What should i have my Mother do, regarding Hippa?

[Schoolbuskid]

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She has received a letter from Consumer Collection Management for a dentist bill of 900.00 she had the money before some unexpected exspenses arose.  They said if she does not contact them immediately(which she has done before to set up payment plan but they dont do that) they may report to the major credit bureaus. My question is should we pay the OC, so that she will be protected under Hippa?

What the best plan for us?        

[llecs]

bump

[Schoolbuskid]

Thanks llecs! Hopefully someone will bite!

[Schoolbuskid]

Bump...Anyone? Suggestions? Advice?

[fused]

Yes, try and pay the OC. Your mother is not in a position to start the HIPAA letter process unless the CA reports the collection. No collection reporting = no can do the pre-HIPAA dispute letter. Let us know what the OC says and remember, the HIPAA process requires you to PIF if the collection is unpaid.

[Schoolbuskid]

Thanks Fused, my mom said that she tried to pay the OC but they said contact the CA, should she force her payment upon them?

[fused]

She could try and if they refuse, it's likely the CA will report it. Once it hits her reports, she can then use the HIPAA process. I work in healthcare (and chase payments, it's a BIG part of my job) and for the life of me, I can't understand why OC's won't accept a PIF on a past due account sometimes...it's stupid. Most but not all med accounts that are given to CAs are assigned and not sold, so the OC's on med collection should just be quite and accept the darn payment. Who in this forum, if owed money, would tell the person who owes them money, to pay someone else. Duh! What rubbish! LOL!

[Schoolbuskid]

I tell her to call the OC again, and see what they say if they dont accept, i guess she can just pay the CA, its better than having it reported and suffering a score loss! Either way she would still be paying money out!

[fused]

Your plan is fine. If in the event the CA reports after the pay off, your mother can still use the HIPAA process as she has not lost her protection.

[Schoolbuskid]

ok thx.