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Collection ended up on credit report--help please!

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:24:39 -0800

Through no fault of my own (in brief: I was unconscious, but may have been unwarrantedly credulous later), a collection agency's action has become visible on my credit reports. How can I remove these? Here's the story: About a year ago, I was transported to a local hospital by ambulance. Fortunately, I pulled through well, and was discharged within hours with no sequelae.

The ambulance company ("Company A") took my particulars en route. I was in no condition to give my address, so they copied it off my driver's license. However, they failed to notice that I had updated the address on that document, and did not read the back of the card, where the update was. (I live in California, where this incident occurred, and there's a space on the back of my driver's license for just this purpose.)

It has been some time since my first California driver's license was issued, and so the forwarding service from my initial address had long since expired. Therefore, I never received any bill that they sent. Furthermore, as I was unconscious until I reached the hospital, I did not note the ambulance company's name and address (or, for that matter, anything else about the journey).

Fast forward to autumn 2009. I receive a letter from a collection service, stating that I have an unpaid bill to Company A, for emergency medical transportation! I had never received a bill for this, and having been incapacitated, wouldn't have known who to pay. I called the collection agency and told them about this, and they said I should send payment to the ambulance company, and gave me a "trip number" to mention. They also said that if I did so, there would be no complaint on my credit report. I sent payment and heard nothing more of it.

Fast forward once again to the present day. I have recently requested my credit reports, and have seen that all three have collection activity posted owing to this episode.

I am nuclear-pissed about this. While I am considering getting ACAB tattooed on my knuckles and telling people it means All Collectors Are Bastards, I'd readily settle for getting all mention of this out of all of my credit files.

I know I've done some stupid things here (admitting the debt, dealing with the collection agency via non-written means, not following up, maybe even more things), but can I fix this going forward, and if so, how?

do i need a medic alert bracelet?

nadawi — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:26:58 -0800

When is a medic alert bracelet necessary? how useful are they actually? i'm a 28 year old female that's allergic to penicillin, erythromycin, and i'm asthmatic. it seems like all three of those could come up in a situation where i wasn't able to speak for myself. lower on the list of "things that are wrong with me" - i have a severe allergy to poison ivy that doesn't look like poison ivy, but could potentially kill me (my eyes, lips, and most alarmingly-throat swells up. the only medication that works is a steroid shot). i only say lower on the list because it takes 24 hours or so before i'm in such bad shape that i have to be in the hospital and i've always made it before my throat as actually swelled to the point of not breathing (but the doctors are all agreed that 12 hours or so more and that's exactly where i would be), so it doesn't seem like an emergency responder sort of situation.

so! do you have a bracelet? what has you wearing one? are you in the medical profession, and if so, do you take notice of them? would you take notice if someone had the symbol tattooed on the top of their wrist, with the allergies/conditions tattooed under the wrist? am i foolish to not wear one?

I'll take Painful Medical Procedures for $4000, Alex!

spacewrench — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:18:31 -0800

What's a typical range of discount negotiated by insurers with ambulance companies? I dislocated my shoulder and had an ambo ride to the local ER. Since I have only high-deductible insurance, I ended up out-of-pocket for all the charges. The insurance company got a reduced rate on the ER fees (they have a negotiated schedule, I guess, and their interest in reducing my charges stems from their desire to keep me below my deductible, so they don't have to pay anything at all). However, they merely declined to pay the ambulance bill (perhaps that doesn't count against my deductible? I'd have to check the policy more carefully.)

Anyway, I would like to ask the ambulance company for a discount, and I would like to propose something in the range that they would already expect to give if an insurance company was paying.

Does anybody know what that range is?

(For anyone who's interested, it costs about US$4,000 to dislocate your shoulder in Portland, Oregon. Unless you want to do something more than get it popped back in.)

Know of an intensive, concentrated EMT course in the US?

howgenerica — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:50:07 -0800

I'm already certified as an EMT outside of the US, but now that I'm going to school in America I'd like to get certified there as well. However, I don't have a lot of time over the summer for the course. Does anyone know of any really intensive, really concentrated EMT basic course? Like all day, every day for a couple weeks. Does this exist in the US?

Is there a reason for wounded people to remain conscious?

The corpse in the library — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:24:32 -0800

Is there a medical reason for a wounded person to remain conscious, or is that just movie drama? You know the "Stay with me, man!" bit in so many movies and TV shows? Wounded person, lying on the floor / sprawled in the alley / bleeding all over the cockpit; best buddy imploring wounded person to remain conscious; eyes close; "Nooooo!"

Do EMTs try to get injured people to remain conscious on the way hospital, or are the wounded allowed to pass out in peace?

(I ask out of curiosity. I do not have a gunshot victim on the floor of my office.)

No, I mean, we can totally put these oily rags in the dryer. It'll be fine.

Inspector.Gadget — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:06:57 -0800

Is there any way I can get relatively current Washington, DC police/fire/EMT dispatch information onlineor on my desktop? I live in a neighborhood that seems to feature an unusually large number of stupid people injuring themselves and injuring others. In a given day, if I'm home working the whole day, the fire department will come to an event within three blocks of me at least twice - ditto for the cops and ambulances.

I'm interested in getting information about what is happening without bothering with a special radio or similar. There's a PG County teamspeak server for various firehouses but I'd rather not go that route.

Ideally, the thing I'm looking for would be an MP3/AAC/AAC+ stream or an oft-updated text or HTML page. An RSS Feed would be similarly useful.

All suggestions and useful information are much appreciated. I'd be tangentially interested in federal dispatch information as well, though I suspect that's more closely guarded from the public.

Help me find this movie about an ambulance driver on meth!!!

krisptoria — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:16:01 -0800

Movie Filter: An ambulance driver, his friend, some meth and/or other drugs. An crusty old guy who is also into drugs and at a nursing home(?). Please help me remember this one! It is not:
Drugstore Cowboy
Bringing Out the Dead
Spun
The Salton Sea

...or anything that comes up in a search of "ambulance driver meth".

I saw it on HBO maybe 5-7 years ago.

Definitely indie with some Requiem for a Dream qualities to it.

Anyone?

Should I pay, and if so, who?

RikiTikiTavi — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:26:31 -0800

Should I pay the credit agency that has hounded me? It sounds silly that way, but there's always a story... We've got this medical bill from an ambulance company that requires proof that an amublance transfer was "medically necessary" for our insurance to pay it. It was, without question, but for a variety of reasons (mostly due to the massive inconvenience of getting everything together) I haven't been able to get the signed statement out of the provider yet.

It's been over a year now, and the bill has been transfered to a credit agency for some time now, and they kept hounding us for some time, and now they've stopped. But we still haven't paid.

This isn't a huge amount for me (a few hundred) at the moment, though it's not trivial. We're of course accruing heinous interest on the balance right now.

1. I'm assuming I should pay, right? If so, do I pay the credit agency? Or have they somehow "written it off"? I haven't really dealt with this kind of thing before. I'm not under the impression that I should *not* pay, but there's all sorts of odd advice out there.

2. Should I bother getting this paid by insurance after I pay it? If I manage to get proof to the insurance company, will they then send payment to the ambulance company (and not the credit agency), and I'll never see it? If they still manage to send it to the credit agency after I pay them, would I see it?

3. What is the likely effect on my credit? We have had ultra-super amazing credit rating, so it'll be sad to see that get tarnished. If there is negative effect, can I mitigate or eliminate it?

Cherries and Blueberries

dead_ — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:30:28 -0800

How do emergency vehicles control traffic lights? I've heard that emergency vehicles can control traffic lights, and have plenty of anecdotal evidence confirming this--that they can switch the lights from red to green and so forth.

But how does it actually work?

Who decided on the sound that sirens (police, fire, ambulance) make?

greenbean — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 19:49:44 -0800

Who decided on the sound that sirens (police, fire, ambulance) make? I've always wondered how the "siren sound" in fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, etc. was agreed upon and why it differs in other countries. Is there a reason it is the way that it is...maybe so sound can travel?

Should I pull over for ambulances on a divided highway with two lanes in each direction?

anathema — Mon, 11 Oct 2004 15:41:17 -0800

Ambulance Etiquette: Divided highway, two lanes in each direction, pull over into shoulder and stop? Of course I know to pull over on a two-lane road and let an ambulance pass. I do this if the lights are flashing, regardless of hearing a siren. But what if the ambulance has no siren on (only has the lights going) and is travelling at the speed limit on a divided highway with two lanes in each direction? Is it ok just to get into the right-hand lane and let the ambulance pass on the left? Seems more dangerous to have some people pull to the shoulder and then have to merge back into the road after a full stop.