Re: Old Med bills on credit report

Posted by MedicalBills (64.164.162.20) on June 26, 2003 at 18:45:27:

In Reply to: Re: Old Med bills on credit report posted by WHY CHAT on June 26, 2003 at 15:44:00:

I haven't heard of this option at all. I live in California. The medical provider is an imaging company that conducted an MRI back in Nov 1999. The Collection Account was opened in July of 2000. It's on my credit report twice (thus the debt is doubled), with different account numbers (The only difference is that one of the accounts has been reported since 11/2000 while the other has been reported since 5/2002). This is in error, correct? Do I contact the credit report agency to fix this?
Also, I've spoken with the original health care provider. They tell me this is old account and that everything's been "transferred" to the credit agency. They don't even have the original claim. Is this correct? Will the letter with the statute be effective?
The health care provider claims they sent the claim to my secondary insurance, through my college, but was told to send the claim to my primary insurance, through my father's employer. They never did, or tried, but didn't get a response, although I have many other medical bills that were paid by my primary health insurance (so somehow the MRI fell through the cracks). Does this sound like a legit argument for my case against the healthcare provider?
Also, when speaking with the Credit Agency thus far, they say they can settle with me for an amount, as well as removing the mark on my credit report. Can this happen? If it does, does it mean that it won't be reflected as "PAID" on my report?
Finally, there's another old medical claim on my credit report for the balance of surgery center facilities' fees back in Nov 1999. The reason I was never aware of it is because they kept sending it to an old college address of mine, not my permanent address (my parents' house) that hasn't changed for 15 years. Now the balance is for $580 and I've already proposed a settlement for half the amount. Should I revoke my offer? Can they remove it completely from my report if settled or will it be marked as "PAID"? Are there California laws on point with this? Apparently, they never tried sending the balance to my permanent address and the next I heard of it was when I saw my credit report.

Thanks for all your help. Please let me know how to proceed. I'm applying for graduate student loans now, and this bad, but unfair, credit is ruining my eligibility.

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