[Marswoman]

This is crazy...

I went to the emergency room Dec 2004.
I received a bill from the Hospital.
They offered me a 50% settlement on the Hospital charges. Cool !

Later, I start getting stuff from "Shadow Emergency Physicians" for services that day.

I call the Hospital to ask what is this? - Hospital says Dr's are not employed by the Hospital they are independent contractors so I get one bill from Hospital and another bill from Dr's.

Shadow Emergency Physicians sent me ONE BILL that lists $331 for Dr Services AND $25 more for "services requested during Sunday/Holidays."

This suddenly appeared on my Experian report under NCO-MEDCLR...

And there are TWO collection entries, one for $331 and one for $26.

I have TWO problems:

A) Experian is reporting these as paid but still showing in the Collection section, they have not moved them over to PAID ACCOUNT in good standing.

B) I never got any bills from MEDCLR....so technically how can I get these deleted?
What kind of letter can I write to get this cleared?


PS - Looks like I'm not the only one ....

Rip Off Report:Nco, Nco Group, Medclear, Nco Financial, Nco, medclr fcra violations, deception, false promises, lies, settlement breach, Ripoff Philadelphia Pennsylvania

[Marswoman]

HOLY CRAP....more, and same stuff NCO - MEDCLR did to me.

Insurance Company Reports

- NCO SUCKS

[spinn]

When you say you got a 50% settlement.....how do you know they didnt sell or assign the other 50%?

This is a common tactic...slimy as hell but common.

[Marswoman]

I dont think you understood my post correctly - or maybe I'm misunderstanding you.

Hospital sent me one bill - I dealt with hospital directly, I got a letter from them offering 50% discount.

I got another bill for Dr services, from another company, at a later date, which was Shadow Emergency Room Physicians which I immediately disputed since I didnt know what it was at first and theres nothing called Shadow Emergency in this area.

It fell off my credit report, then reappeared as NCO MEDCLR and then the damage was done.....

[spinn]

Could this be them?

Shadow Emergency Physicians
620 Shadow Ln.
Las Vegas, NV 89106
702-388-4000

Are you in Vegas area?

I found it here: Finding out OC..? - Credit Repair Forums

Sound familiar:

"Hey thank you all so much for helping! The bill was for 600.00 and I asked them did they bill my insurance because it sounds like you didn't, and guess what, they DIDN'T. So, I'm going through the re-billing process with Medicare to get it billed correctly, and I will be so glad to pay my co-pay get these bills off my report, lol.

Thanks again!!! "

[Marswoman]

That could be it....thanks! I will call them on Monday.

But the bill I have says:

Shadow Emergency Physicians
PO Box 13917
Philadelphia, PA 19101
800-355-2470

[spinn]

Thing is....since they are apparently the OC.....they are not subject to the FDCPA so disputing would not cause them to be rquired to cease collection activity until verifying the debt.

[FixinThings]

As an OC, they are not subject to the FDCPA, but I would suspect that they are using a 3rd-party billing outfit under contract to do their collections. The 3rd party likely is. Both are definitely subject to the HIPAA. The combination of FDCPA and HIPAA protections make for powerful levers for negotiation and resolution.

Having already disputed the charge with the alleged OC is an important first step. That it was put in place on a timely basis is a giant plus.

OP should check out the Fairness Foundation out of Indianapolis. They have lots of useful information regarding medical billings and how to handle disputed charges.

Their URL: HospitalVictims.com - Defend Yourself Against Hospital Price Gouging!

[hannah]

Originally Posted by FixinThings

OP should check out the Fairness Foundation out of Indianapolis. They have lots of useful information regarding medical billings and how to handle disputed charges.

Their URL: HospitalVictims.com - Defend Yourself Against Hospital Price Gouging!

Great website, Fixin. Thanks for the link.

[Marswoman]

Thanks to all who replied....much great advice.
Now I know where to start and what to write.

That link to the Hospital bills Foundation place is just what I need!

THANK YOU again.

[Marswoman]

One more question....before I send out my certified letters tomorrow.

Shadow Emergency Room Physicians sent me detailed bill showing
$305 for emergency evaluation and $26 for sunday/holiday services.

ONE BILL FOR $331 total.

NCO - MEDCLR split it up as TWO medical accounts
TWO collection entries on my credit report !!!!

So.......how does this letter sound, and do I need to add anything else?


NCO Financial
507 Prudential Road
Horsham, PA 19044

RE: NCO-MEDCLR
FOR: Shadow Emergency Room Physicians
ACCT: xxxxxx & xxxxx

This is regarding several errors as reported on my credit report.

Original date of service was x/x/04
Statement dated x/x/04 reflects one bill for $331.00.
(Please see copy of original billing statement enclosed...)

There never were two separate bills - yet this is being reported as two negative entries on my credit report.

You have posted the origination date as 5/2006.

THIS IS INCORRECT AND IN VIOLATION OF FCRA as stated below:

Per Section 623(a)(5) of the FCRA, it specifies that any entity that reports information to credit bureaus about a delinquent consumer account that has been placed for collection or written off MUST REPORT THE ACTUAL MONTH AND YEAR THE ACCOUNT FIRST BECAME DELINQUENT. Violations of this provision of the FCRA are subject to civil penalties of $2,500 per violation.

[Marswoman]

Hey....I just noticed, why are they reporting a medical bill as INSTALLMENT??

NCO-MEDCLR

Address:
PO BOX 8547
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19101
(888) 207-3081 Account Number:
3073.... Original Creditor:
SHADOW EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS



Status:
Paid in settlement/Collection account.
Status Details:
This account is scheduled to continue on record until Sep 2011.
This item was verified and updated on Apr 2007.



Date Opened:
05/2006
Type:
Installment
Credit Limit:
$26

Date of Status:
03/2007 Terms:
1 Months High Balance:
NA

Reported Since:
07/2006 Monthly Payment:
$0 Recent Balance:
NA

Last Reported Date:
03/2007 Responsibility:
Individual Recent Payment:
NA

[Marswoman]

SUCCESS !!!

The letter I wrote quoting the credit law was effective.....

As of today, 3 of my NCO accounts have vanished off my reports!

[Hedwig]

Congratulations!!

Good work.

[roybean]

Great news!

[Marswoman]

Well......its NOT over. More Medical Billing Nighmares....

NCO is at it again. I got a voice mail message to call an 800 number today. I returned the call because I am getting fed up with telemarketing/collection calls all f'kn day for a Mrs. Cardenas. I am not Mrs Cardenas and I think someone is using my phone number which is unlisted.

I work 10 hour night shifts till 2am, so I sleep late in the mornings and I'm constantly woken all am by these types of calls. Ive started turning my ringer off, and I spend an hour upon waking up, returning all these collection voice mails telling them I AM NOT Mrs. Cardenas, wrong number and take this number OFF your call list.


I then added a fraud alert with all the credit bureaus as of May 2007.

I asked what this was about, NCO said from a Hospital visit in March 2007 for 3 bills totalling $527.

I asked what Hospital and she gave me a name of someplace THAT DOES NOT EXIST! There is no such hospital in this town. I said I had a medical problem in March and was treated elsewhere, but I already got that bill. NCO said someone might have gotten access to my personal information and used it on their hospital visit or the Hopsital I was at, may have changed its name.

DUH! So of course I call the Hospital and they havent changed names....and they said there are no other charges due.

Back to NCO, I then asked her to send me proof of whatever she is trying to collect on because A) this is the first I heard about it, B) the place she is mentioning does not exist C) I have no paper proof of what she is claiming

I then said give me the details of this bill over the phone, amounts and what I'm being charged for. She said that the information was just forwarded to NCO and that they dont really have ANY details.

She says that NCO notified me by sending a collection letter out yesterday, June 19th. And they were calling to follow up. WTF?

Well, hell, its only a DAY later and I havent gotten any mail from them.

So she said, "well then, are you disputing this bill?"

I said Hell yes, I am. She said I must write a letter and fax it to them asap.

How the hell can I be billed for someplace that doesnt exist and with NO proof? And why 3 months later from the date they allege?

I am FED UP WITH NCO..they screwed me once (as discussed in earlier post) and I got the situation taken care of immediately. But now this. Can I sue them for their past documented mistake and now this one???? How would I go about doing so? Please advise.

PS - I have been checking my experian CR online every week, as I have been monitoring my CR to make sure my recent deletions/disuputes are being taken care of. This recent NCO stuff is NOT on there.....yet.

I cant take too much more of this bs.......

[Enigma]

You need to memorialize this conversation.

Put it in writing and send it to NCO CMRRR. They have violated the FDCPA, you do not have to put disputes in writing.

[Marswoman]

I sent them a double whammy..and it worked.

I wrote NCO and documented the conversation about this latest phantom medical bill, and included a suprise bonus - " The Cease and Desist " letter from budhibbs.com website.

I sent both by fax and also hard copy cmrrr.

Today, I get an email from experian about updated report results.

NCO deleted the old account that they had previously deleted but sneakily re-posted with a Jan 2007 collection date. And this new bill they are trying to collect on (from a Hospital that doesnt exist) is not on my report either.

Another small victory!!

[Marswoman]

Ok.....the above problems with NCO have been solved.
Now on to the next Multiple Medical Billing problem:

I went to Urgent Care twice.....they billed me for $149 & 167.

I received statements via snail mail and went I went to pay the bills, the medical billing office had moved.
Next I was told no longer have acct, they went to collections.

Called Urgent Care billing yesterday, on hold for 10 mins.
Called Urgent Care billing today, on hold for 20 minutes.
Cannot get thru to them.

PROBLEM:
These two bills have been reported 4 TIMES!

Experian has both amts posted with Credit Bureau Central.
TransUnion and Experian showing both amts posted with Aargon.

GOAL:
I would like to pay OC and get all 4 negatives deleted asap.

Isnt it a violation to report two bills 4 times?
I mean, only one agency is gonna get the money.

How do I fix this mess????