Hospital Bill that I didn't authorize

[Ameera]

So my ex took our daughter to the emergency room. She has insurance but only for the clinic, not for the emergency room. Anyway he took her there and now I have a medical collection on my credit report. Can I get this off my report since they will not have anything with my signature on it saying I will be responsible for the bill or am I automatically responsible by being her mother? Its like he told them he was someone else and to send the bill to me, why wouldn't he be responsible for it?

Its like $4,000!!!

Thoughts???

[Hal Jordan]

First I would call your insurance company (which I'll explain in a moment) but I believe you should be able to call the hospital and tell them this is your husband's debt as he is the one who brought the child there for care and I would ask them to recall this from collections and have the CA delete all information they've posted to your credit reports immediately. Be polite, but firm. Tell them to look at the billing and consent for service that was signed etc.

Now with that being said.. A parent is responsible for financial charges incurred by a child who is in their custody. For example... Your daughter busts out a street light while walking unaccompanied on the way to school and gets caught. The city ends up sending you the bill or if it goes to court the judge makes you financially responsable for monetary restitution and it's all perfectly legal. BUT does the kid being with a different parent and more importantly an ex spouse make you responsable for any of the debt.. That's super tough and definitely one for a lawyer for 100% verification though.

But first, you need to speak with your insurance company and find out if having the policy being issued through your name as the primary, means that you're responsable financially for the amount unpaid by the plan such as co-pays, deductables and uncovered procedures. Explain the situation for them.

If the insurance company tells you no that you're not automatically responsable ask them to fax or mail you a statement to that effect so you can give it to the hospital as proof that they are trying to collect someone else's debt from you that you're not responsable for.

Remember, be polite. You always get more done being respectful when making your point than when being an in your face ass..

[Ameera]

Ok, I officially LOVE you!! I called the hospital and was very nice and asked them to check consent forms and they did and told me they are calling the collection agencies right now to delete the baddy from my report! Theres $4,000 off with one phone call. It was really bringing my score down too cause it was the most recent one!

Thanks for the great advice!!!!!

[Hal Jordan]

Glad to hear that it worked out for you. Despite what my wife says, sometimes I actually am right.. lol

[Ameera]

So how long until they come off my report I wonder? Do the collection agencies only report once a month?

[Hal Jordan]

Some once a month, some more often. I'd wager that it will probably be off within a week. The two that I had deleted by the oc recalling the collection were both gone in less than a week.

[Ameera]

ok so its still not off my report....

Should I call the CA? Or the original creditor? Or wait a couple more weeks? I'm going crazy checking everyday to see if its been updated.

[Hal Jordan]

I hear ya. In your particular case I would go ahead and call the CA and ask for the time frame for them to submit to the CRA for deletion. This is an erronious billing error not your fault and should never have been sent to collections so they should be nice to you and give you an idea and an expected time frame for them to submit their deletion.

Like I said.. some only report once a month and if it's say the middle of the month they may not have submitted it for deletion yet. Also sometimes it takes the CRA's a week or so to get it deleted.

Be nice when you call. If they give you the run around call the hospital and let them know their billing error is adversely effecting you because you are applying for credit and it's being denied because of their mistake. Let them know you've been patient to this point but patience only goes so far and law suits for FDCPA violations and complaints filed with the department of health and human services for HIPAA violations go a hell of a lot farther (I'm pretty much kidding on the last part.. unless they refuse to help you then I'd let em have it)

If you want to give me your email addy I'll send you the .pdf form to complete to file a HIPAA complaint.

[Ameera]

thanks for your help! I called the CA and they said they already deleted it. So then I called the CRA and they said they already deleted it. Funny because on the credit report that I can update daily its still showing there! They swear its gone and are sending me a copy in the mail.

Annoying huh.

[Ameera]

Although, a couple days after talking to the OC I did notice a nice 30 point jump in my score