To the editor:

In January, one my children was treated at the local Merit Health clinic for a sprained arm she had injured playing basketball.

I was billed $109.19 for the examination.

I disputed this, stating that the injury was the result of an accident playing basketball, and that my insurance paid 100 percent for accidents.

I spoke with Merit Health and they agree to look into refiling the charge. This process continued for a couple of month until they stated they were unable to rectify their mistake. On May 2, I wrote a check and mailed it paying the charge in full.

A day or so later, I received a notice that the charge had been referred to collection. I didn’t worry since I had paid the bill. The check cleared the bank on May 11.

Now, on June 16, I get a second letter from the same collection agency (a subsidiary of Merit Health), stating that the debt had not been paid and to pay it immediately.

I called the agency and informed them that the bill had been paid in May and asked why I was receiving this notice. The collection agent then examined my daughters account and stated that the charge was still listed as unpaid, but there was an unassigned credit in the amount of $109.19 and did I want to apply that credit to that charge.

Merit Health had been sitting on the payment for over a month when they sent the second letter, hoping that I would send then another $109.19.

Maybe the attorney general should ask to examine more of their account to see how many more accounts have been sent to collection while having unassigned credits.

Charles Hahn

Vicksburg