Consumer Health Assistance Program
486-3587
http://www.govcha.state.nv.us
Department of Business and Industry
Financial Institutions Division
486-4120
http://fid.state.nv.us/
A UMC billing scandal is drawing a lot of complaints from our viewers. Monday night, we told you how Aargon Collection Agency was trying to collect a half billion dollars in debt from former UMC patients.
Some of those patients really owe the money, but as The Healthline 3 Team discovered, many don't owe anything. Since her report aired, she's taken calls and emails from dozens of viewers. Nearly every viewer we spoke with said they were sure they didn't owe UMC any money. Now years later, the Aargon Collections Agency is suddenly calling and writing demanding they pay.
The CEO of Aargon says this mess isn't his fault, that he's discovered at least a million dollars in debt that wasn't valid debt. In other words, UMC neglected to bill insurance companies, medicare or medicaid...and then lumped these accounts in with the bad debt.
One viewer who got a $24 bill from her 1998 UMC stay wrote: "How come you (meaning UMC) never told me in all these years?"
Another viewer wrote about Aargon saying, "They basically made me seem like I was dodging a bill. I told them that I was not doing anything until I spoke with my insurance company. Meanwhile, this bill is on my credit report!! What can I do?"
And another viewer who got a $38 bill from 1996 says Aargon reps told him, "'We'll be coming to your house, we'll go after your credit.' I said, 'Go for it man.' I did not pay a dime."
So what can you do? You should write a certified letter to Aargon demanding they prove you really owe the money. Whatever you do, don't send them any money until you get that proof. If you send a few bucks to buy yourself time, you've just revived your account and you're stuck with the bill.
Some of these bills date back to 1986, and the statute of limitations on medical bills is six years. UMC and Aargon can legally go after that debt, but what you need to know is that you don't have to pay it.
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Thousands of you are getting phone calls and letters claiming you owe UMC money. But the Healthline 3 Team has learned you may not owe anything at all. Beth Fisher has spent weeks digging deeper into the problem and has some strong advice for our viewers.
Normally, Healthline 3 would never tell viewers to put off paying their medical bills. But in this case, if Aargon Collection Agency comes calling claiming you owe UMC money, the advice is: say nothing and pay nothing until you get help.
"So it's not just like I skipped out on everything, which is what theyr'e making me feel like... that I'm just a deadbeat and that's not true," says former UMC patient Sandra Pollock.
Sandra had two surgeries at UMC in 2001. The first for breast cancer, the second for kidney failure. Despite being so sick, Sandra managed to stay on top of her hospital bills, or so she thought. "I haven't received a statement from UMC since I don't know when and as far as I know everything had been paid."
So Sandra was confused when five years later she suddenly started getting phone calls and letters from Aargon Collection Agency claiming she owed UMC money.
"Don't send any money. What you need to do is in writing request proof of that debt," warns Valerie Rosalin from the State's Consumer Health Assistance Program. Valerie is on a mission now to warn the more than 500,000 Nevadans who are getting letters from Aargon.
"UMC provides a great service," Valerie said. "We give them that. But their billing practices were a problem and that's what caused this situation."
According to documents obtained by News 3, UMC sold more than half a billion dollars in debt to Orion Portfolio for $8.5 million. Orion then hired Aargon Collection Agency, here in Las Vegas, to try and collect the debt.
The big concern is that some of the former patients may not even owe the debt. "This is a matter of fact," explains Valerie. "Many of these patients either had state medicaid programs or an insurance program and had paid their deductibles or their co-pays. And somehow in the bundle of collection debt were also included."
And that's what Sandra Pollock believes happened to her:
Sandra: I think what they're doing is outrageous. I think UMC is unethical and immoral for doing that.
Beth: For selling the debt?
Sandra: Not for selling it if people really aren't paying it. But for not actually making an honest attempt at collecting it in the first place. They are so incompetent that they can't do it themselves and then to sell it.
The state agency that regulates collection agencies is getting complaints about Aargon too. Their advice? Pay nothing until you write a letter asking Aargon to verify the debt. "When you're asking for verification of the debt, you're asking for proof that you physically owe the money and that they should have the ability to provide you with proof a bill wasn't paid and that you do in fact owe that," says Steve Kondrup from the state's financial institutions division.
Sandra Pollock asked for that proof but says the documents Aargon gave her made no sense. "This is just... I'm not going to pay this. I'm not going down without a fight. I am not paying this."
Sandra is also outraged by Aargon's fees. Aargon claims Sandra owes UMC about $1,300. But Aargon is trying to collect nearly double to cover its interest rates and fees.
Both Aargon and UMC declined our requests for interviews. Although UMC did confirm for us that none of the money collected by Aargon will go back to the hospital.
A lot of people might be tempted to send a few dollars just to get the collection agency off their backs while this whole thing gets sorted out. But don't do it. According to both state agencies we talked to, if you admit to Aargon you might owe the debt or if you pay even $5 to get them off your back you have just re-activated your account. You're stuck with the bill.
So again, demand proof of your bill before you say or pay anything.
