Can I get a new collection/chargeoff taken off by paying it?

[Anonymous]

I got an alert email yesterday that my fico score had changed. When I checked it out I found that my score has dropped by 100 points (from 830's to 730's) due to a collection/chargeoff medical bill for $155 reported on May 2nd. I think this bill may be legit but just fell through the cracks. Yikes! My question is, if I hunt down this creditor and pay this bill, can they take the collection/chargeoff off my credit report, or am I out of luck regardless if I now pay it or not?  Thanks in advance.   

[Anonymous]

Pay it now and you confirm the debt is real.  

Call the insurer, hospital, clinic, doctors etc and find out why it wasn't paid by the responsible party.  Then use that payment to attack the collection agency.

[gdale6]

For unpaid medical debt that is reporting on your CR:

1. Call the OC and see if you qualify for Charity Care
2. If not then ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
3. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
4. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help

Welcome to myFico OP

[RobertEG]

If you can get the debt paid by insurance, you can then get the collection removed from your credit report without any involvement of the debt collector.

Under the new National Consumer Assistance Plan implemented by the big-3 CRAs, they will remove any collection that is shown to have been paid by insurance.