What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IL
My wife was admitted and treated in an Illinois emergency room in June 2013. We never received anything from the hospital until we got a letter from a collection agency in October 2013. My wife called the collection agency and requested an itemized receipt, since we thought the treatment may have been billed in error. The representative said he would reach out to the hospital to request an itemized receipt. He also mentioned the debt would not be reported to the credit bureaus until we had an itemized receipt and had a chance to address the debt.
We then received another letter from the collection agency in January 2014 stating we owe the debt and they sent what the hospital claimed was an itemized receipt. It was not an itemized receipt. It was a sheet of paper that listed the admission date, a line that said "wrong insurance" and when the debt was sent to a collection agency. It did not list the services my wife received or how the services were billed. My wife again called the collection agency, who said they did their job by sending what the hospital says was an itemized receipt.
My wife reviewed her insurance documents, and it appears the billed amount was covered by "BCBS Discount & 3rd Party Payments" and that we owe nothing on the claim.
We then checked my wife's credit report, and it has a collection notice in January 2014. Our next step is going to be calling the hospital billing department when they are available on Monday.
We are wondering if we have any legal recourse against the hospital/collection agency/insurance company for having a big ding on our credit when we were not given the itemized receipt of services received and billed that we requested? The debt appears to be paid according the BCBS, but we cannot gain a clear picture of the situation, since the hospital won't send an itemized receipt. Should we contact an attorney to seek legal action to get our credit report cleared?
My wife was admitted and treated in an Illinois emergency room in June 2013. We never received anything from the hospital until we got a letter from a collection agency in October 2013. My wife called the collection agency and requested an itemized receipt, since we thought the treatment may have been billed in error. The representative said he would reach out to the hospital to request an itemized receipt. He also mentioned the debt would not be reported to the credit bureaus until we had an itemized receipt and had a chance to address the debt.
We then received another letter from the collection agency in January 2014 stating we owe the debt and they sent what the hospital claimed was an itemized receipt. It was not an itemized receipt. It was a sheet of paper that listed the admission date, a line that said "wrong insurance" and when the debt was sent to a collection agency. It did not list the services my wife received or how the services were billed. My wife again called the collection agency, who said they did their job by sending what the hospital says was an itemized receipt.
My wife reviewed her insurance documents, and it appears the billed amount was covered by "BCBS Discount & 3rd Party Payments" and that we owe nothing on the claim.
We then checked my wife's credit report, and it has a collection notice in January 2014. Our next step is going to be calling the hospital billing department when they are available on Monday.
We are wondering if we have any legal recourse against the hospital/collection agency/insurance company for having a big ding on our credit when we were not given the itemized receipt of services received and billed that we requested? The debt appears to be paid according the BCBS, but we cannot gain a clear picture of the situation, since the hospital won't send an itemized receipt. Should we contact an attorney to seek legal action to get our credit report cleared?