American Collectors Association Representatives Meet with Health and Human Services Department

Minneapolis, MN — In an effort to protect debt collectors’ ability to recover legitimate debts and to keep with its commitment to work with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to clarify the final privacy rule, American Collectors Association (ACA) representatives recently met with HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson’s key staff.

During the April 26 meeting ACA discussed with Bob Wood, Thompson’s chief of staff, and Sally Canfield, counselor to Thompson, key provisions of the rule and asked that HHS clarify the rule so that it:

— No longer conflicts with requirements collectors must follow under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (G-L-B Act) ? particularly so that protected health information (PHI) used in connection with payment activities would be considered part of an individual’s credit information file ? not PHI.

— Allows collectors to continue to provide location information services for their healthcare provider clients, due to the fact that these services are already highly restricted by existing state and federal laws.

— Allows all companies and organizations covered by the rule to have three years to comply with it, versus the two years the rule currently allows for full compliance.

While ACA representatives attending the meeting felt the time spent with HHS staff was both productive and encouraging, all our cautiously optimistic regarding any actual changes HHS may make in the final rule to ultimately allow collectors to effectively do their jobs.

“We went into the meeting with the mindset that we were there to explain the valuable services that collectors offer, and then outline how those services may be curtailed or made much more difficult through the implementation of the final privacy rule,” said ACA President-elect Nancy Borgen, president of Credit Bureau Data, Inc., La Crosse, Wis.. “When we explained the changes we would like made to the final rule and why they are so important to our industry, I felt very confident that HHS officials understood our position. However, all who attended the meeting are guarding against thinking that this meeting will solve all of our industry’s conflicts with the final rule. We realize that more importantly, this meeting opened an immeasurably important dialogue with HHS ? a dialogue that will be ongoing,” she said.

ACA, an international trade organization of credit and collection professionals, with over 80 percent of its members involved in healthcare collections, has been the front-runner in voicing its members’ concerns both formally and informally since the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was first enacted in 1996. Members of ACA firmly believe that the privacy rights of individuals can be protected through regulation without harming access to healthcare or the quality of healthcare. ACA supports ensuring the privacy of patients’ treatment-related healthcare information; however, certain demographic information is required for efficient billing and collection.

For more information about the final privacy rule visit ACA’s Web site at www.collector.com or go to www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/. A past press release on ACA’s HIPAA efforts can be found at www.collectionindustry.com under news and events.