Hello!
I am hoping someone can give me some guidance/advice on a medical collection appearing on my report. Long story short, after a lot of back and forth with this dr's office and insurance, they sent my remaining balance from a hospital stay in late 2020 to collections (ER visit, dr was out of network, filing appeals, and so on). The doctors office sent the file to collections in February 2022; they reported it on my credit in May 2022. I do not have any communications from the collection agency whatsoever. I thought there was more time between the collection agency receiving the file and reporting being made. The insurance company made a payment to the dr office in October 2021; the collection agency has listed the DOFD as March 2021 because "this was the first payment received by the dr office." I have reached back out to the insurance company as well. I have no problem paying the amount due once I hear back from insurance, but my issue is the credit reporting part (and I understand once paid, this will be deleted in July)...I just thought there were guidances for these types of bills. Sorry for rambling, I am frustrated!
TIA!
Well, when I received the communication from the dr's office originally it said it wasn't a bill and to work with my insurance company. They were working with me the entire time to get it settled - like sending me my medical records to send to the insurance company and whatnot. They said they sent the records over twice and the insurance company didn't reeive them. They mailed them to me and I mailed them in September... then the payments were made. So I am not sure how I was considered deliquent in March!
@ambivalent wrote:Well, when I received the communication from the dr's office originally it said it wasn't a bill and to work with my insurance company. They were working with me the entire time to get it settled - like sending me my medical records to send to the insurance company and whatnot. They said they sent the records over twice and the insurance company didn't reeive them. They mailed them to me and I mailed them in September... then the payments were made. So I am not sure how I was considered deliquent in March!
Medical debt is different from other types of credit. The account is considered to be in default on the 31st day after care is received. For example if you went to the ER on March 1 then the bill is technically due the day the care is received. Of course time is allowed for insurance etc. However, if insurance pays on the 30th and your out of pocket is $500 then on March 31st technically the account is past due. Most providers don't necessarily report that fast but it is correct. Unlike credit card or loan debt where default occurs 30 days after the last payment that brought the account current.
There is no requirement that a collection agency send you a letter before reporting to the bureaus. The current reporting period starts 6 months after care is received in order to allow time for insurance claims to be processed and appeals to be carried out if needed. If the account was more than 6 months old when the CA got it then they were free to begin reporting. It is not 6 months after each collector gets the account.
I know the insurance process is frustrating but the one thing to remember is while a provider CAN work with you until your carrier gets it straightened out and the claim paid they are not required to. After 30 days they can still send the account to collections if they choose to although most wait 90 days because of insurance. It is why if a claim is going to drag on and you have the finances it is far better to pay the provider (even if it means making payments) and get reimbursed by your insurance carrier than risk your credit. If it is fiscally possible to do so.
Thank you so much for the reply. I asked the office if they would pull it back from the CO and I will pay them directly and the said no. Whatever the case, I am going to take care of it within the next few weeks. Thank you!