My HIPAA Experience

[PayingTheBills]

I have three medical collections on my CR, each from different CA's.  I am creating this thread to track my experience through this process so that I know I am doing each step correctly, and also so that others may learn more about how it works.

One is unpaid and $170 from MAF Collection Services.  I have never communicated with this CA in any form.  This account is reporting identically to all 3 bureaus.

FEB 16 2009

I have WRITTEN BY HAND (with back-up copies) the "PRE HIPAA MEDICAL DISPUTE LETTER" to each CRA.  I plan to send these out tomorrow certified mail (not CMRRR).

FEB 20 2009

Mailed Pre HIPAA Medical Dispute Letter CM today to all three bureaus.

MAR 01 2009
Pulled my reports today from annualcreditreport.com. This account is "under investigation" for all three bureaus. So far so good.

The second is unpaid and $839 from NCO Financial Services.  I have never communicated with this CA in any form.  This account is reporting to EX only.

FEB 16 2009

I have WRITTEN BY HAND (with back-up copies) the "PRE HIPAA MEDICAL DISPUTE LETTER" to EX.  I plan to send this out tomorrow certified mail (not CMRRR).

MAR 01 2009
Have not mailed the Pre HIPAA Med Dispute Letter yet.  I want to have the $839 before I start moving on this one.  I just paid off a $2,000 collection to get it deleted and brought my util to under 8%, so funds are a little tight this month.

The third is paid  and $38 from Reliable Credit Services.  Back in DEC 08, before I knew any better, I paid this collection.  It has updated to show "paid" on my EX and EQ reports. TU has no record of this account.

FEB 16 2009

I have WRITTEN BY HAND (with back-up copies) the "PRE HIPAA MEDICAL DISPUTE LETTER" to EX and EQ.  I plan to send these out tomorrow certified mail (not CMRRR).

FEB 20 2009

Mailed Pre HIPAA Medical Dispute Letter CM today to EX and EQ.
MAR 01 2009
Pulled my reports today from annualcreditreport.com.  IT IS GONE FROM BOTH EX AND EQ!!!  I have not received anything in the mail.  I hope it stays gone.  I have also GW'd this CA, so I am not entirely sure which action caused the deletion, but honestly couldn't care less.

MAR 02 2009

Received a letter today from EQ. "We have researched the Collection Account blah blah blah. The results are: This item has been deleted from the credit file."  Woohoo!

MAR 09 2009

Received an updated complete report from Experian in the mail. This account is not on it.

I am really looking forward to seeing my scores when BoA updates my utilization.

I hope this thread serves as a useful guide for those who need to get through the HIPAA process as well

Message Edited by PayingTheBills on 03-09-2009 10:57 PM

[Anonymous]

What is the letter you printed to Ex amd EQ. I myself am trying to clear up medical collections. I have seen the letters for the Reporting Account but not the one to send directly to the CA

[PayingTheBills]

Also, the letters I am sending are typed and printed from my computer.  I thought that only the ENVELOPE should be addressed by hand, but from reading another thread from someone going through the HIPAA process, I learned they hand-wrote each letter.  Am I aupposed to hand-write each of these letters?

[PayingTheBills]

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@Anonymous wrote:
What is the letter you printed to Ex amd EQ. I myself am trying to clear up medical collections. I have seen the letters for the Reporting Account but not the one to send directly to the CA

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as I understand it, we are nt suppoed to contact the CA for any reason.  The letter I am sending for the second collection I listed is the PRE HIPAA MEDICAL DISPUTE LETTER found here:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=rebuildingcredit&thread.id=27523&jump=true

It is the same letter that I am sending for the other two collections that are unpaid, but I expect the response from this paid collection will be that it is verified and paid, at which point I can proceed to either "Scenario #1" or "Scenario #3" is this thread:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=rebuildingcredit&thread.id=27537

[PayingTheBills]

Bump for some help with this:

So far, am I approaching this in the correct way?  I have updated my info with each CRA, but I was wondering if it is absolutely necessary to do the Opt-out step?  The only creditors I am in good standing with are BoA (unsecured Visa that is almost 5 years old, and never once late) and Sallie Mae (5 loans between $1,200 an $3,500, each on a 5 year auto-debit repayment plan that started in DEC 08, 58 payments left)

Is there any other info I need to provide for you guys to give me sound advice?

[oracles]

Hi Paying

Have you read the thread located in my siggy about the hippa process?

This is very helpful and insightful in trying to get these accounts off your report

[PayingTheBills]

I have read the crap out of that thread. It took about three tries before it started to make sense.

As far as I know, I am beginning this process correctly. I have two unpaid collections and one paid collection, so I was going to start by sending the "Pre HIPAA Medical dispute letter" to the applicable CRA's for each account.

I just wanted to make sure it was ok to have these typed out instead of handwritten.  If I need to, I will re-write them before sending them out.

Also, I was curious if the opt-out step was absolutely necessary before doing anything else?

[oracles]

Hi Paying

You are on the right track. The opt out is a step that you could do just in case you may have more CA's looking for you. As well as you don't want these CA's trying to sell the collections you have.

It is not a necessity however I think you should definitely do it.

I would hand write the the letter along with hand writing the address envelope.

Once again, I don't think it is a necessity however I would do it.

Hope this helps and keep me updated so I can help walk you through this.

If I don't respond to the post just IM me.

[fused]

Opting out is important. It helps prevent CRAs and your creditors from sharing your personal information with parties that have NO business to it. I do not recommend HIPAA process if you do not opt out first.

I would handwrite both the envelop and the pre-HIPAA dispute letters, I just haven't update the thread to include this.

If you can afford to pay the unpaid collection, you can start the HIPAA process on this one too.

[oracles]

Awesome answers fused, thanks for the confirmation

Kudos to you