Medical Collection Guidelines

According to CNN, more than 60 percent of bankruptcies in the United States were caused by excessive medical bills. With medical costs rising, it is not uncommon to find yourself dealing with a collections agency when medical services are incurred. In this situation, medical bill collectors have to file some guidelines to honor your rights as a debtor.

Contact

When you owe a debt to a medical provider, the collections department will start to contact you if you have not made a recent payment. Typically, the collections department will call you on the phone to try to collect the balance. You can also request that the collections department only contact you in writing. If you hire a lawyer, you can also tell the collections agent to only contact your lawyer.

Verification of Debt

During the medical collection process, you have the right to ask the creditor to verify the debt. It is not uncommon for medical facilities to make mistakes in the billing process and if you check the bills thoroughly, you might find a mistake. Once you request a verification of the debt, the medical provider has 30 days to provide this proof. If the medical provider cannot provide proof of the debt, you will not be responsible for paying it.

Filing a Lawsuit

If the debt is valid, the medical collections agency can file a lawsuit against you. You will then be served a summons by the local sheriff's office. At that point, you will have to appear in court on the appointed date or risk having a warrant issued for your arrest. Once you appear in court, the medical collections agency will prove to the judge that you owe the debt. Unless you can prove otherwise, the court will issue a judgment in favor of the medical facility.

Payment Options

Once the medical provider has a judgment against you, it can use this judgment to collect the balance in several ways. In some cases, you can simply set up a payment plan with the medical facility. If you are not willing to set up a payment plan, the creditor could use the judgment to garnish your wages, place a lien on your property or levy some of your property. The judgment gives the medical provider the right to collect.