[ggwelsh]

Hi this is my first post. My question is this. My spouse and I got turned over for collection for a medical bill and now we are being sued and have been ordered to appear in court. If we pay the full amount due to the law firm handling the dispute prior to the court date will this still show as some sort of judgement on our credit or since the judge and court will never have an official judgement or ruling on the debt will it just be removed?

We have been having a rough economic go of it as many are right now and got behind on paying the bill in a timely fashion. Nothing like this has happened to us before. We are very embarrassed! We just want to deal with this appropriately and move on. Thanks in advance for any help you can give us!

[OriginalMan]

If you pay the bill before judgment there will, in fact, be no judgment on your credit report. I would, if I were you, make a settlement offer, before payment, wherein the attorney for the other side agrees, in writing, to authorize the collection be removed from your credit file.

It's no skin off his nose for her/him to do it, but some attorneys like twisting in the knife. If they won't remove the collection voluntarily you should contact the original medical provider and threaten to report their act of selling the account to the collection agency as being in violation of the privacy provisions of HIPAA. HIPAA covers all health care providers and prohibits the dissemination of your personal information without your consent. They cannot legally give the collection company your name, address or even the reason for which the bill was obtained. It is also questionable whether the provider can sell your account, as opposed to engage strictly in a collection activity.

[JudyKayTee]

If you pay the bill before judgment there will, in fact, be no judgment on your credit report. I would, if I were you, make a settlement offer, before payment, wherein the attorney for the other side agrees, in writing, to authorize the collection be removed from your credit file.

It's no skin off his nose for her/him to do it, but some attorneys like twisting in the knife. If they won't remove the collection voluntarily you should contact the original medical provider and threaten to report their act of selling the account to the collection agency as being in violation of the privacy provisions of HIPAA. HIPAA covers all health care providers and prohibits the dissemination of your personal information without your consent. They cannot legally give the collection company your name, address or even the reason for which the bill was obtained. It is also questionable whether the provider can sell your account, as opposed to engage strictly in a colection activity.

Please post your source - this has been asked and answered repeatedly on the legal boards and the conclusion has been that it is NOT a violation for a medical provider to furnish information to a third party for the purpose of collecting a bill.

If incorrect information is being given on another board it should be corrected.

Attorneys don't like "twisting the knife." They are paid to collect monies and that is what they do, perhaps ruthlessly, but never for personal gratification.

[DownUnder]

Most likely ist has already shown as being in collections so if you can pay it off before you go to court. I think its great you are trying to pay this off and move on,because so many people right now due to the slow economy are letting their bills just go
And hopeing they will disappear

[ScottGem]

You can certainly offer to pay in full or try to negotiate a settlement. Anything you do should be done in writing including the stipulation that they will drop the suit upon payment.