In July 2007 I had a medical procedure. My ex husband was listed as the "responsible party" and so all of the medical bills were sent to his address. Finally in November 2007 I was contacted by my ex husband who had told me that I needed to call the hospital & remove his name as guarantor. I did so and found out that the hospital had mistakenly billed my secondary insurance company, and that the claim had been denied. I told them to file a claim with the correct insurance provider and contact me with any issues . I hadn't heard from the hospital or my insurance provider, so I assumed all was settled...until I got a letter from a collection agency in July 2008. I immediately contacted the hospital to find out what had happened. They said that the only record that they had on file was the phone call that removed my ex husband as guarantor and that because the account was now over a year old, they were not able to file a new claim with my insurance. I contacted my insurance provider who told me that they would accept a new claim as long as there was a letter of explaination as to why the claim was delayed. I then contacted the hospital and was told that they would not write a letter of explaination. I offered to write the letter and forward it to them if they would please include it with the new claim. They agreed. The claim wsa filed and the insurance paid their portion within a few weeks. However, because the original account had already been turned over to bad debt, the account (and the original amount) has been turned over to collections. I have spoken to the hospital in the last few days and asked that they please recall the collection so that I could pay off the account directly and avoid a blemish on my credit record. Surpirse, surprise, they refused. They said that they could not remove the blemish and that they were not handling the account any longer...so I'd better contact the collection company to resolve this issue. As patiently as I could, I tried to explain that this would've never gone to collections had they done their job correctly in the first place. Today I received notice from an attorney who claims that the collection agency has turned the case over to him to proceed with legal action...I want to get this settled, but I also want to avoid the blemish on my credit record...what should I do??

Get a written EOMB , ( explanation of medical benefits)from your insurance company.

Send the balance that is due to the hospital with the HIPAA letter, insert "a". Follow ALL the directions, especially about using a BANK MONEY ORDER, not a certified check, and printing the endorsement on the back;
http://whychat.5u.com/hipltr.html

make sure that you use THIS version of insert "a";
Enclosed please find my remittance of ($___) for payment in full of this account.
This payment in full is for services as per the attached EOMB from XXXX XXXX)
Please note, my remittance is payable ONLY to (hc provider) and may not be signed over or transferred to any third party collection agency, as this would constitute an additional violation of HIPAA and State Privacy Act rules .

Copies of this correspondence and a copy of the remittance check may be used for any further actions with State or Federal agencies

At the same time you should send this to any CRA where this account is reporting after you have opted out,
http://whychat.5u.com/OPTOUTINST.HTML

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

And send to the CA who has threatened you with legal action this;
http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html



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