|
New Page 1
|
 |
Patient Not Paying Their Bill? Sue 'Em!!! Plus: Lessons Learned From 9-11-01 & The Great Blackout of 2003
September 11, 2003
|
Dear Ben: I appreciate and respect the support you provide to consumers. I'm hoping you can direct us to an approach that can protect consumers rights and at the same time, satisfying the debt incurred by consumers.
I own a medical practice. A patient received services in 1999-2001 and had a balance of $800.00 at that time. His insurance company denied payment and consequently, we have consistently billed him and offered pay-out options. In return we've consistently received "the check's in the mail" response. (By the way: He's a successful, reputable professional in the community.) Our efforts of trying to handle this in a professional manner are nearing exhaustion. Do you know of a "nice" collection agency, or should we just contact Experian to report the outstanding debt?
Pat, via e-mail
Dear Pat: I'm sorry to hear about the games this clown is playing with you. It's obvious that he's probably going to respond to one thing...a lawsuit. I'd skip hiring a debt collector because I don't see the point in giving them as much as half of the balance you end up eventually collecting-especially since you'll probably end up having to sue him to get it, anyway. Make a photocopy of this column and enclose it with your "one last chance before we take you to court" demand letter that you're going to send him via Certified Mail/Return Receipt Requested.
Fire out a "you've got ten days from receipt of this letter to pay us the entire balance" letter to this jerk and then follow through on it and file your lawsuit in small claims court. Assuming you've properly papered your trail and can document the validity of the debt, getting a judgment should be a slam-dunk. Once you get the judgment, then you've got to collect on it and this can be a little-no, actually it can be a lot trickier (but not impossible) to accomplish. There are hundreds of websites out there loaded with strategies-as well as companies offering judgment collection services for a piece of the action. Try using my search engine of choice, www.google.com and punch in "collect judgment" to duplicate my search results and you're off to the races.
By the way: The only way you can get negative information reported on this guy's credit report to Experian (or Equifax and TransUnion, the other two major credit reporting agencies) is by either assigning it to a third-party collection agency or by suing him. As discussed earlier, the net result of assigning this overdue account to a third-party collector is the potential expense involved. Even though almost all collection agencies have the ability to report overdue debts to the credit bureaus for clients such as private medical practices, you can accomplish the same result by filing suit. Lawsuits, judgments and tax liens are all publicly recorded actions that will eventually find their way onto a credit report, giving you the leverage to collect the debt and close this file once and for all.
Dose of Dover For The Week: I want to take a moment to recognize the fallout from the tragic terrorist attacks that occurred two years ago today. Though our nation was stunned by the impact of the events of September 11, 2001, the longer-term implications continue to be felt on a number of levels, and with that in mind I'd like to add my two cents. Being prepared is the bottom line message for today; I've got two excellent sections devoted to this mission statement posted on my website. From preparing for the inevitable end of life issues all of us are going to deal with, to something as mundane as updating the ID card you're carrying in your wallet or purse (when was the last time you updated yours, anyway?), here's your one-stop shop for getting your act together: www.bendover.com/beprepared.asp. And since all of us are probably going to eventually end up spending time in a hospital sooner-or-later, and because I am a bit of an expert in this area (a result of the 14 surgeries I endured from my catastrophic motorcycle of 1989), I've assembled a (growing) section of tips that will hopefully increase your odds (or the odds of a loved one or friend) of coming home quickly and safely: www.bendover.com/hospitalsurvival.asp.
|
|
|
|
|
