Consumer complaint received 2021-11-05
Company: Cornerstone Holdings, Inc.
State: MT
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
I was seen in the Emergency room at " XXXX XXXX '' in XXXX, AK. I was suffering from a severe XXXX/XXXX XXXX ( for background information I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX veteran with severe XXXX XXXX due to my service in the military ) The doctors treated my symptoms like a XXXX, despite my trying to communicate to them what it was. Later, as I was beginning to feel better and had been treated, I gave my info to the nurse/billing individual. 

At the time I had XXXX insurance as well as VA coverage ( 100 % for XXXX related issues ) Months later I began receiving letters saying I owe some {$300.00} to the hospital. After a quick look at one of these bills I was able to ascertain that the hospital was not/ did not charge the VA , just XXXX . 

When I was able to get in contact with XXXX  billing department some months later, ( I had moved from Alaska and was nearly homeless ) I explained what their mistake might be. The employee immediately saw their error and promised to right it immediately. 

Several months later I received letters from the VA stating that there had been an attempt to bill me more than 6 months after a hospital visit. They will not cover these things after 6 months. 

When at the hospital, I did my due diligence and gave all my information for payment at that time. When contacted by the hospital I did my due diligence and explained their error, which their representative admitted it was their error, and again, I had done my due diligence. The hospital employees failed to read over all the information provided by me at the time of the visit. They failed over and over again until the VA period of payment passed. They did not do their due diligence. 

Instead of accept that their employees failed to get their jobs done right, they sent my " bill '' to collections. 

" Cornerstone Credit services '' is the collections agency. They first contacted me on or around XX/XX/2021, @ XXXX. As I have mentioned, I have severe XXXX  and other XXXX  related to my service; I usually don't take phone calls. I chose to anyways that day. 

I was informed of a debt, and I frankly did not believe the caller. I explained I had moved to XXXX  and wanted to see everything in writing before I would even believe the caller wasn't a phone scammer. 
I gave my new address ( and confirmed it that day and during another call ) and began politely waiting for the billing information. I even explained to the caller how this is not my debt, the hospitals employees screwed it up, not me. I was promised a letter within 10 days. 

Finally, after months of not receiving ANYTHING but calls claiming they had sent out plenty of copies to me in XXXX  ( suggesting I was the one avoiding payment ) I wrote a letter with my information on it, included a Self-addressed Stamped Envelope for their own good, and sent it to them clearly marked " COLLECTIONS '' via registered mail on XXXX XX/XX/2021. 

Today ( XXXX XX/XX/2021 ) I FINALLY find a letter from the collections company in my mailbox. 

Since I received confirmation of my debt only today, I am invoking my 30 days to dispute these charges. They are not mine to pay, as I have laid out : 1. I did my due diligence the entire time when communicating to the hospital. From initial giving of BOTH my insurance coverages, to helping correct the already too late error their employees made. It's not my job to make sure the billing is done right, that's their employees job.

2. I did my due diligence when contacted by the collections agency. Made sure my story was told and gave a correct updated address. The length of time it took to get me a hard copy, and the fact I had to send registered mail to them before I even got one statement shows that their employees too are not doing THEIR due diligence.

3. All of the individuals involved failed to do their jobs correctly, and in a timely manner. This is not my fault as they are not my employees nor did I train them. So how can they press a debt on my person when their peoples mistakes caused it?

4. Lastly, the collections agency tries to call me semi-frequently, despite my XXXX  issues being made known to the original caller in XX/XX/2021. I find this to be harassing, and severely detrimental to my XXXX  health as well.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation