HIPAA questions!

[trevh73]

I am totally confused with the Hipaa process. I have 2 med collections on my EQ report only that I am trying to get removed. I sent the Pre-Hipaa letter to EQ over 45 days ago and did not get a response. I just pulled my EQ report today and they are both still there. I posted on another board and got the advice to file a complaint with the FTC. The link took me to the OCR site. So I followed the link on Why Chat's page to FTC and filed a complaint there against the CRA. Was that incorrect as at this point the only contact I have made is to the CRA not the CA. All the info on the OCR site was about the OC or CA. I am so confused! Is there anything else I should be doing at this point. I have gone over the site numerous times but still can't find an answer to my situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Trish]

Originally Posted by trevh73

I am totally confused with the Hipaa process. I have 2 med collections on my EQ report only that I am trying to get removed. I sent the Pre-Hipaa letter to EQ over 45 days ago and did not get a response. I just pulled my EQ report today and they are both still there. I posted on another board and got the advice to file a complaint with the FTC. The link took me to the OCR site. So I followed the link on Why Chat's page to FTC and filed a complaint there against the CRA. Was that incorrect as at this point the only contact I have made is to the CRA not the CA. All the info on the OCR site was about the OC or CA. I am so confused! Is there anything else I should be doing at this point. I have gone over the site numerous times but still can't find an answer to my situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi trev
I know it's confusing.....it was to me too at first.
So EQ didn't even respond AT ALL?!? That's a big no no. Did you, by any chance, use a free report for the medical dispute? Because those do allow 45 days for an investigation.

If you used a regular CR and did not get a response in 30 days then yes, you were right to file and FTC report. Then you need re-dispute w/EQ and enclose a copy of the FTC complaint. Once you have received a response from EQ with the information you requested you can then move on and send the letter to the OC.
You do not have ANY correspondence with the CA. All of your letters will be dealing directly with the OC/original healthcare provider.

You do not need to go to the OCR site unless you are filing a HIPAA complaint against the OC........so you don't need to worry about that right now.

I hope that helps answer your questions. If you have any more just let me know.

[trevh73]

Thanks so much for the reply Trish and for making it plain for me. I did use the free report from annualcreditreport.com. I goofed and filled out the green card. I got it back and they received the information on 4/9/09. I filled out the online complaint form on the FTC site so I didn't get a copy of the complaint. I only got a confirmation email that it was filed. I filed it on ftc site using the complaint assistant. I hope that was right it is so confusing.

[Trish]

Well, even though you did the free report, their 45 days is up.
I'm not sure (it's been a while) but you may be able to look up your complaint online and print it from the FTC's website. If not, does your confirmation email have the complaint #? You could print the email out and use that.

[trevh73]

Yes, the email does have the complaint #. Great idea, thanks for your help!:D