Searching for a bit of clarity on medical collections

[Anonymous]

Is the med collection on your reports? Yes

Is it paid or unpaid? Unpaid

If paid, who did you pay, the OC (original creditor: doctor, dentist, hospital, etc.) or the CA (collection agency)?

If unpaid, do you have the money to pay it off in full? No. There are 6 separate entries from the same OC totaling over $2000. I plan to attack them piecemeal starting with the lowest 2 or 3. I have one other entry from a different OC as well I can PIF. 

Do you remember the date(s) of treatment?No

Have you ever disputed the med collection? If yes, when and how? No

If you did dispute the collection, is it currently marked as "disputed and/or verified" on your report(s)?

Have you ever requested debt validation from the CA? If yes, what did they send you and when did you receive it? No

I have started the CR recovery process on myself in the last two days. I am using the 30 day freebie on Equifax to get 3 reports and a score (good idea?). They list 7 medical entries as collections. The OC for 6 is a large medical group in Austin who I still use. 

The clarification I need is that I've read the HIPAA advice but I'm still not clear on payments and timing.

I need to pay the OC directly correct?

I need to wait until the reports are updated to paid/collection before starting the HIPAA process?

At one time I was told by the OC that I had several unpaid bills and if I didn't get them taken care of, they'd refuse to see me. The next time I went in, all the bills were gone. Turned out to be in the hands of the CA. I have a list of the bills at home somewhere. The bills were accumulated by my (soon) ex-wife and I over several years. They only appear on TU's report. I feel that when asked, the OC is going to refer me to the CA. Likely?

Here's the info from my spreadsheet:

Date opened   Balance date       $$$       (1st OC)
May 08                Jul 08            249

Nov 07                 Feb 08          294

Jan 07                 Dec 07          71

Sep 05                    "               276

Aug 05                    "              1143

Sep 03                    "              129

Jul 05                   Jan 09         212          (2nd OC)

 I'm looking for the best way to attack this. These collections are some of the newest of my baddies. Like I said, I plan to peel off the two small ones immediately. I'm not looking to get into it with my ex about which bills are hers. I hope to be house hunting in about 12-18 months. 

I'm very serious about this. I rehabilitated a 20 year old SL last year by paying a monthly payment of $254 while losing 15% of my net to garnishment. This allowed me to borrow money to go to grad school and those good SL are already on my report. I got a secured credit card and have made 2 months of PIF on it. It's also on my reports. I've opened and are paying (paid) a secured signature loan 3 times in a year and a half. They are on my reports.

I'd appreciate any advice you can give me on the medical bills. 

EQ - 585 (up six points from Dec)

[fused]

Welcome to the forums!

You have a number of things going on that might lead to bigger problems if you choose to use the HIPAA letter process. First of all, your collections originate from the same OC, so I assume they are also using the same CA for all of them. It will be very difficult to "attack them piecemeal" if you don't have the funds to pay ALL of the collections in full, if you have to that is. I stress the importance of being able to pay unpaid med collections so that you don't get sued. If you have any med judgments on your reports, they are very difficult to get deleted. Unlike med collections, you are not afforded any protections under HIPAA if public records are involved. So, we try to avoid any situation where taking an action, like using the HIPAA process when you're unable pay, might result in a lawsuit. In reality, the HIPAA process will probably not work for you until you have the funds to pay the debt.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick response. 

Yes, same CA for the first 6.

So it's either pay it all off or nothing?

Maybe I overstated the plan by using the word attack. If I was to go to the OC and offer to clear the bills in steps, you think that would set off a suit?

 Let's say I find a way PIF all and clear the CR, what could I expect my scores to do different than if I just keep paying the bills I have? I have a couple other collections I am going to try to PFD. 

[fused]

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Woodsie wrote:

Thanks for the quick response. 

Yes, same CA for the first 6.

So it's either pay it all off or nothing?

Maybe I overstated the plan by using the word attack. If I was to go to the OC and offer to clear the bills in steps, you think that would set off a suit?

Probably not, but I cannot guarantee anything.

 Let's say I find a way PIF all and clear the CR, what could I expect my scores to do different than if I just keep paying the bills I have? I have a couple other collections I am going to try to PFD. 

Seeing that your EQ score is 585 and a couple of these collections are less than two years old, I would expect your scores to modestly improve. 625+ is certainly more than possible. Your score increase will also depend on how old your non-med baddies are.

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