A family members situation and Tomm's sparked this..... Debt is medical DVL to CA, CA responds within a week with dot-maxtrix printout of doctor name and amount AND a photocopy of the original bill. Original bill had dates/multiple procedures performed and diagnosis codes listed on it. I know in Tomm's thread jmc referenced HIPPA laws. This is something I know nothing about at the moment. My question though is, is this legal? The CA having this information in their hands. I could understand and agree more if the validation came from the OC (per request of the CA for the consumer), OR in a sealed envelope from the OC to the CA to the consumer....but not just put in the mix with the CA response LTR back to the consumer. CA already took over 3 weeks between initial contact and complying with 15 USC1692g and debt is less than $400. Found this: (from here: Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule) What Information is Protected Protected Health Information. The Privacy Rule protects all "individually identifiable health information" held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral. The Privacy Rule calls this information "protected health information (PHI)."12 â??Individually identifiable health informationâ? is information, including demographic data, that relates to: the individualâ??s past, present or future physical or mental health or condition, the provision of health care to the individual, or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual, and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify the individual.13 Individually identifiable health information includes many common identifiers (e.g., name, address, birth date, Social Security Number).
I've been doing a little research online, because all of the accounts that are negative on my husbands report are medical... I'm thinking of maybe testing this out. I have already sent DV to the CA though, so not sure how that would work. Essentially what I gather from this video is that you send the OC a letter saying they cant disclose your info, then you pay them, then you tell the CA that they can't collect this debt (because they don't have the need/right to access the info), then you dispute with the CRA. Hmmm. Has anyone been successful with this?
Remove Medical Collections? Using The HIPAA Privacy Rule to Delete Medical Collections - YouTube I couldn't post the link until I hit 25 posts
Interesting find. Thank you for the link jmc. I think I can attest to this somewhat. Had a med collection reporting, contacted OC, made a deal for paying and CA account was subsequently removed. At the time I thought it was just good negotiating on my part. Now I guess it's just how it winds up going if you ask. In the current case I'm dealing with though the account is unpaid and CA is not reporting. I'm more concerned with whether OC and/or CA broke HIPPA laws sending this bill that had dates/multiple procedures performed and diagnosis codes listed on it.
They certainly did break HIPAA laws. They are only allowed to have your basic info and nothing about any diagnoses, medical treatments, etc.
It's not reporting. CA is already up for violating FDCPA, but I'm thinking there's something more to get out of this. I have some reading to do.... Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule
Definitely go for it and let us know how it goes!! I will get to reading on it also, this could be a good tool if the CA actually verify my husband's medical debts with specific info
Mindcrime... someone on another board told me I should check this out for HIPAA removals. Maybe something you want to check out HIPAA Process - Medical Billing & Medical Collections - CreditBoards
Collection Agencies & HIPAA Laws | eHow.com Note the last sentence... The SERVICES a patient received are private, and those records may not be disclosed to a collection agency. The purpose of demanding validation including the itemized-bill is to trap the OC into a HIPPA violation for disclousure of the medical records on the itemized bill.
Hmmmmmmm.......I don't think releasing that the patient had a MRI of the brain falls under I suppose the trap was already laid and bait taken.
Yep, that's the key... It's even better for me, in my suit with a CRA, they're requesting the names of my employers, job titles, etc... Unfortunately, since they're arguing that I have to protect them from themselves, I can't answer any of those, because if they would update my CR to include my employment information, they'd be violating HIPPA... (Yes, you got to love job descriptions that by state bulletin contain PHI); which also means that I can't provide them with my last 10 years of tax information either, because, geesh, that would contain PHI too...
