Paid Medical Collection...can it be removed?

[nursepower]

Apparently I had an $88 bill to a local hospital that I don't remember getting statements for. I checked my report earlier this year and found it. I paid it immediately and it shows as paid now but it's still a negative on my report under collections. Is there a way to remove it since I paid as soon as I knew about it?

[llecs]

Send GWs asking for deletion.

[Seb1010]

I paid off several last week and all told me that they would either have it deleted OR for me to dispute the account & they will not respond to the dispute which would then go in my favor (No clue if thats true but one of them told me that they have to pay to report it and if it is paid in full they have no need to invest money into responding to the dispute)  Hopefully its true

[DaBears]

+1, GW letters asking deletions or you can go the dispute route. however, I don't trust CA's!!!!

[nursepower]

Thanks for the help. What is a GW? And how do I get one?

[guiness56]

GW - Good will letter.  You write one that fits your situation and respectfully ask them if they will remove the account since it is paid.

[Brax]

I had good success recently with my local hospital when I called up and acted like a HIPAA nutcase. The amount of paranoia & fear instilled with HIPAA in the medical community is delightfully amusing these days. Worked much faster than writing a GW later.

[MyScore007]

Can you provide an example of what you said?

I used this line in a GW letter "Further I request under the Medical Debt Responsibility Act of 2013 (Senate Bill S160) that you delete the account from my credit report."

Don't laugh and I don't even think it's a real bill but a proposal but can't hurt asking right?

I figure give GW a month if they deny and try again.

[DaBears]

Communications in connection with the collection of medical debt are regulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), as well as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). Where the use of protected health information (“PHI”) is necessary for a covered entity or business associate to fulfill their legal duty, the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not prohibit such use or disclosure as is required by law.

[nursepower]

Disputed with TransUnion late last night. By this a.m. it was deleted. Trying now with Experian.