

Another comment about MedFico from a Doctor's group, raises additional concerns that will send a chill down your spine.

http://whitecoatrants.wordpress.com/2008/0...l-credit-score/

I posted a link to this on the MedFico link on my website

Will any of this have effect on the way we do the HIPPA process that you outline WhyChat?

Other than to make it more imperative that any "medical" account, paid or unpaid is deleted from your credit reports, no, not really.
Although I am suggesting that those who have successfully obtained deletions get their MIB reports and send the "MedFico" letter to any hospital or clinic where they have had treatment within the last 6 years ( as shown on the MIB).

WhyChat,

From reading the news links, it's not real clear where the MedFICO bureau would gather its initial database. You seem to be indicating that it would pull/calculate from all 3 CB's. Is that the reason for getting deletions? It would seem that if a person has info in the MIB, that they could initialy populate their database from that.

Also, what's to stop CA's from using this as yet another tool to harass consumers through re-insertions from the "pass-the-buck", from one CA to another, tactics the CA's seem to be using recently?

The possible ramifications of "MedFico" are unknown.
I have posted the current information and a suggested method of POSSIBLY stopping any use of ANY NEW data transmission of medical billing information from any Hospital for ANY future "credit" reporting.

Please note that this "redaction" of permission under the HIPAA rules will only apply to NEW inquiries or data transmission and will NOT be applicable for a current collection item or debt that is unpaid. THOSE accounts will be on your credit reports and would likely be used in any MedFico "scoring".

The reason to get your MIB report is to send the redaction of HIPAA permission to the HOSPITALS who would retain records of past "bad debts" even IF they have been cleared up and are off your reports, but would still be available to the new MedFico data base FROM THE HOSPITAL'S RECORDS.

Is this something that the insurance companies are going to access as well in determination of writing health or life insurance policies ? Sounds similar to auto insurance companies pulling credit files and charging significantly higher rates if your credit score is lower than their preference.

I've started a Facebook group on MedFICO.


The Obama Administration, whenever it can find an HHS Secretary that can pay his/her taxes---their first priority is Electronic Healthcare Records.


I'm afraid the medical billing industry has a bigger priority in mind, and it's going to be getting MedFICO first.

If you haven't read whychat's info on MedFICO you should.

This has to be one of the most outrageous things I have ever read in my life. This whole thing makes my blood boil. As a medical professional one thing I have always been proud of is that the treatment of a patient with funds and the treatment of the indigent patient should be the same, and from what I have seen has been the same. To think that you could let someone suffer or die do to their financial situation or "credit worthiness" is unconscionable. If there is any suggestion on how to fight this from coming into practice please let me know. I would love to fight this! Credit repair is very important, but when you are literally talking about life and death it doesn't get anymore serious than that.

I think once AARP starts to see MedFICO actually being used as triage for in-patient care, you will see a BIG uprising.


Right now, no hospital is using FICO scores in triage, but it certainty is being discussed in the top floor offices at almost every large med center. My brother is a hospital admin in management in Texas hospital network, over I/T, and this subject has come up.