Medical Bill - proper next step?

[DidntKnowItMattered]

I have a dental bill where the doctor's office involved spent a year messing around and not getting the appropriate information from my insurers for a $1950 account. They were supposed to first file a claim with my medical, then my dental, but because they did it in the wrong order, it took a while to get the insurance portion. While we were waiting, they sent the account to a collection agency. A few months later, insurance paid them $1350, but I got a ding on my Equifax for $600.

Initially, I thought the only way to get it off is to withhold payment and send a PFD to the CA.

If I pay the Dr's Office directly, is there anything they can do for me? Can they recall the debt if I send a GW message, or is it completely out of their hands at this point? Is there any value at all to paying the Dr's Office?

What is the most prudent next move here?

Or is it a moot point because it will disappear from my credit report no matter what if I PIF (since it's not a line of credit?)

[guiness56]

Paying a collection does not make it disappear from your CR.  It can stay for 7.5 years from the DoFD.

You can ask the dental office if you pay them directly will they recall the debt from the CA.  They can only do this if they still own the debt.

If they say no, contact the CA and ask for a PFD.  If they say no, pay it and send GW letters asking them to remove it.

[RobertEG]

My approach would be to call the Dr's office and politely state that you understand the complexity of obtaining payment first via insurance, but that in your case, it was simple error in procedure, and that the debt should never have progressed to referral for collection while the process was still wending its way.

Ultimate satisfaction of the debt shows that if they had waited, there would have been no legitimate reason to refer the account as a delinquenct account for collection assistance by another.  So they can undo the damage by simply agreeing that the collection was premature.

If the OC is willing to send the debt collector a letter stating that their referral for collection was premature/ not proper at that time, and thus the reporting of the collection should be deleted, it would settle the issue.