Medical Collection

[Anonymous]

Here goes,

I had a surgery in June 2002 and did not have medical insurance. I visited the ER 3 times in a 2 day period and then had surgery. I have seperate medical collections from each visit, the hospital and the surgeon.

Collection Agency 1 - $704
Collection Agency 1 - $1051
Collection Agency 1 - $1412
Collection Agency 1 - $458
Collection Agency 1 - $5373

Collection Agency 2 - $5164

All collections for the first collection agency have seperate account numbers.

I can not pay all of these at one time. On my credit report it states they will fall off in Feb 2009. I wan't them gone though. Should I just DV the Collection Agency? Then if validated, try PFD's? I can not pay all of them at once, but can knock some of the smaller amounts off one at a time.

I have also heard of Disputing them, then offering to pay the OC, and once its done, they have to remove due to HIPPA rules. Anyone done that? Only issue with that is I dont have the $5k to pay for the 2 larger items right now. Can i do the Hippa thing one account at a time?

Thanks for any help, these are the last 6 collections on my account.

Darrell

[Anonymous]

I had hospital bill from 2003 that is still haunting me today because I did not know about doing the letters.

DO NOT pay unless you have agreements from that they will remove from report if paid in writing.

Also they do not take short pays on hospital bills from what I hear.

Hope this little bit helps.

But Feb 2009 is not that far away.

[SmartCookie]

I'm not sure if you would have any HIPAA backing due to your situation happening in 2002.

What are the DOFD/LA dates and is your state's collecting SOL?

Dependent on that, I would probably go to the OC and get settlement PFDs for the accounts, combining as I could as to what I could afford at that moment. 

Message Edited by SmartCookie on 12-19-2007 03:30 PM

[Anonymous]

HIPPA is retroactive for any medical situation. If they are putrting your medical info (even collections) out there, you can get them.(from what I understand)

The accounts were placed for collection 06/2002. On my TU report, it shows date updated 07/2006 for most, 11/2002 on one and 11/2005 for another.

The SOL for Indiana is 6 Years. I have never been contacted about these accounts, but i did call and talk to them in 2005 when I was trying to get some info to start making payments, but paid my lower amount accounts off first. Now i am down to these.

Would it be better to wait the 6 months until the 6 years is up and then dispute due to being past the SOL or did i screw myself when I called to get an address to eventually pay them?

From what i am reading on the HIPPA thing, you send a MO for the full amount to the OC. Once they cash it, you send them a letter demanding they contact the CA since the debt is no longer valid as its paid and the OC reporting a medical account is in Violation of HIPPA.

[SmartCookie]

Calling them might have caused an issue but let's hope not.  If it did, you'll find out.

You need to find out the actual DOFD/LA dates that are currently reporting.  The placed for collection and update dates are not them.  This is important regarding determining when the 6 year SOL is up and then to determine your best course of action.

You can try HIPAA if you're set on it but I personally think it's just going to leave your pockets poorer and potentially not delete CA TLs.  HIPAA did not grandfather actions prior to it's beginning.  If you want to go that route do so at your own risk.

Message Edited by SmartCookie on 12-19-2007 03:27 PM

[Anonymous]

Looking on my Equifax Report-

DOFD - 03/2002

DOLA - N/A

My Experian repoirt only has two fo them listed (the two over 5k)

Date opened - 08/2002             Date opened - 06/2002

Reported Since - 03/2002        Reported Since - 09/2002

Date of Status - 04/2002          Date of Status - 08/2002

Last Reported - 11/2002          Last Reported - 11/2005

Continue until - Sep 2008        Continue until - Dec 2008

My TranUnion has them as reported until Feb 2009

[Anonymous]

u may want to see if the hospital has some type of assistance where they can pay for a percentage of the bills.  my boyfiend had the hospital pay a 12000 hospital bill.  He was in the hospital for 3 days. He had just started a different job and insurance had not kicked in yet.  They should keep apps in the billing department.    It may not come off your credit report but it will bepaid.

[SmartCookie]

With a 6 year SOL I would sit tight if they are not bothering you and DV anything that you are notified of.  Don't answer any calls you get... and clean up your reports of outdated personal information before dealing with anything you want to deal with if this is a possibility for you.  I'm not implying not paying, I'm just suggesting holding off on 3-4 more months if you can.

If you pull EX and TU directly from their sites it will give you the DOFD/LA but I am guessing it is all going to be 3/2002.  For potentially around 15k on the table... I would spring for the extra $ and pull everything directly.

Had you ever spoken again with the OC (hospital) to see if they had sold these debts off to the 2 CAs, or if the CA's were just collecting on their behalf? 

[Anonymous]

All these reports are directly from the CRA,  i just pulled them to dispute some old stuff that was listed as still open.

I had 4 accounts removed, so these are the last ones I have in my collections area.

I have some accounts with lates I sent GW letters to, but no response.

I am in Iraq on a deployment, so will be hard for anyone to call me.

Why is the date listed as falling off 7 years, is that the standard and then you have to dispute if your state SOL is different?

Thanks for all the help.

I am willing to not pay or pay, I just want them off. I can't pay all at once, so it would be better to let them age off.

I never contacted the OC, so should I or will that mess up anything?