Collections agencies need to provide you with an itemized list of what you owe and to who.

If a hospital gives out this information, especially if they didn’t even try to collect it themselves, they have violated HIPPA.

Will a collections agency give you a document proving they vioated HIPPA? No. Do you owe debts on something w/o receipts? No.

  • Vinegar@kbin.social
    41·
    1 year ago

    As everyone else has confirmed - the title is incorrect, medical debt absolutely can be sent to collections

    What OP likely misunderstood is the practice of validating a debt - this is not a loophole to get out of paying your debts, this is a basic legal protection to prevent malicious collection agencies from fraudulently pursuing invalid debts. When you get a bill in the mail from a collections agency you can request that the agency validate the debt, and they will have to formally provide the following information before you are required to repay the debt:

    • [collection agency’s] name and mailing address
    • the name of the creditor you owe it to
    • how much money you owe, written out to include interest, fees, payments, and credits
    • what to do if you don’t think it’s your debt
    • your debt collection rights, including your right to get information about the original creditor if you ask for it within 30 days of getting validation information from the collector

    A collector has to give you “validation information” about the debt either when they first communicate with you or within five days of the first contact. The collector has to include the following

    Federal Trade Commission - Consumer Advice - Debt collection FAQ