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Linda
Brandwin, R.N.
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Linda
Brandwin
is a registered nurse and a medical billing
and claims specialist. For the past 10 years
she has worked directly with insurance companies
to give advice and guidance to the health care
consumer.
Readers may send email
or write Linda Brandwin at 5500 Single Oak Hill
Ct., Woodbridge, VA 22192.
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Hospital
collection methods leave mark on credit report
Feb. 13, 2004
Q:
I
read with great interest your column regarding hospitals
and their collection methods. I had a problem with a
hospital in Arizona. I was making monthly payments to
the hospital and my account was turned over to a collection
agency anyway. I contacted the hospital accounting department
and was told it was the hospital policy to write off
debts that were not paid off in six months, so I ended
up sending the same payments to the collection agency
that I would have been sending to the hospital. Then
the collection agency sold my account to another collection
agency. As a result, my credit report looks like I had
two collection accounts.
I
am a mortgage loan officer and have seen this happen
on many occasions to consumers. This causes a great
deal of difficulty for the consumer. The consumer may
have been making his payments on time, but it appears
the hospital prefer to send the accounts to a collection
agency rather than deal with a monthly payment plan.
Is it any wonder hospital charges are skyrocketing when
hospitals are selling their debt as a "short sell?"
A:
Hospitals
feel that if payment on a bill is not collected within
six months, the chances for payment on that account
are significantly decreased. It is financially beneficial
for them to turn the account over to a collection agency.
The fallacy is that some hospitals do not take into
consideration the activity on the accounts. If a patient
is making consistent, good faith payments it makes absolutely
no sense to turn that account over to a collection agency.
It makes no sense for the hospital to give up that money
that they had been collecting every month. A blanket
policy of turning every six month aged account over
to a collection agency hurts everyone. The consumer
and the hospitals both lose.
As
a mortgage loan officer you have seen the repercussions
of this collection method first hand both personally
and professionally. I am sure this has made you more
sensitive to individuals who have a "bad credit
rating" due to these hospital collection methods.
It is unfair for a patient to have to suffer the consequences
of a "bad credit rating" due to the insensitivity
of the hospital.
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