Hi I just found this site and hope you guys can give me any pointers in how to pursue to get my medical collection removed. This is the only neg in my otherwise perfect credit. August 2006 - I had a lab the hospital had sent pathology tests to that isn't in network with my insurance. The insurance paid 90% of the charges they submitted instead of a lower contracted rate. My portion of the copay is $75 shown on EOB. Insurance deemed the bill correct. Nov 06 - I submitted a letter to the billing office to request a writeoff citing financial hardship (we had multiple bills coming at the same time). They claimed to have sent me some documentation required to prove financial hardship but I never received. Feb 07 - Acct turned to CA but was put on hold awaiting further documentation from me. I never received any paperwork, nor phone calls from the lab. Haven't heard from them for a couple of months so I thought it was written off. Due to personal reasons I didn't initiate any contact to figure out exactly where the bill was. August 07 - all of a sudden the CA sent me a collection bill for the balance. I contacted the lab's regional office billing coordinator located in my city immediately since I couldn't find the original lab bill (billed by their national billing agency). I questioned why the bill hasn't been written off and requested they withdraw the bill from CA. The billing coordinator said she'll take care of it provided I pay off. She even offered a 25% discount, telling me it'll be deemed as paid in full and she'll going to have someone from her billing agency call me the next day to collect the payment. Well nobody ever called. I put in multiple calls to her but she never called back. Then I found the national billing agency's number and started calling there. Was told they would not pull the bill from collection due to the fact that they had sent me the documentation (but I never received). We did move in Jan 07 but the CA had the correct new address from Feb. The phone number they had was wrong though. I spoke to two levels of supervisors at the lab billing and they investigated and told me they would inquire with the CA and would get back with me. I had to cut through major red tape to get someone from the lab call me with their findings. They still refused to pull the bill from CA. Sept 07 - At that moment I was frustrated but didn't want to ruin my credit, so I paid the lab/OC with the 25% discount offered. I was sent confirmation of 0 balance. Oct 07 - CA reported to CRA as paid with 0 balance on the collection acct. Called the CA and explained the story, but no budge. The patient account manager there was sympathetic but offered no help due to the supervisor already ruling as not delete. I even showed documentation of not living in the house in the Feb/March timeframe when they sent the 1st collection letter. He did say I can dispute with CRA. Experian: date opened 02/07, reported since 08/07, date of status 10/07, original amt $75, balance 0, status Paid, closed/Collection acct TU: date placed for collection 02/07, bal 0, original bal $75, status payment after charge off/collection, date closed 09/07, date paid 09/07 Equifax: date reported 10/07, date assigned 02/07, original bal $75, bal 0, date of 1st delinquency 08/06, date of last activity 09/07, status date 10/07, status paid Equifax is the only CRA that lists the 1st delinquency date 08/06. Are the other two wrong/inaccurate in that aspect (I want the aging so it falls off faster), providing grounds to dispute? At this point, what's the best strategy to get the paid collection deleted? Shall I write to the company/billing coordinator since she never kept her promise (but really it's the national billing office that handles the bill)? Shall I dispute with CRA right away or wait some time till the CA account ages? What basis shall I use to dispute? Any sample letters available? Thanks so much! JC
