kleggett23464 Posted August 22, 2004 Report Share Posted August 22, 2004 My fiance just received her credit report and on it she found a collections account from California Business Bureau. It is for the amount of $66. She was in san diego on vacation and got sick and went to the emergency room. She paid her co-pay and that was the last she heard of it. She then got a bill for $66 from the hospital. She called to inquire what it was about they stated to her on the phone that it was a bill in error and it was being taken care of by her healthcare provider. She never recieved anything else after this nothing. We moved 7 months after that. All mail was forwarded and our credit reports were updated. So she checks her credit report recently and it appears. She calls them and they say (the collection agency) they attempted to reach her 1 time but never recieved anything back. I don't think they did, but they said they are only required to try once and that's it. There part is fulfilled. What a bunch of aholes..but anyway i'm sending a DV to them and I want to send something to hospital saying "come on it's $66 bucks do you really think all of this hassle is worth it" kind of letter. Is there a format letter or anything that is around that I can send to the hospital to try and resolve it that way? Thoughts suggestions are appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabledude Posted August 22, 2004 Report Share Posted August 22, 2004 I've gotten these removed by working diretly with the hospital. Send them a letter and agree to pay if they recall the collection. Explain how you were not from the area and assumed it was covered by insurance. Chances are it may take a few months, but you may just get it removed completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesire17201 Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 actually all you need to do is tell, not ask the hospital, that you paid the co-pay and that is all you are required to pay. Funny thing about insurance, here's how it works, the hospital is in an agreement with the insurance company to accept whatever they pay as payment in full for the service's provided since they are part of the ins. co. provider network, you go to the hospital and you pay your share-the co pay- then the rest is on the ins. co., now it doesn't matter to you whether this bill is $100 or $10,000, you paid the required co-pay and now it's the ins. co. turn to pay, so the hospital bills the ins. co, and they say o.k our agreement states that we pay you this much for this procedure and thats that...so all you really need to do is contact that insurance company and tell them that this hospital is trying to get you to pay this money that they have already paid once......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recovering Attorney Posted August 25, 2004 Report Share Posted August 25, 2004 Work with the hospital. Go to their website and get teh name of the CEO. Write him/her directlyl, saying how you appreciate what they did for you and you are confused as you believed your insurance took care of their bill and this must be a mistake. Advise them that you only found out about this when you pulled your credit report, and the report is now hurting your otherwise fine credit. Ask the CEO to tell the CA to remove it from your CR and desist. End by saying " This letter invokes my rights under the FCBA, FCRA and FDCPA. Thank you for your kind assistance." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reno2360 Posted August 25, 2004 Report Share Posted August 25, 2004 The first thing you need to do is look through your paperwork for the EOB -Explanation of Benefits that the insurance company mailed to you after processing the hospitals claim. If you don't have it call them and ask for a copy, while you have them on the phone though you can verify with them that you only owed the co-pay. The EOB will show that you DO NOT owe anything other than the co-pay and that is all you need. The hospital should not have billed you, and should not have turned you over to the CA. I had the exact same thing happen and the CA refused to listen to me when I told them I had the EOB showing the amount I owed was zero. I am now suing them for reporting information that they knew was in error. Send them and the hospital a copy of the EOB, tell the hospital to recall it from the CA and the CA to remove it IMMEDIATELY from the credit report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recovering Attorney Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 good advice, Reno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts