Hello,

I began this process in March 2009, but didn't follow up in a timely manner. The baddies are 2 Paid (to OC) Medical Accounts reporting on all 3 CRA's. (I've never contacted the CA's, only the OC's.)

Here is what I've done so far:

March 2009: Opted out and updated addresses.
March 2009: Sent Pre-HIPAA Medical Dispute Letters to all 3 CRA's
April 2009: Received "Account Verified" letter on both debts from Experian & Equifax.
April 2009: Received "Account Verified" letter on 1 debt from TransUnion. They deleted the 2nd debt. (yay!)
**I did not receive a single thing from any CA's.**


Unfortunately, I didn't jump on the next step in the process, and it's been almost 6 months. My question is: Can I go ahead and send the "Alternate Medical DV for accounts that have been PAID to the Reporting CA and are being reported as PAID COLLECTIONS" letter to the CA's? Or do I need to start over since I let almost 6 months lapse?

Go ahead and send the medical DV to the reporting CA(s), be sure you send 3 letters, in the same envelope one for each CRA still showing the account on their reports. You send the regular medical DV to those accounts reporting as having a balance due, even if you have actually paid them;
http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html

You send the "paid" medical DV only to any CA REPORTING as paid;
http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html#PAID

In both cases you send the follow up dispute as soon as you have the green card back from your medical DV's
http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html#DISPUTE

Because of the time that has lapsed from your initial disputes, you should get new copies of all your reports, as although the accounts may have been "verified" by the CRA's they still may have been deleted.

Thank you so much for your help. Before I send my letters off, I just wanted to double-check I'm doing the correct steps in the correct order. The title of the DV letter to the CA says:

Alternate Medical DV for accounts that have been PAID TO THE REPORTING CA AND ARE BEING REPORTED AS "PAID COLLECTIONS"

Just to be sure, I paid the OC, not the CA. It is the CA reporting as PAID on my CR though.

Do I continue with this step: DV the CA? Or do I send the letter to the OC with Insert "B" because I paid them?


Thank you in advance for your advice.

Yes, I should perhaps change that heading. IF you had paid the OC with the HIPAA letter insert "a" then a different approach would be suggested, however, in order to try to get proof of a CURRENT connection and on-going communication between the reporting CA and the OC you need to send the medical DV for accounts reporting as paid. This would give an opportunity ( unless deleted with the follow up letter) to use the HIPAA letter insert "b" to the OC.

duplicate

I sent the DV letters to the CA's (one for each reporting CRA in the same envelope CMRR). I just got the green cards back, and I know the next step is to send this letter to the CRA's: http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html#DISPUTE

My questions are: Do I just include copies of the green cards as proof of receipt? Or do I include copies of my full letters sent to each CA as well? Also, can I include two different CA's and their green cards in the same envelope (CMRR) to the CRA?

Thank you!

Sorry, more questions:

Do I sign this letter to the CRA's? (I know NOT to sign letters to CA's).

Also, is there a need for colored paper/font as I did with the Pre-HIPAA letters to CRA's?

You can send the copies of BOTH the letters and BOTH the green cards to each CRA in one letter in one CMRR envelope;

as follows;
Dear CRA,
My name is xxxxx xxxxxx , my SS # is xxx xx xxxx.

I am sending this dispute certified mail return receipt # xxxx to make sure you receive it.

I have no knowledge or records of account # xxxxx and account # xxxxxx on my report # xxxxx.

I have disputed these unknown medical accounts with the reporting Collection Agents,( copies enclosed with proof of their receipt),as per your instructions in your response of xx/xx/xxxx to my dispute of xx/xx/xxxx and have had no valid responses.

Please advise me as to the names and addresses of each health care provider, the name of the patient, and the reported dates of service,as any account I might have had at one time would be obsolete.

If you can obtain this information, I also would need the names of the persons providing this data, and the manner in which it was provided in order that I may pursue additional legal remedies.

If you are unable to verify and refuse to delete, I will be filing appropriate complaints against you with the FTC for FCRA and FACTA violations,the OCR for HIPAA violations and appropriate State authorities.

Please note that as a recipient of private medical data you are also subject to the provisions of subtitle D of the ARRA ,SEC. 13407(1) BREACH OF SECURITY.—The term ‘‘breach of security’’ means, with respect to unsecured PHR identifiable health information of an individual in a personal health record, acquisition of such information without the authorization of the individual. Please note that the effective date for enforcement of penalties against you for this breach is February 17, 2009.

I also reserve the right to include your Bureau in any legal remedies I pursue.

Very truly yours,

xxxxxx

Thank you for your reply!

So before I had a chance to send out my follow-up letters to the CRAs with copies of the green cards and DV letters, I got a reply in the mail from one of the CA's I DV'ed.

They said they are deleting my collection from all the Bureaus!! Woo hoo!!

So, I'm assuming I should not send follow-up letters to the CRA's about this collection, and wait to see if it is deleted from my report. I still have the other CA reporting my other paid medical bill, so I do need to send the follow-up letter to the CRA's about that CA.

My question is: Should I wait to make sure the first collection is taken off all reports before sending my follow-up about the other collection? That way, if the first collection doesn't come off as promised, I can send the follow-up letters about both CA's in the same envelope and at the same time. I guess I am hesitant to send the follow-up about the one collection, and later have to send about the other collection if it doesn't come off like promised. (I do have a letter stating the CA will inform all bureaus to remove this collection.)

Ok, I sent the follow up letters and copies of both medical DV's and green cards to all CRA's. I received back all 3 green cards.

TU deleted! woo hoo!


I just received a letter from EQ that states:

"We received your request concerning your Equifax credit file.
However, with the information that you provided, Equifax was
unable to locate a credit file."

It then goes on to ask me to send copies of my SS card or pay stub and driver's license to verify my identification and address.

I'm very confused, because EQ does have my correct name and address on file. Further, when I sent my hand-written pre-HIPAA letters, they had no problem locating my credit file, investigating, and responding that my collections were verified. Why now are they unable to "locate my credit file"?

Please advise to my next step. Thank you!

Ok, so I just received another letter from EQ. They said they are placing a Fraud Alert on my account! I don't want that, do I?

Further, they said they would alert TU and EX to add Fraud Alerts to my credit files with them! What do I do now?!

They said nothing in regard to my collections accounts I had sent the follow-up letter with the DV's sent to the CA's.

So, what should I do about the fraud alert? Should I contact them to take it off? What about the other bureaus? Should I send EQ the information they requested in the previous letter to verify my identity? (copy of SS card and driver's license) Please see previous post.

Please help!

Yes, go ahead and send EQ the information they requested. The fraud alert won't hurt anything, in fact they're helpful. Leave them alone until you have completed your credit repair.