Medical collections

[Anonymous]

I just received a call from a collection agency for a medical debt I thought had been resolved. I paid the bill in full as soon as I got the call. It was for a small amount of less than $200. The collection account so far is not showing up on my credit report.

I'm not sure I understand how the 180 day grace period works for medical debt. Is it 180 days from the time the debt is sent to collections/reported to a CRA? Or is it 180 days from the time of service? And if it's paid in full within the 180 day grace period does that mean it will not appear on my credit report at all or will it just take six months and show up as "paid?" I am gutted because I've been working hard on improving my score and I didn't even know this debt was out there. 

[Remedios]

Its 180 days from when account became past due. The date your statement was printed can be used as general guideline. 

If you paid prior to 6 month expiring, and it's not on your reports right now, it wont make an appearance at all. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I thought I read that it was the CRA that had to abide by the 180 days, which would imply that the debt gets reported to them, and then they have to wait 180 days before placing it on the report? I've read about a million different things and I'm not sure which one to believe.

[Remedios]

Provider supplies date of service, which is date of appointment.  Medical bills are due upon receiving the statement.

It's not well regulated, but if you're under 6 months from date of service, collection should not be showing up on your account. 

Additionally, provider could attempt to bill you for 6 months, then send account to collection agency. In that case, thdy would not need to wait additional 6 months to start reporting.  

[Anonymous]

Hey man. I had a similar situation and I just paid off to CA. Wondering if your medical collections ever showed up on your credit report.

[RobertEG]

Here is a complete copy of the portion of the CRA settlement agreement, which applies to the CRAs, and not the debt collectors, and bases the 180 day exclusion period on the DOFD:

“IN THE MATTER OF: Equifax Information Services LLC, Experian Information Solutions, Inc., and TransUnion LLC

ASSURANCE OF VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE/ ASSURANCE OF VOLUNTARY DISCONTINUANCE

May 2015

…………….

1. Medical Collections
   a. To allow appropriate time for insurance remediation and clarity on what a consumer's individual payment obligation is for a medical account, the CRAs shall prevent the reporting and display of medical debt identified and furnished by Collection Furnishers when the date of the first delinquency is less than one hundred and eighty (180) days prior to the date that the account is reported to the CRAs.
   b. The CRAs shall instruct Collection Furnishers on the use of the Metro 2 special comment codes of "BP" for debt identified as "paid by insurance" and "AB" for debt identified as "being paid through insurance" and instruct Collection Furnishers to remove or suppress medical accounts reported as "paid by insurance" or "being paid through insurance" if such accounts were in fact paid in full by the consumer's insurance carrier and were not the obligation of the consumer.
   c. The CRAs shall implement a process designed to effectively remove or suppress known medical collections furnished by Collection Furnishers from files within the CRAs' respective credit reporting databases when such debt is reported either as having been paid in full by insurance or as being paid through insurance. “