Medical bills....

[SamiAnna]

From Idaho:

I received a letter January 31st from Bonneville stating that I had a bill in collections for me from a doctor's office. I haven't been to this particular doctor's office in a couple years because I couldn't stand them for multiple reasons. As with all collection letters, it had the provision that if I disputed the bill, to notify them in writing within 30 days or they'd consider it a valid debt. I immediately sat down and typed out a letter and am planning to take it to the post office to sent it certified with a return receipt. I have absolutely no knowledge of a debt to this office. The few times I've gone to them, I've paid them. However, I'm not sure I could prove this at this point nearly 2 years after this visit to them (Bonneville gave me the date of the visit to the doctor's office...I'll get to that cal more in a minute). I don't honestly remember what method of payment I used with them. However, I do know that at that point in time, I had a different bank account than the one I do now (the one I had at that time has since been closed).

The main reason I never went back to this doctor (aside from the absolutely unprofessional and ludicris way he spoke to me at my last visit) is that shortly after that visit, my mother and I were talking and she told me she'd called them to get a refill for her bee sting kit (something she did once a year and had been doing through them for several years) and they told her she'd have to pay $60 to come in for an appointment to prove she's allergic to bees (something everyone fakes afterall) and then pay another $75 for the bee sting kit because "They had no record of her ever having been seen by them before." They'd last ALL of her medical records for the several years she'd been going to them. He was her primary physician, so she'd gone to him many times in those several years. I have a feeling that's what has happened with my payment record--they've lost it.

When Bonneville called yesterday as a follow-up to their letter, I let them know I had received it and I had written a dispute letter that I would be sending out in the next couple of days. I told him I had no knowledge of this debt, and that I hadn't been to this doctor in 2 or 3 years (at which point he told me the date of the visit) and that in that time I'd never received any sort of bill or statement or any other type of communication what so ever from them to let me know of an alleged debt. He told me it wouldn't matter because saying I had no knowledge of the debt wouldn't be considered a valid dispute and they wouldn't acknowledge it as a dispute at all. I asked how he didn't consider "I didn't pay the debt because I had no knowledge of it" to not be a valid reason, and he said simply that anyone could say they just didn't know about the debt and that wasn't a good enough reason.

I apologize for this being so long and if you've lasted this long or at least skimmed enough to get the gist, thank you. My basic questions are:

1. Can they just outright refuse to acknowledge a debt dispute?
2. Does the fact that in the 2 years of having this supposed debt the doctor's office has never sent me anything to let me know about it mean anything (at least suggest that it's questionable perhaps)?

[stargazer0725]

1. You have the right to dispute. Don't let them tell you otherwise (them telling you that you can't do this is false and misleading). This is obviously their first contact with you since their letter contained the 30-day notice. They are required to provide you with information that validates the debt upon written request from you(i.e. original creditor, date of service, breakdown of amount owed, etc.). The FDCPA gives you this right in order that you can make sure the debt is truly yours.

2. Don't count on "no previous contact" as any insurance that this debt isn't truly valid. (It took 2 years for a $28 lab bill to find its way to me, via China apparently.)

In the meantime, call the doctor's office and try and find out what's going on. See if they back-up the collector's claim or not.

[Ladynred]

Who is 'Bonneville' ?? Is that the doctor's practice or is it a collection agency ??

If it's the Dr's office, then the FDCPA does NOT apply to original creditors. However is reason for refusing the dispute is wrong and completely stupid. If you're dealing with a collection agency, then definitely dispute and demand validation.

I would suggest you get whatever records you DO have out, like cancelled checks, bank statements, etc. and find out if you DID pay this debt.

[SamiAnna]

Bonneville is the collection agency, not the doctor's office. Sorry I don't have more time to reply. I'm on my way to work.

[SamiAnna]

I did actually call the doctor's office Monday to inquire about this bill and was told the office manager was off that day and would call me back Tuesday. When she called me back, she said she always keeps copies of the final bills that are sent out on accounts. I still am perplexed by the whole thing because if she was sending out multiple bills on a monthly basis as most doctor's offices do (I have no idea if this is actually what they were doing, I'm just using the norm as an example) then there's just no logical reason I wouldn't have gotten at least one in two years. Yes, I had moved around town during that time, but it's a small town and they always manage to get your mail to you anyway just because of the "everyone knows everyone else and the post office always figures out where to send their mail" type thing--my family lived in the town for generations and I have a well known family name, being one of the original names in that town and people just know who I am as a result (I know..somewhat off topic). I've always been diligent about putting in change of address/forwarding notices with the post office and even if the mail is to my maiden name at my mother's old apartment from 10 years ago, the mail is always still in my hands in less than a week from the postmark. The office manager said she'd never gotten back any of the bills/statements so frankly, I'm at a loss. She is sending me a statement to my current address which I provided to her when I called. So...I'll look over it and see if I can find where I did pay here and correct the error, or just pay them directly, have them notify the collection agency that the debt is satisfied, and forgo the collection agency.

I wasn't impressed with the collection agency to begin with for telling me that they wouldn't acknowledge my dispute, then telling me he'd "give me a week to contact the doctor's office and figure it out" when the letter from them clearly stated I had thirty days to "figure it out", and he'd be cutting me down to half that.

[Ladynred]

The collection agency has NO CHOICE if you dispute, they MUST acknowledge it per the FDCPA !

Do you have health insurance ? If so, then there should have been an EOB (explanation of benefits) form sent to you after you were treated.

[SamiAnna]

Yes I do have insurance and did at that time as well. However, I have since switched insurance companies, because when my husband got a promotion at work, it bumped him up to where he was too high in the managment chain to be allowed to be in the union anymore, which meant the we had to switch to the insurance provided for non union employees. I'll still send the letter requesting validation. That way I won't default into the "if you don't dispute within 30 days, we'll assume it's valid" clause. However, in the end of the debt is valid, I'll just pay the doctor's office directly and avoid the pointless collection agency fees.

[Ladynred]

Well, what I was getting at is the EOB, you should be able to get a copy of the EOB from the visit(s) this dr's office is after.

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by SamiAnna

However, in the end of the debt is valid, I'll just pay the doctor's office directly and avoid the pointless collection agency fees.

Silly fool.

Still think you can do what ever you want your way, huh? It doesn't work like that. THE ACCOUNT ISN'T PAID UNTIL THE CA GETS THE MONEY. If you send money to the wrong party and they don't send it to the CA, your account remains unpaid.

It's kind of like saying, my paper boy turned my account over to the mail man. But I don't like the mailman so I'm going to pay the paperboy. If the paper boy doesn't give the money to the mailman -- you never paid.

Stop being silly. Just pay your bill. and that would be to the CA that is collecting it.

DC

PS I deal with people all the time that send their money to the wrong party and are actually mad because we are still collecting on the debt. Until the money is in the collector's hands, it isn't paid.

[SamiAnna]

I guess my foolishness comes from the fact that I settled a past debt with this doctor's office in the exact manner I stated. I walked into the doctor's office within a month of receiving the collection agency's notice, handed the receptionest my debit card, obtained a receipt, was told by the receptionist that she would let the collection agency know that no further collection attempts were required, and I never heard from the collection agency regarding the debt again.