medical debt legal?

Yes, they can legally report it but reporting must be in compliance with the HIPPA privacy laws. If you can, please post the info being reported. I know a lot of hospitals never sell off their debts so it may be possible to go thru the OC on this. Does the tradeline show who the OC is or does it show "Sold/transferred to another lender"?

it lists the amount,$505, the original creditor is Mount Auburn Hospital, MA. what can I do about this? I had insurance at the time and the amount they paid was big, but they still want 505$. pls help:)

That money they say you owe, may have been your part that the insurance didn't pay. Have you tried to contact the insurance company and see what they paid,as opposed to your balance?

Nascar is right, alot of the hospitals won't turn it over to collections, and if they do, it is usually a local company.

I paid a local collection company for probably over 10 years when my son was small. About the time we would get one paid off, he would be back in the hospital again.

The hospital may even work with you on this one. I would try to see what the original bill was, what was paid,etc. first..

Also you might check with the insurance company and find out if your policy at the time prohibited balance billing by the hospital. My wife recently had surgery and the hospital bill alone was $19k (for a day surgery no less). The last EOB we recieved showed the insurance company paying less than $2k. Our portion was $159 and at the bottom of the EOB it stated that they could not balance bill.

should i send a debt validation letter? or how should I approach them in my best interest?thanx

Always DV. See how they respond. They may validate or they may return it back to the OC. Also, it wouldn't hurt to call the hospital and see what you can find out about the balance due. You might be able to convince them to pull it back from the CA so you can pay the hospital directly.