Medical Collections

[AmEricadaBeauty]

I had over $5000 in medical debt in collections from 2 ER visits back in 2007 when I had no health insurance. I contacted the collection agency and sent up a payment plan several years ago. They never reported the total amount I had in collections to the credit bureaus since I was already in a payment plan. The unpaid amount reported on my credit report last month was $53 but this month all it was removed from my credit report along with the other paid collections from this same collection agency. I know I owe the debt and if I had the money I would pay them in a heartbeat. I hate owing anyone but if the statute of limitations has run out then I will stop making the payments and used that extra money for something else.

Here's my dilemma: the collection agency says that since this medical debt occurred at a state hospital (UMMC-state of Mississippi) then the statute of limitations does not apply. I'm confused because if the statute of limitations does not apply why was the other unpaid medical debt just removed from my credit report?

Anyone have any insight on this? or how I can find out any information on the truth because I am not convinced that the collection agency is right.

[pizzadude]

---

@AmEricadaBeauty wrote:

I had over $5000 in medical debt in collections from 2 ER visits back in 2007 when I had no health insurance. I contacted the collection agency and sent up a payment plan several years ago. They never reported the total amount I had in collections to the credit bureaus since I was already in a payment plan. The unpaid amount reported on my credit report last month was $53 but this month all it was removed from my credit report along with the other paid collections from this same collection agency. I know I owe the debt and if I had the money I would pay them in a heartbeat. I hate owing anyone but if the statute of limitations has run out then I will stop making the payments and used that extra money for something else.

Here's my dilemma: the collection agency says that since this medical debt occurred at a state hospital (UMMC-state of Mississippi) then the statute of limitations does not apply. I'm confused because if the statute of limitations does not apply why was the other unpaid medical debt just removed from my credit report?

Anyone have any insight on this? or how I can find out any information on the truth because I am not convinced that the collection agency is right.

---

Statute of Limitations and Credit Reporting Time Period are separate and unrelated ~ SOL is the period of time in which a creditor has to bring legal action and Credit Reporting Time Period is how long a tradeline stays on your reports.

I'd check the SOL for your state for written contracts, this is typically how medical debt is classified.

In terms of SOL not being applicable for some debt that can occasionally be true, for example federal student loans.   I don't know if it would be applicable in this case though.

Also I'll move this to the rebuilding forum for better visiblity.

[Anonymous]

Two things to note here. One - the CA *will* tell pretty much any lie they can in order to get you to pay up, including lying about whether the SOL applies. So you need to do all you can to i nvestigate that fact for yourself. Two - certain things you DO can reset the SOL. That usually includes making payments/payment agreements. So its very likely that the SOL has reset to the point in time that the payment agreement with the CA was violated.