5 days late collections

[jdz78]

I went through three back-to-back heart surgeries, two hospital stays, and additional procedures—all at the same hospital. As you can imagine, I started receiving thousands of dollars in medical bills from multiple departments and providers. I paid them as they came in, but once I could no longer keep up, I contacted each billing office individually to set up multiple payment plans, since the bills couldn’t be combined into one.

Several months later, I unexpectedly received a final notice from a physician group. This was actually the first bill I had received from them, even though I had been in regular communication with their office. It turns out they only send electronic statements for physicians bills—not paper. Because of the volume of medical appointments I was managing at the time, I had previously opted out of all electronic communications so I never received those.

Despite the confusion, I continued to set up and follow new payment arrangements. One of those was for a $700 balance, which I was paying at $50 per month. I never received any monthly statements or reminders. Last month, I went to log in and make my next payment—but the account was no longer found. I called their office and was told that I had been five days late, and the remaining $140 balance had already been sent to a collection agency. I explained the situation and asked for it to be pulled back, but they refused.

While I understand this may not negatively affect my credit, it's the principle that bothers me—especially after doing everything I could to communicate and stay on top of payments under extremely difficult circumstances.

Now I’m not sure which WhyChat letter (if any) applies to this situation, since it’s a medical debt that I was actively paying and only went to collections due to a very minor delay and the fact that they were not sending statements. I’d really appreciate any guidance on what to do next.

[Why Chat]

As long as you are opted out and since they can not report this-- I suggest you wait until you are contacted (if ever) by the CA this was sent to and send them (the CA) a letter like this one 

https://whychat.me/ltrcavalhipaa.html

[embertmorton200]

I had a similar scare with a medical bill that was only a few days late, and I learned that most providers don’t immediately send accounts to collections. Usually, they allow a grace period and send reminders first. It’s always best to call the billing office directly, explain the situation, and make sure they note your account as current.