credit cards and creditors

i live in michigan

i had perfect credit until about a year ago when a hospital bill came up. at the time i didn't have the $750 to pay it so i was called by creditors and then finally a lawyer and every person i talked to told me i had to pay the bill in full. finally i told the lawyer that if he really wanted to persue the issue i would have to file for bankruptcy. later i found out that i should have been allowed to make payments on this debt before they tarnished my credit rating by a friend in law school.

Is this true?
Can i get the bad credit mark taken off of my credit report or is it too late to resolve the issue?

Secondly, now i am getting bills from Aspire Visa saying that i owe them over a hundred dollars on a credit card that i never applied for or activated. at first i ignored them because the bill said that i would be activating the card by paying the first payment. i didn't want the card so i threw it away. then i actally got a credit card in the mail with another bill saying the same thing or that i could call to activate the card. i destroyed the card without calling or making a payment thinking that it was just a gimmick. today i got a bill with a late charge on it for not paying the previous bill. i called to try to find out how they could be billing me on a card i never authorized and couldn't get any information without giving them my social security number or mothers maiden name. they wouldn't verify to me how they had even gotten this info to begin with since today was the first time i had even talked to anyone associated with their company.

How do i make sure that this doesn't show up on my credit report ?

Is what they did even legal?

How do i get them to do anything without giving them my soc. number and personal info?

i am in a lot of debt right now but i do pay my bills on time. the last thing i need is a bad credit rating because people are taking advantage of my lack of legal knowledge.