I picked up a copy of the Notice of Privacy Practices today so I could under stand everything. Under the Payment section it says "In certain situations, we may disclose your health information to a collection agency if a bill is not paid"

How does the HIPPA process work on this since the collection agency has everything they need to varify it?

The way I understand it, you make the CA verify that you really do owe the debt by giving you information about the OC. You then pay the OC, and then the CA is no longer allowed to have your medical information, because there is no longer a debt. The CA is then forced to remove its record from your credit report.

The process is similar if you don't really owe the debt. The CA won't be able to verify you owe it and will therefore have to take it off, or it will verify with the OC, and then you have to tell the OC the debt is no longer collectable and therefore the CA is not allowed to have the information.

The CA is only allowed to have the information if they are trying to collect a valid bill, so if the bill is not collectable, HIPAA says the CA can't have your information, and if the CA can't have your information, the CA can't put a record on your report.

That's the way I understand it, anyway. Anybody else, feel free to chime in.

That is the way I understand it too, but I'm still waiting for the CA to remove the items since they were paid to the OC back on 8/25

Thanks! I got it now.

I have been reading so much and learning so much, I think I'm chasing my tail.

Sometimes I think I'm dealing with a litter box, myself.

I could tell from a distance that it stunk! Why did I come closer and get to digging?

But when I get it clean, my house will smell a lot better.

LOL!

Some day mine will be clean too.