Medical collections/HIPAA process

[Trish]

If you have medical collections and a little bit of time you may want to try the HIPAA process. It can take several months but it does work.

This method will only work if the acct has been paid or you intend to pay.

I learned this method from Why Chat and used it for several of my medical debts.
Here is the link to the page which explains the process. Please read this first. It can be a bit confusing at first (I had to read it a couple of times before it sank in) so I will sort of break it down so that maybe it's a little easier to understand.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer (or find the answer).

The very first thing you want to do is to opt out (Go here).

Next (assuming you have already ordered/rec'd your 3 CRs) you need to update all personal info on your CRs. Have as much info AS POSSIBLE deleted. You can actually dispute the personal stuff over the phone and it will go a little quicker.

NOW you are ready to use the medical dispute letter. Send the dispute letter to each CRA that the medical acct is being reported to. (you can dispute multiple TLs if they are with the same CA.....otherwise keep it to one debt at a time for this type of dispute)

VERY IMPORTANT - Make sure you hand address the envelope. Use regular paper/personal stationary and purple or teal italic font. Send certified but NOT return receipt. Then wait until you get the FULL response from the CRAs before going any further.

If the investigation results come back verified, you then send the HIPAA letter to the OC/HCP (healthcare provider) with the appropriate insert (there are 3 choices). This letter you will send CMRRR to the HIPAA compliance officer.

VERY IMPORTANT - Be sure to send your payment in the form of a Bank Cashier's check or a bank money order with the restrictive endorsement.

Once you know that the check/MO has been cashed, you then send the follow up letter to the OC along with a copy of your "redispute" letter that you will send to the CRA.

Whatever you do.......DO NOT have correspondence with the CA. You ONLY deal with the OC/HCP.

Ok, I know I didn't go into great detail on this but if you read the link posted above very carefully, you will see exactly what to do.

And like I said, if anyone has any questions.......just let me know and I will try to answer.

[SHANNA8102]

hi quick question...

what if i paid after it went to collections, would this process still work?

[Trish]

Depends on who you paid.

If you paid the CA.......no. If you paid the OC/Healthcare provider, then yes it would still work.

[grn910]

What letter do I send if its an old judgement that hasnt been paid? & I dont intend to

[Trish]

Originally Posted by grn910

What letter do I send if its an old judgement that hasnt been paid? & I dont intend to

Whoa.....sorry I missed this.
The HIPAA process doesn't work for judgments (even if they are from a medical acct). You should follow the disputing/deleting judgments guide for that.

[brittanydarae]

does the pre hipaa letter need to be hand written or can it be typed? And does it have to be on personal stationary because I only have plain white paper. Just want to make sure I get this right because if this doesn't work I don't know what I'm going to do!

[brittanydarae]

Also, how do you delete all old information from your credit reports? all the information they have is right and they only way it will let me take off old addresse is to say i never lived there- which is not true....
Maybe I should just try it without messing with my personal information as I have the funds to pay these people- I just want it off of my credit report! :D

[Trish]

Originally Posted by brittanydarae

does the pre hipaa letter need to be hand written or can it be typed? And does it have to be on personal stationary because I only have plain white paper. Just want to make sure I get this right because if this doesn't work I don't know what I'm going to do!

Hi Brittany,
The letter to the original healthcare provider does not have to be handwritten.
It's only the disputes/letters to the CRAs that need to be either handwritten or typed w/purple or teal italic font so their computers can't scan them.

[Trish]

Originally Posted by brittanydarae

Also, how do you delete all old information from your credit reports? all the information they have is right and they only way it will let me take off old addresse is to say i never lived there- which is not true....
Maybe I should just try it without messing with my personal information as I have the funds to pay these people- I just want it off of my credit report! :D

Just say you never lived there. They have no way of knowing whether you did or not.
Updating and deleting personal info is an important step....... a lot of times getting old addys off of your CRs can help in getting some of the TLs removed from a simple dispute.

[brittanydarae]

wow! Thank you for the fast reply! I'm working on it right now.

:D