@BlessedHappiness wrote:Hello,
I have recently begun cleaning up my credit so I can move forward. Goal - pay off everything, get PFD, etc. The goal is to pay all items off, so I do not have to worry about zombie debt.
I had a major success and was able to have 9 collection accounts deleted this week because of my due diligence and questioning. Sharing in case this is helpful to anyone with a similar situation.
In my journey, I pulled my credit reports and found several medical collections totalling more than $3000. I have had insurance for many years and I know my coverage limits. Needless to say, I contacted a few of the CA's about PFD. They agreed. Well something came up and I could not pay at that moment. So, I called my insurance provider to get some more information on my benefits and ask about remaining balances owed. I learned from my provider that the medical billing companies agree to charge a certain amount based on their agreement with the insurance carrier. Often times, patients do not know that the medical billing departments "balance bill" the difference between the cost of the original cost of the service and the agreed upon cost with the insurance carrier. The insurance carrier said this is not kosher. They immediately said they would pay the balances charged to me (this is years after date of service). I immediately contacted both the medical provider and collection agency to state the situation. I called the original creditor first. They indicated that once the provider receives the insurance company payment they will instruct the CA to remove. Also, I contacted the CA and they said they will remove as it was not my responsibility.
I was due to shell out $2500 at the time (last week) and I legally did not have to. Please take time to read your explanation of benefits, question any outstanding medical bills. If I did not question it, it would have set me back a pretty penny.
In summary, all is well. I just wanted to share what I learned. I considered going the HIPAA route first. Then I said, let me just get on the phone and talk to these people and nicely, calmly ask details and explain the situation. I found that they worked with me.
Excellent info for those of you who have insurance and are dealing with medical CAs. Grats to your success 
