Clearing Medical Expense from Credit Report

Great question, and as you might imagine, this is a relatively common issue. There are three separate issues here:

1. Does your insurance plan cover this procedure with this eye doctor,
2. Credit for your co-pay payment, and
3. Effectiveness of their treatment (i.e., do your glasses work?)

For the first issue, our suggestion is that you contact the doctor directly and clearly and calmly state your side of the story and your reasoning for not being obligated to pay the full cost of the treatment. You've clearly got a reason for being upset, as they indicated to you that the treatment was covered and you proceeded with the treatment with that understanding. However, ultimately, as the insured party, you are responsible for making sure that the treatment you select is covered by your plan. Since it was not, but they gave you inaccurate guidance, the best way to handle it is to calmly negotiate with them on a reduced fee for the treatment.

As for the second issue, there is no doubt that if they issued a paid receipt for your co-pay, they should accept this as confirmation of your payment. Lastly, if you have an issue with the treatment received, you should direct that to the doctor.

Your best route is to work with the doctor directly, and once you've gotten some resolution, they have the ability to pull this negative collection account off of your credit report. Once they have agreed to a settlement, you'll want to follow up with them directly and make sure that they remove the item from your credit file. As you have noticed, one negative item on your credit report can have a very negative impact on your credit score, so you are wise to deal with it head on and now, as opposed to waiting.

I hope this information helps you Find. Learn & Save.

Best,

Bill

Bills.com