Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

Good evening,

I'm hoping I can get some guidance on a situation that I have been fighting for about 3 yrs now.

I had a medical procedure done in a major hospital in my area . After my insurance paid out their portion, I received another bill in the mail for the remaining amount (balanced billed) from the hospital. I contacted the hospital billing dept and made arrangemenst with them to pay $50.00 a month. They agreed. I began paying the monthly payments. Sometimes I would be a little late (due to financial problems), but always sent in a payment. They contacted me toward the end of the year and told me I had to pay the entire amount by a certain date. I told them I could not, that I was only able to pay the $50.00 until the bill was paid down to 0. At this point the balance was around 236.00. I continued to send in the $50.00 for December. The check was cashed. In January of the next year I received a letter from a collection agency. This continued on for a while with 4 to 5 different collection agencies. I was paying on the account and they sent it to collection anyway.

Recently (this yr 2014), My husband had a test done. The insurance Paid out their portion, and we were balance billed by this same hospital. I contacted the billing representative that was taken care of the account (outside service) and made payment arrangements with them for $53.00 a month. I have been making these payment since July. When I made my September payment I noticed that they did not apply the $53.00 to the account. I Contacted them and they said they would look into it. The representative got back to me and told me that the hospital took the $53.00 payment and applied it to my bill from 2010.

Summation: The $53.00 a month that is currently being paid is in my husbands name, different account # and different pc#. The account that they applied the money to is in my name, different account#, different pc#. The account information is referenced on my checks (electronic through the bank). It clearly states that is was suppose to be applied to my husbands account. The hospital told the billing rep from the outside company that old accounts have to be paid first. Isn't this fraudulent? can they apply a payment to another account? especially when they are two different names? The accounts do not match by name, acct #, pc #

My husband is covered under my insurance. However, the insurance company at this point has nothing to do with this amount. They already paid out their portion.

Kathy

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