Newbie Med Collections

[Danique]

I have two medical collections that are showing up on all 3 of my credit reports. They are unpaid and pretty much valid. One was for lab fee $81.00 but bill from OC says $80.56. The other for $107.00 that was for a doctor visit. I thought my insurance would pay them both so I never followed up on either. The bill for $107.00 was puzzling because I had the first time I had the procedure it was billed $10.70, on the second visit the bill was $107.00. The visits occurred within a year of each other. Currently, I do not have money to pay them both in full but possibly will in the next 30 days. My question is do I start with the PRE-HIPAA Medical Dispute Letter or just send the HIPAA letter to the OC with payment in 30 days? Orr should I start with my insurance company? (We have switched insurances now so it may be a little harder to do this)

[Danique]

I'm off from work today so I'm using a today as a HMBD (Handle My Business Day). I was reviewing the medical collections on my account and decided to call my old Insurance to make sure there was nothing they did wrong on their end. Upon speaking with them, I found my Dr had submitted my lab work to an out of network lab, causing me to be sent the bill. The gentleman I spoke with said that he did not know why they did this as he sees other lab work was submitted the correct in-network lab. He says he will resubmit for full payment $80.56 to the lab and I will receive an Explanation of Benefits in about 7-10 days. The other bill is legit because my deductible had not been met. I'm hapy the other bill will be paid and now I just need to know my next step with the CA. Or should I approach the OC? Which letter do I use?

[fused]

Never use the HIPAA letter process unless you have the ability to the pay the debt in full. I would wait to see what your insurance does first. Then once you have the money to pay the other collections, you can send the pre-HIPAA letters to the CRAs. In the meantime, you can go ahead and do steps 1 & 2 of the HIPAA process: opting-out with the CRAs and your creditors you are in good standing with, and update your address on your credit reports, if necessary.

[Danique]

Thanks fused. Hopefully my insurance will follow through and pay the debt. Once they do, how do I work on getting it removed from my credit report. It was given to a CA. Am I to contact the OC by letter once I see they have been paid ( When I receive the explanation of benefits)?

[fused]

We'll worry about what do later when we know what your insurance will pay or not pay.