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Hippa Rights | Medical Bills | Medical Collections (video & advice) |
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UNPAID MEDICAL BILLSMedical collections may become more difficult for collection agencies
The HIPPA privacy rule requires a "business associate" (collection agency or billing firm) to reasonably limit the amount of information disclosed for such purposes to the minimum necessary as well as to abide by reasonable requests for confidential communications. This could be a loophole for debtors against collection agencies because collection employees often know less about their industry restrictions than does the debtor. This could lead to privacy and HIPPA violations - and eventually case law to support such violations. If collection agency employees are not careful, they could lose out on collecting medical debts by inadvertently knowing too much about the debtor's medical condition. This will no doubt lead to many consumers seeking that the debts be pulled back by the medical provider to avoid potential suits against the provider. Debtor's who know how to protect themselves will use this provision to threaten collectors and gain the upper hand in settling the debt without it hitting their credit reports. Basically, debtors who discover that the collector knows their diagnosis and treatment will threaten the agency that their privacy has been violated. The agency, wanting to avoid unnecessary suits will most likely agree to remove the negative entry on the consumers credit report by agreeing to settle with such terms. The debtor will gain a clearer credit report by having the item removed rather than listed as "paid collection". An unpaid medical bill on your credit reports can seriously affect your credit score. Medical bills, unpaid, are a negative rating in your credit history and unfortunately most of the time we dont know they're unpaid until they've landed in collections. By that time, it makes less sense to simply pay it because the harm to your credit score has already happened. If this happens to you, you need to negotiate the credit rating with the bill collector before you pay or promise to pay. If you dont, you could be renewing the statute of limitations which determines how long the medical bill is collectible. You can check your SOL here. Filing a HIPPA ComplaintIf you believe that your privacy pertaining to your medical history has been unlawfully accessed, you can file a HIPPA complaint. Click here to read all about filing a HIPPA (Health insurance portability accountability act) complaint. HIPPA prohibits any retaliation against you. Under HIPAA, an entity cannot retaliate against you for filing a complaint. HIPPA Resources
A short video on how to remove medical collections from your credit reports.
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Copyright Carreon & Associates 1995-2012©. Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice. We are not a law firm. We do not repair your credit for you. This is a self help educational program only. By visiting this website, you agree to our terms. Credit Repair - Credit Reports - Debt Settlements - Consumer Credit Education Since 1995 | ||
Ah,
the unpaid medical bills. We all dread it, but most of us
at some time will end up with unpaid medical bills. Medical collections
may have become a little more diffcult to collect because of privacy
rules with medical laws. 
