HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Credit Tip of the Day!

As we all know medical bills are a pain. I see these on about 8 of every 10 credit reports I review. We have about a 95% success rate of getting these removed due to the HIPPA act. If a collection company reports a medical bill on your credit report they must be able to validate the debt. Now validating a debt means they have to be able to provide detailed billing statements and signed or endorsed contracts.

HIPAA states that medical care providers cannot disclose personal, medical information to any third party. A collection agency is a third party. If they validate the debt they are in clear violation of the law.

Exception to the rule: Several hospitals are starting to buy collection agencies. This makes them part of the hospital so if their collection agency validates the debt it is legal because by being owned by the hospital the are no longer a third party.