Medical Account Sent To Collections

I live in MS. I had an xray done while in the hospital on Sept 23 2010. I received a statement for the bill sometime after that saying insurance was pending. I received a bill on Nov 16th saying insurance had paid their part and that I owed my part due Dec 1st.

I work at the hospital where the xray was done and was under the impression my medical expenses were being deducted from my check. Turns out, this one wasn't.

Anyway, on Dec 13th I received a letter from a collection agency saying my bill had been turned over to collections. I called the collection agency and told them my situation and told them I didn't want my account turned over to the credit bureau which would affect my credit score. They told me that if the bill was paid in 30 days it would not go to the credit reporting agency.

The bill was paid in full by Dec 28th. The collection showed up on TransUnion and Equifax by January. One of them said the account had been paid, but I wanted it removed. Transunion said the creditor would have to tell them to remove it.

I have spoken with the radiology office and they refuse to have it removed. They said they would report that I paid the bill, but not remove it. Can they legally send me to the credit reporting agency for this?

Is there anyone I can contact to help me get this removed from my credit report?

Comments for Medical Account Sent To Collections

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Feb 16, 2011
 Medical Bill Sent to Collections
by: DebtCollectionAnswers.com

We have heard complaints similar to yours many, many times before. Unfortunately there is no law that prevents a creditor from sending a past due account to collections and no law that you be given the opportunity to pay it before it hits your credit report and does serious damage. In fact, one 2033 study by the Federal Reserve found that over half of all collection accounts on credit reports were due to medical bills!

The fact that you were told that the account would not be reported if you paid it right away should count for something. Unfortunately, you don't have it in writing - and this is your employer so you probably don't want to get an attorney involved.

The best advice we can give you is to try to appeal to someone higher up at the hospital. It would also be a good idea for you to report the problem you had to the Federal Trade Commission at FTC.gov, and to contact your legislators in Washington and ask them to support the Medical Debt Relief Act, proposed legislation that would require credit reporting agencies to remove medical debts from credit reports thirty days after they have been paid.

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