New Medical Collection Question

[Anonymous]

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@GiveJoy wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@GiveJoy wrote:

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@medicgrrl wrote:

Most insurance only covers a portion of hospital bills between deductibles, copays etc.  It might be faster to check your old financial records to see if you made any payments during that time period while you wait for your insurance to research it on their end.

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I never thought twice about the bills not having been paid. We only have a $900 year deductible and no co-pays and the hospital is in network and would have been covered 100%. But I am trying to get a copy of our EOB for these visits. I just think I'll have to call our insurance to get the copies.

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I was able to get EOBs from 3 years ago from an insurance carrier I no longer have simply by calling and asking for them. On top of that, the CSR could see when claims were filed before even requesting the physical copies of EOBs. She told me that if it had been more recent, she could have emailed me digital copies.

It only took 5 days to get them from that long ago. 

Realistically, you should have done this when I advised it in the first place, as it is your only source of truth about what you actually owed them. I sincerely suggest you do this today.

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I have requested the EOB's from the visits in question. However, the rep was only able to see one, so the rest have to be requested and will be mailed to me. That will take up to 15 business days to receive via snail mail. Judging from the one the rep could see, I am responsible for the amount owed for that particular visit and I know it was never paid as I wasn't even aware of this debt until receiving a collections notice.

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That's rather unfortunate, I know in some cases hospitals do not forward bills, and they definitely don't send certified. Assuming the other debt was also an amount you owed, then I'm with everyone else, pay it within the time period they specified and keep it off your reports.

[GiveJoy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@GiveJoy wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@GiveJoy wrote:

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@medicgrrl wrote:

Most insurance only covers a portion of hospital bills between deductibles, copays etc.  It might be faster to check your old financial records to see if you made any payments during that time period while you wait for your insurance to research it on their end.

---

I never thought twice about the bills not having been paid. We only have a $900 year deductible and no co-pays and the hospital is in network and would have been covered 100%. But I am trying to get a copy of our EOB for these visits. I just think I'll have to call our insurance to get the copies.

---

I was able to get EOBs from 3 years ago from an insurance carrier I no longer have simply by calling and asking for them. On top of that, the CSR could see when claims were filed before even requesting the physical copies of EOBs. She told me that if it had been more recent, she could have emailed me digital copies.

It only took 5 days to get them from that long ago. 

Realistically, you should have done this when I advised it in the first place, as it is your only source of truth about what you actually owed them. I sincerely suggest you do this today.

---

I have requested the EOB's from the visits in question. However, the rep was only able to see one, so the rest have to be requested and will be mailed to me. That will take up to 15 business days to receive via snail mail. Judging from the one the rep could see, I am responsible for the amount owed for that particular visit and I know it was never paid as I wasn't even aware of this debt until receiving a collections notice.

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That's rather unfortunate, I know in some cases hospitals do not forward bills, and they definitely don't send certified. Assuming the other debt was also an amount you owed, then I'm with everyone else, pay it within the time period they specified and keep it off your reports.

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Well, it took exactly three weeks to get the 5 EOB's, even the one that I was told I would get sooner, just showed up with the ones they said would take much longer for me to receive.

It looks like I do, in fact, owe the money. So, I went ahead and paid the collection in full yesterday. Now, I'll cross my fingers that they keep their word and don't report this collection. Thanks for all your help and insight lowkeyorca, I really appreciate it.

[RobertEG]

To address the prior question as to whether you can send a DV and then simply pay the bill prior to their response, the answer is yes.

What the CRA cannot do, if your DV is timely, is conduct collection activities, which includes negotiation of terms other than a simply payment in full.

Thus, if you send a timely DV, you can pay in full, but the debt collector cannot negotiate other terms, such as a settlement for less or a PFD offer.

The clearly-stated intent of congress when enacting the FDCPA was not to require response to a timely DV request, but rather to provide consumers with a reprieve from active collection on the debt, such as calls and letters, until the debt collector first provides the requested validation.  There is no period for or requirement to respond to a DV request.  You can thus place yourself in a state of limbo.....