Are you suffering from Medical Debt or Medical Collections?
More than 100 MILLION Americans have medical debt ruining their credit reports, and today, I'm going to give you the cure!
Medical collections are a big hurdle for anyone trying to repair credit, and medical debt has become a bigger issue than anyone could've imagined.
We've all heard stories and seen reports about just how crazy medical bills have gotten.
People are taking Ubers to avoid ambulance fees.
Debt relief websites are suggesting Crowdfunding services like GoFundMe to help people pay off healthcare debts.
And just recently, two medical bills went viral.
The first was from 1956, and it showed the cost of spending six days in the hospital and having a child was $107.55.
And the second bill was from 2022, and it showed the cost of being treated for a snake bite was $244,995.97.
But what's crazier than the size of that bill is the fact that these huge amounts are becoming less and less shocking.
It's not like this in other countries, but in America, medical costs are out of control!
In many cases, people don't even know they have medical debt, but even if they did, they can't afford to pay it. At these prices, who could?
And despite everything we know, the extent of the problem might STILL be worse than we realize.
SO HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO US?
Well, the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a nationwide survey exploring the scale, impact, and causes of medical debt in America, and their findings were unbelievable!
Their survey found that in the past five years, more than HALF of U.S. adults went into debt because of medical bills.
And medical debt is highest in the southern states that refused to implement all parts of the Affordable Care Act or to expand Medicaid.
ONE out of THREE adults said they didn't know their insurance plan didn't cover their hospital or medical service.
ONE out of FOUR found out their insurance provider denied their claims.
ONE out of FOUR with medical debt owes more than $5,000.
And most importantly…
ONE out of FIVE people with any amount of debt said they don't expect to EVER PAY IT OFF.
Most of these unpaid bills will end up in third-party debt collections, and most of these people will need serious credit repair.
HERE'S THE THING TO REMEMBER…
The laws and policies are changing.
As of July 1st, 2022, the credit bureaus Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion removed all paid medical collection debt from their reports.
Until this point, medical collections would remain on file for up to seven years, regardless of whether or not the debt was paid.
The credit bureaus also extended the amount of time that we have to pay outstanding medical bills before they're added to their credit reports. They extended it from six months to one year.
And beginning in 2023, the credit bureaus are going to remove and no longer report any medical collections debt under $500.
The bureaus claim this change will remove 70% of medical collections debt from consumer credit scores.
However, a CFPB Report found that about HALF of all consumers with medical collection accounts on their credit reports will likely STILL have medical collections reported even after the medical collections reporting change goes into effect.
So that's really fucked up for a lot of people!
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT…
We can't rely on Credit Bureaus to fix the medical debt problem because they profit from it. So you have to learn how to fight back.
If you ever get hit with medical debt that you can't pay, you need to know the secret to deleting medical collections from credit reports!
And believe it or not, it's easy. You just need to know your rights.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, if debt to a medical facility goes unpaid, they have the right to take measures to collect the debt, including selling your personal information to a debt collector.
But, the information that can be provided to the collector is very limited.
Now, the main purpose of HIPAA, which is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is to prevent anyone from abusing our personal health information.
So, when debt collectors decide to deal with medical debt, they must sign a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement to indicate they will comply with and follow all HIPAA regulations that involve protected health information.
Debt Collection agencies do not need any of your protected health information or medical history to collect a medical debt.
In fact, they are responsible for ensuring that any protected health information they receive is secured from unauthorized access.
So, wanna know the best part of HIPAA?
You can use HIPAA to delete medical collections. Yes! Grab a pen and paper.
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW…
When a Medical Facility or Provider gives your personal information to a debt collector, they can only share your name, address, social security number, date of birth, payment history, and the location and name of the facility where you were treated.
That's it!
They absolutely cannot disclose the nature of your treatment or details of procedures to the collector. This includes paperwork or bills that disclose medications you've taken and ailments or diseases you may have been diagnosed with or treated for.
So, if a debt collector presents you with any of these protected details, for example, if they show you a bill that has anything related to your medical treatment. BOOM! You got ‘em.
They are in direct violation of HIPAA regulations, and they now face severe fines.
And it's time to put them on notice.
It's time to send that debt collector a Validation of Medical Debt (HIPAA Request) Dispute Letter!
This special Letter will scare the shit out of debt collectors. This is the magical letter. Again it's called the Validation of Medical Debt (HIPAA Request) Dispute Letter.
If you have clients with medical debt in collections. If you have friends with debt in medical collections. You need this letter. And I'm going to give it to you.
You can download it right now at CreditRepairCloud.com/HIPAA
When you fill it out and mail this letter to a debt collector, you are basically threatening them with a lawsuit for HIPAA violations.
And if you can prove that they've violated HIPAA, it usually convinces the debt collector to delete the account.
But even if they don't delete the collection account from your credit report, you'll probably be able to use this as a solid negotiating point and go after a pay-per-deletion, which I will cover in a later episode.
MY FINAL POINT…
Medical Debt isn't like Holiday Debt. Disciplined spending habits won't fix this problem.
Most Americans who filed for bankruptcy due to medical debt had health insurance. And TWO out of THREE people said they put off medical care that they really needed because of the cost.
Planning isn't the issue. Medical costs are astronomical, and salary increases have not kept up with healthcare costs.
This current system is horrible, we're trapped in it, and the only people who like it are the ones profiting from it.
Things are changing, but the change isn't drastic enough, and it's not happening fast enough.
We have to fight back.
I'll end by saying…
If you don't already have a Credit Repair Cloud account, check it out. It's the software that most Credit Repair businesses in America run on. Just sign up for a 30-Day Free Trial at CreditRepairCloud.com/freetrial
And if you'd like to change lives and grow your own credit repair business, check out our Credit Hero Challenge!
It's an amazing program, and we've got another challenge starting in a few days, so grab your spot right now at CreditHeroChallenge.com!
Until next time, remember…
If you know your rights, you can fight back, and you can WIN! Keep fighting!
Keep giving knowledge away and keep changing lives!