My husband got a bill for medical service that he never recvd. We disputed the charge in writing, and the hospital sent back signed copies of the patient registration and insurance. They belong to some other guy with same name but different social #, birth date, employer and health insurance policy number (same provider and plan though ). The person did not give a proof of address, and the hospital claims that that is the address and phone number he provided, though I think that they had our address on file as hubby has been to same hospital before. (State is VA)
The hospital has already sent the bill to collection, and now refuse to discuss the case with us, saying that if this is someone else's bill then they cannot discuss it with us...
1. What recourse do we have? Can the doctor really take in someone without proof of address? Isn't the patient liable for signing with the incorrect address?
2. If the bill goes to collection, will it go by our name and address or by the provided social which is of the namesake person. Does the collection agency let us know when they post something to our credit report?
3. We know the name, social and employer of the namesake person who signed that his residence address is our address which is incorrect. It is the hospitals fault. We are very confused... What next? Thanks for your insights.. Really appreciate it!
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Thank you for the suggestion to go to creditboards. If I know for sure how they would report to credit bureaus it will make my life simpler. If they are going to report by social, I will let this be. If they are going to report by name, then and only then this would reflect on my report. Husband is on my insurance, so it will report on both our reports.. which would be bad.
Anyhow, thanks for the suggestion. I am hoping that members with similar experience, or insights will speak up.
I have similar issue. A guy had the same name owed Bank of America several thousand bucks and unfortunately I was harassed by various collection agencies. I called Bank of America and verified my ssn is not involved and asked them to contact the collection agency. So things got back to normal for a while. However, I am pissed to find out a new collection agency now starts to call/write. What are my choices? Could I just ignore it? I don't think they have my ssn so they shouldn't be able to put it on my credit file.
newbietx said:If the collection agency contacts you, ask them to validate the debt.
If they refuse to communicate and harass you and post anything on your credit report, sue them and enjoy!
Yup - I haven't sued before, and think that this will be a good experience... So not totally out of question... Though would still prefer for this to go away...
nethunter said:I have similar issue. A guy had the same name owed Bank of America several thousand bucks and unfortunately I was harassed by various collection agencies. I called Bank of America and verified my ssn is not involved and asked them to contact the collection agency. So things got back to normal for a while. However, I am pissed to find out a new collection agency now starts to call/write. What are my choices? Could I just ignore it? I don't think they have my ssn so they shouldn't be able to put it on my credit file.
Get a tape recorder - start recording the phone calls. Send debt validation letter saying JUST "I dispute. Please validate". Don't give any excuses or details. If they continue to bother you, sue under the FDCPA. If they are attempting to collect and you are receiving it on a cell phone, that's a violation. If they are calling outside of certain hours, violation. Many others besides that. READ THE FDCPA AND KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!
It's not as hard as you think, and once you make one lawsuit, you can do other ones REAL easily. All it takes is the right forms and a trip to the Federal Court building. Most likely, they will just settle and fix all the problems.
I've PMed CN47 before and he has been very helpful.
GreenQueen said:If they are going to report by name, then and only then this would reflect on my reportName and address is all that is needed. How each collection agency functions is hard to guess.
Message edited by: xoneinax on 2009-11-06 15:25:25 CST
I would send a letter with all documentation to the hospital's legal department or in-house counsel, threatening them with a lawsuit for fraudulent billing along with compensatory and punitive damages.
I can make up what I think sounds right but I would pm cn47 right now- he is the resident 'fight debt collectors for fun and profit' guru and will tell you what to do.
1. Have you contacted your insurance company? If not, call them and discuss the issue. They will try to sort out with hospital. If it doesn't work, you may able to open a complaint against hospital through insurance company to your state medical/Insurance board.
It happen to me once, the doctor office didn't agree with payment settled by insurance company and was asking discounted amount from me. Finally I got collection notice, then insurance company jumped in and told me if they don't listen, I can open complaint through them. I was trying to open the complaint but the insurance CSR fixed the problem.
2. If collection agency contact you, first ask them in written to validate the debt.
3. If they harass you through phone, in written ask them to stop calling you ( Cease and Desist letter). Still if they call you, you can sue them and get $5,000.
No one has mentioned this yet, but if you know the person who really incurred the debt, could you not call him and see what he knows? Could it be that he's unaware of this? If he somehow did this on purpose, could you not threaten to sue him? Just ideas...
Do you mean to say that they released medical information to you from a total stranger, not to mention his SSN?
I would contact the agency responsible for enforcing HIPAA right away. If the hospital is so stupid that they cannot recognize and fix a HIPAA violation immediately, nail them.
And I suspect that in the subsequent investigation, your bill will be forgiven.
and the hospital sent back signed copies of the patient registration and insurance. They belong to some other guy with same name but different social #, birth date, employer and health insurance policy numberHmm, they did. Good point
Message edited by: xoneinax on 2009-11-06 21:57:24 CST
Thank you for the suggestion to go to creditboards. If I know for sure how they would report to credit bureaus it will make my life simpler. If they are going to report by social, I will let this be. If they are going to report by name, then and only then this would reflect on my report. Husband is on my insurance, so it will report on both our reports.. which would be bad.
Anyhow, thanks for the suggestion. I am hoping that members with similar experience, or insights will speak up.You cant just "let it be" you MUST dispute it IN WRITING.
LtWaldo said:nethunter said:I have similar issue. A guy had the same name owed Bank of America several thousand bucks and unfortunately I was harassed by various collection agencies. I called Bank of America and verified my ssn is not involved and asked them to contact the collection agency. So things got back to normal for a while. However, I am pissed to find out a new collection agency now starts to call/write. What are my choices? Could I just ignore it? I don't think they have my ssn so they shouldn't be able to put it on my credit file.
Get a tape recorder - start recording the phone calls. Send debt validation letter saying JUST "I dispute. Please validate". Don't give any excuses or details. If they continue to bother you, sue under the FDCPA. If they are attempting to collect and you are receiving it on a cell phone, that's a violation. If they are calling outside of certain hours, violation. Many others besides that. READ THE FDCPA AND KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.
Thanks for posting the links. I can say from first hand experience that you shouldn't have any expectations of having a meaningful conversation with the collection agency as it'll probably just raise your blood pressure. My sister-in-law who was visiting from overseas racked up a couple of hospital bills and used my address while she was here. The collection agency couldn't find any record of her since she didn't have a social security or DMV ID so they opted to file a lien against my wife instead. When I called the collection agency to explain, the deadite witch at the other end of the phone accused us of fabricating the existence of my sister-in-law and that my wife was the one who went to the hospital. To complicate matters, the hospital was shutdown and sold off so I couldn't contact the staff. I filed a dispute with Experian and got an email notification a few weeks later notifying me that the lien was taken off my wife's credit report. Hopefully that's the end of the story but I wouldn't put it past the collection agency to try to hassle us again in the future. Dealing with a collection agency can be a nightmare...
groundhogdaze said:My sister-in-law who was visiting from overseas racked up a couple of hospital bills and used my address while she was here. The collection agency couldn't find any record of her since she didn't have a social security or DMV ID so they opted to file a lien against my wife instead. . please explain how a collection agency files a lien against your wife?
How much is owed on her and What is her payoff amount?
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). The person did not give a proof of address, and the hospital claims that that is the address and phone number he provided, though I think that they had our address on file as hubby has been to same hospital before. (State is VA)
