I followed whychat's hipaa procedure.

The CA never responded to my DV.

Transunion removed the claim.
Equifax just reiterrated "we valided the claim".
The wording was the same as the first step
"this item belong to you . If you have additional quesitons, talk to the CA"

BTW, the amount being asked for is 2x the amount from my EOB.

What would the next step be?

marty

Marty,
Do you have a past thread that you could link to this or give more information on the account itself.
Date of Service
how is it reporting (paid or unpaid)

Correction -- equifax "verified" the debt belongs to me.

past posting

Should I just send a copy of my EOB to equifax (since the amount is wrong, the CA
also never validated the debt).

marty

Have you opted out??
Have you deleted old addresses??

You sent the initial dispute letter to the CRA's and got a "verified" response from Eq. did you dispute to the other CRA's and if so what was the response??

If you go back to your original post you will see that the directions were clear, if you did not get any validation from the reporting CA and the CRA "verified" then you need to send the reporting CA this;
http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html

and as soon as you have the green card back send Eq. this;
http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html#DISPUTE

I've opted out.
My "old addresses" are > 20 years old.

Transunion deleted.

I'm a bit puzzled -- I requested debt validation (with no response) and then comlained to the CRAs (1 deleted, one reverified, 1 doesn't have this listed).

The text of the letters changed some -- should I send another debt validation request? I would imagine at this point I would I would either:
a) complain to the FTC
b) provide proof to the CRA the debt is incorrect (which I would think trumps a CA attempt to collect a dept, since they can't possibly validate it).

marty

What do you mean by "The text of the letters changed some" Are you saying you didn't use the HIPAA letters as instructed??

How did you "change" them??

Sending the CRA proof of the VALIDITY of the reported account by proving that the amount is wrong is counterproductive.

You opted out,
You sent the CRA's where it was reporting the initial dispute letter
http://whychat.5u.com/hipaadisp.html
TU deleted and Eq, "verified" was it reporting to Experian??

You sent the reporting CA the medical DV ( what did you change??)
http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html

You received no response from the reporting CA and you sent Eq the follow up letter?
http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html#DISPUTE

Why do you believe you owe ANY $$ to the OC, does your EOMB state that there is $60. that is YOUR responsibility??

Why chat,
The text changed on the web site last month -- I sent copies of the previous text verbatim.

It wasn't reporting to experian.

My EOMB details $60 as "my responsibility" -- but I never got a bill for the correct amount.

marty

OK, yes I added the new ARRA language.

DID YOU send the follow up letter??

Yes, I sent the followup letter pre-ARRA language.

I followed the steps exactly.

Transunion correctly deleted, equifax would not.

What would be the next step? An FTC complaint?

marty

sorry wrong post

Possibly, how old is the account?? If your EOMB said that $60. is your responsibility, at what point ( if any) did you receive any communication from the reporting CA?? other than the entry on your report.

If the account is over 2 years old, you have been at the same address for 20 years, and you never received a bill from the OC or any direct communication from the CA and it is ONLY left on your Ex report, then yes file the FTC complaint and IN YOUR OWN WORDS send another dispute to Eq. with a COPY of the filed complaint ,following the directions here;
http://whychat.5u.com/hipaaftccomp.html

Chronology:

July, 2006 -- service

Fall, 2006 -- received $300 bills (no submittal to insurance) [Note -- I broke my ankle -- everyone else I dealt with seemed to know the process]

Winter/Spring 2006/2007 -- insurance paid 60% (when I told OC what to do)

Summer, 2007 -- received bills for $120

Winter 2008 -- collection attempt from agency, ignored

3/2008 (they were supposed to pay 80%, not 60%) -- this occurred after several months
of followup.
After insurance paid 80%, OC never sent me a new bill nor returned my calls (for correct EOB of $60)

Fall, 2008 -- noticed the derogatory reference on my credit report from different CA than contacted me last winter (for $120)

Winter/spring 2009 -- started the HIPAA process - transunion and equifax verified, CA didn't respoind to DV request, transunion then deleted on followup, equifax just reverified.

I couldn't pay OC since I never got a correct bill from them (though with the CMRR costs, this may have been a reasonable move)

Do I have any course of action with the HIPAA since the OC has an incorrect debt being collected (and I never received a correct bill)

marty

No, it is not the OC who has placed the account on your reports, it is a JDB ( junk debt buyer) who acquired the data from the original CA when the account was withdrawn/canceled/unverifiable.

The only possible HIPAA violations NOW would be against the reporting CA ( if they are a legitimate medical collection agency, which I doubt) or against the CRA who refused to delete.

File the FTC complaint against Eq. as suggested and send them the dispute letter, refer ONLY to the reporting, not your billing history.

Well, more on this.

I just received a later today from the ORIGINAL CA with a copy of the ORIGINAL bill.

I callled the OC and they said its out of their hands. They have records of the secondary payment, and said "speak to the collection agency". It appears they faxed the collection agency the OLD bill last week. (with the doctor, hospital, my phone number)

This is a CA in my state (NY), the CA with delinquent information on me who never contacted me is in the city of the accident (Las Vegas).

Since they weren't the CA with delinquent information about me, I don't know how to proceed.

marty

Yes, the one which sent me "collection letters" is not the one reporting on the CRA.
I never initiated correspondence with them.

But the OC just faxed them an "account statement" which doesn't equal the EOMB. (it doesn't
have the last insurance payment). So its an inaccurate bill, and they are trying to
collect an inaccurate bill -- and they know it (assuming they know how to add).

I'm not sure I understand the (a)(1)(A) sectioning in the following on the hipaa letter at:
http://whychat.5u.com/hipltr.html

(a) Duty of furnishers of information to provide accurate information.
(1) Prohibition.
(A) Reporting information with actual knowledge of errors

Should I include their fax and my EOB with the HIPAA form letter (using insert B, inaccurate bill).
Since I seem to be dealing with two collection firms, do I list them both?



marty

OK, let me see if I have this straight.
You have an account from an OC reporting on ALL your credit reports from CA #1

You disputed with the initial HIPAA dispute letter and got a response from CA #2 with "old" data from the OC.

You sent the medical DV to #1 and got a response from #2.
You sent the follow up dispute to the CRA's
http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html#DISPUTE
You received a "previously investigated" from the CRA's.

It seems obvious that this is the same CA operating under 2 ( or more ) different names.

Yes, send the HIPAA letter insert "b" to the OC , use this paragraph for insert "b"

This account is in error.
It has been paid, ( copy of proof of payment enclosed) and is a billing error.
It is not a valid bill and has been properly disputed, therefore I request complete deletion from all records and archives from both your agent (name of CA#1) and your corresponding agent ( CA #2) who has received recent erroneous communications from you.(copy enclosed)
In addition I require that you provide them with instructions that any further reporting, verification of existing reports or collection activity will be considered a violation of the medical privacy laws of HIPAA and subject to enforcement of penalties under the ARRA.

You got it right -- CA #1 is near the OC, CA #2 is in my state.
I asked for validation from CA #1 and got something from CA #2.

Do I say "paid" even with an outstanding balance from my EOB? (or do I say "partially paid").

Thanks a lot!!

marty

Sent a letter with insert ( b ) -- not sure how to proceed here since it isn't a "paid" account but the
OC is supplying incorrect information to the CA. Does this still fall under HIPAA? I haven't received a reply from the OC.

(OC say the EOMB is correct, but says "its out of their hands", speak to the CA). They faxed
an account statement to the CA which doesn't agree with the EOMB (the fax was for $126, the EOMB
was for $63 remaining).

marty

Just remember...since you ignored the dunning letter and did not dispute in a timely basis, they are not REQUIRED to stop collection activity or stop reporting.

It's very important to dispute as soon as you receive notice.

But the OC has an obligation to report accurate information to the CA.

If the OC does not report accurate information, and never sent me an accurate bill, what would be
the next step?

marty

After reviewing your posts I find that I misinformed you when I said to send the HIPAA letter with insert "b". I had not seen that there WAS an outstanding balance on your EOMB.

Send the payment that your EOMB states you are responsible for to the OC with the HIPAA letter insert "a", follow all the instructions.

Should I include a copy of the EOMB with the "part a" changing the
language slightly from:

In regard to the bill on this account in the amount of ($___):

To:

In regard for the remainder I owe on this account as per the EOMB ($63).

(since I never got a valid bill)

When I spoke to the OC, they said it was out of their hands, they acknowledged I owed on the account $63, but said the $126 I owed to the collection agency was
interest and fee (!). They also faxed a $126 "remaining balance" to the collection
agency.

I paid the OC creditor with a bank money order with the restrictive endorsement.
I was glad it was cashed.

Executing the followup CRA letters (http://whychat.5u.com/hipltr.html)
I notice there's no space for an SSN.

If I get my credit report off an online service, there's no identifying "report number"
quoted (that I saw) Should an SSN and information about the account be sufficient?

There's no instructions to use a purple font. Also do I send this CMRR (I'd rather save the money
and fall back to CMRR if I don't get a reply).

(BTW, the collection reappeared on transunion, my FICA dropped about 80 points
when this appeared [I also opened up some other credit cards last month, so there
was more activity]. Also the collection amount changed from $126
to $87).