Research HIPAA process, and follow it to a TEE. It is very important to follow it exactly.
Starting Score: EQ 416 TU 498 EX 468 Lender Fico's July 2012
I agree you must have to follow the HIPPA process. However if the medical bill is less than a year old. I would challenge the amount. There is a time frame to challenge bills like this. This is what I did. I asked the hospital that tried to send it to the collection agency for an itemized bill. Have a medical advocate or medical billing specialist to go over the bill. If any errors, send the hospital a certified letter stating which errors are on your bill. Then I would report to the FTC, and BBB for that state. Majority of it always end in billing errors and most of the time hospitals just want you off their back because of potential lawsuits. Half of my bill was billing errors, I still ain't heard from the BBB nor the hospital back in regards to my case. I was not playing.
case in point, its not on none of my credit reports. Healthcare industry is the biggest scammer of them all because most consumers don't request itemized bill statement, they just think the insurance pays a certain percentage and they have to pay what is left over. The bill statement that hospitals/medical practitioners send is vague. Have to watch them closely.