Medical Bill was sold to CA but should have been covered by insurance

[Anonymous]

I have a situation where a clinic stated I owed them $500+ for a visit but it should've been covered by my insurance ( I verified the clinic and services rendered fell under my HMO's coverage). I was stupid and did not act immediately and now the debt has gone into collections. How do I go about getting this negative removed? If the insurer pays the clinic how do I take care of the issue with the CA? I believe it was actually just turned over for collections and not sold but I am not sure. I'm working on repairing my credit and can likely get a PFD with one of the other CA's for a different debt but I have no idea how to handle this one.

[llecs]

Welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest reading the following:

Common Abbreviations

Credit Scoring 101 - great for knowing what is in your credit score and to see how your score is impacted.

What Steps Do I Take - great for learning the repair process.

and Example letters - PFDs, GWs, DVs, etc.

I'd get a concrete confirmation with the insurer that they paid before sending anything. There's a chance then that the CA would just delete since it was paid before (technically via insurance) the CA was assigned the debt. If paid via insurance, and if the CA didn't delete, then you can always ask the OC to recall the debt and to have them ask the CA to delete.

If the insurance company declines the request, and if you decide to pay, then there are one of two options you can take (you can't choose both). The first is to PIF the debt with the OC and then to follow the HIPAA process to get it off. These forums don't support that info, so google for more info. The other option is to mail the CA a DV letter. If they verify and you agree, then mail a PFD. If they agree in writing, then pay it and they'll delete.