Bureau of Medical Economics or BME is a third-party debt collection agency based in Arizona that specializes in collecting delinquent debts for healthcare providers. BMW has received consumer complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), including attempting to collect debts not owed and illegal communication tactics.If you have been contacted by BME, make sure you understand your rights before taking action.
The harassing company pays our fees.
They’re legit. According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), the Bureau of Medical Economics, Inc. was founded and incorporated in 1951. The BBB established BME’s profile page in 1981. BME is listed as a collection agency that uses the alternate business name, Medical Society Business Services, Inc. Buzzfile estimates BME’s annual revenue at $1 million and the size of its staff at 60 employees.
According to its website, BME “was originally instituted by the physician members of the Maricopa County Medical Society in response to inadequate alternatives to the hard core collection tactics that prevailed in the poorly regulated collection industry.” BME’s mission “is to maximize recovery of your delinquent dollars without alienating the patient in the process.”
Bureau of Medical Economics “offers a variety of services to assist with the resource-consuming task of collecting ”accounts receivable. BME’s patient account collections division is intended for “open patient accounts after 90 days from date of service and utilizes predictive dialing, automated notice sequences, credit reporting, NCOA scrubs, electronic skip tracing, and litigation when preauthorized by the client.”
BME’s early-out/self-pay division addresses accounts “shortly after services are rendered and are pursued by …the precollection department…using efforts similar to a provider’s business office.” BME’s early-out/insurance claim follow-up division is “used by providers after they have filed an insurance claim…to follow…up with…insurance companies…by securing payment or verifying patient responsibility.” Finally, BME’s early-out/clean-out services are used when “a provider has changed billing services or when a provider closes a practice.”
Bureau of Medical Economics cites “an impeccable reputation of strict compliance” with HIPAA, FDCPA, FCRA, Medicaid/Medicare, and “all federal and state statutes governing both the healthcare industry and third-party collections.”
Who are we? We are Lemberg Law, a Consumer Law Firm
Lemberg Law is a consumer law firm helping victims of collection harassment and abuse. We are ranked A+ by the BBB. We’ve helped more than 15,000 consumers stop harassment and recover money from debt collectors. Harassed? Abused? Misled by a collector? Call our Helpline today! There is no charge unless we win.
The BBB has closed 40 complaints against Bureau of Medical Economics in the past three years, with 12 complaints closed in the previous 12 months. Most Of those complaints allege problems with billing and collections. As of June 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has closed 5 complaints against BME. Justia lists at least 5 cases of civil litigation involving Bureau of Medical Economics.
Bureau of Medical Economics, Inc.
PO Box 20247
Phoenix, AZ 85036-0247
Telephone: (800) 439-8561
Website: http://www.bmecollect.com/
Absolutely. You can sue a debt collector. Here are some Sample Complaints:
The BBB has posted the following message in the Additional Information section of BME’s profile page:
“BBB has received information this business may: fail to accurately report consumer debt to credit bureau agencies; and may report false debts to credit bureau agencies. BBB contacted Bureau of Medical Economics regarding business practice concerns. The business responded to address business practice concerns, indicating the nature of the collections industry results in a particular type of complaint: billing/collection issues. The business has been responsive to complaints forwarded by BBB and also business practice concerns.”
In May 2017, a complainant indicated that he had noticed several items on his credit report for debts that he claimed were not his responsibility. He indicated the he immediately disputed the debts by contacting the credit reporting agencies and “followed up with a request for verification using the address listed for the company on his credit report via certified mail.” He indicated that “the verification was confirmed delivered; however, the company has not responded to…his request for verification to date.” He concluded by indicating that the accounts do not belong to him; that they are causing damage to his credit profile; that he had never engaged in business with the companies listed on the report; and that the delinquencies are not valid. In response, Bureau of Medical Economics indicated that “the address of the consumer…was different than the original address provided.” As a result, BME “deleted the… two items from… the complainant’s credit report.” Bureau of Medical Economics also indicated that it may take “up to two weeks for the credit reporting agencies to update their records.
Federal laws protect you. The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) regulates the behavior of collection agencies by prohibiting actions such as the use of abusive or threatening language; harassment; or the use of false or misleading information to collect a debt. The FCRA regulates how collection agencies and creditors report delinquent debts to credit reporting agencies. Additional consumer protection laws include the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).
Consumers have reported this agency harassing them from the following numbers:
Yes. If you want to enforce your rights, or recover money for violations — you need to sue. Federal laws provide individuals like you with a means to seek monetary damages in court. For example, the FDCPA allows consumers who have been violated to recover damages of up to $1,000, plus attorney fees and court costs.
You may have a case, if…
“As we discussed on the phone earlier today, this settlement is perfectly okay to me. I need to thank you and all of your cohorts at Lemberg Law to get a project handled so professionally. Please allow Amy, the first person who contacted me from Lemberg, know how much I appreciate her efforts, kindness, and professionalism.”
“My mom and I want to say thanks to the team of Lemberg Law for all the hard work and effort that was taken to take care of the debt collector and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Because of this, the phones do not ring off the hook .”
“We realize that ours is only one little case among many — and a lot more serious — but are heartened by the fact that you accepted it represented us with a professionalism that belied the dollar amount.”
“I just wanted to let you know we received the check from your office on now and I wanted to take some time to inform you that we really appreciate all of your efforts in this matter.”
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Sergei Lemberg is an attorney focusing on consumer law, class actions related to automotive issues, and personal injury litigation. With nearly two decades of experience, his areas of practice include Lemon Law (vehicle defects), Debt Collection Harassment, TCPA (illegal robocalls and texts), Fair Credit Reporting Act, Overtime claims, Personal Injury cases, and Class Actions. He has consistently been recognized as the nation's "most active consumer attorney." In 2020, Mr. Lemberg represented Noah Duguid before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case Duguid v. Facebook. He is also the author of "Defanging Debt Collectors," a guide that empowers consumers to fight back against debt collectors and prevail, as well as "Lemon Law 101: The Laws That Lemon Dealers Don't Want You to Know."
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This agency is absolute unethical garbage. There has been a medical debt on my report since 2018 that I have been trying numerous times for YEARS to get verified, but BME absolutely refuses to communicate with me. I have never received ANY sort of correspondence from them or the original creditor regarding this debt.
I have a feeling I know why… the original creditor was paid in full and accepted said payment without notifying me the bill was sent to collections. BME knows I do not owe this money and has avoided me entirely to stay away from admitting as such.
Horrible company. Never processed claim with insurance and medical bill already paid by insurance to the medical facility!
No letter, no call to confirm or inform and have no idea who they are!!! Opened dispute and will pursue LEGAL. just ding on my perfect credit. I will definitely SUE!
They call me multiple times a day, over and over. They refuse to send me any kind of itemized statement for what I owe, which I requested because the amount they’re demanding is a LOT more than the bills I received from the hospital. I’m not going to pay a thousand dollars more than what my bills are. They’re also telling me that I’m not allowed to just pay the medical bills directly (the billing department at the hospital tells me differently, that I can just pay them since they’re the ones I owe) and that I have to pay through the BME or they’ll send it to my credit report. They already have anyway. And they call me constantly, literally several times in a day.
John Connor from BME services calls me at least once per day always during times I’m at work. I’ve answered and requested a paper bill statement which I never received despite multiple requests. He threatened that if I didn’t pay my balance in full (even if I was enrolled in a payment plan and debt wasn’t paid off )by june 2022 my credit would be highly negatively impacted. In reality BME has been reporting the debt since 12/7/21. He also wouldn’t accept anything other than payment via phone which I didn’t feel comfortable with, but wouldn’t give me the website to look up my account statement.
BME representatives were very rude especially this person by the name of Sammy? This debt collectors don’t have the patience to listen to you. Their utmost concern is to collect the amount they think you owed to them. In my case, I called them on behalf of my daughter but of course, before I can talk to any of them, I need my daughter’s authorization to speak to them. Long story short, my daughter called them and the same person was very rude to her on the phone. My daughter was crying for being given such treatment. I was trying to explain to them that the amount my daughter owed under her name was incorrect, and asked them to take my daughter’s name off the list. In the first place, the account should have been run through my name since my daughter is under my insurance. Also, I already paid the insurance which would cover for the cost of the x-ray. That being said, my insurance should be sending the payment to the diagnostic imaging billing department and not to me. One of my insurance representatives’ called them too and they were given an explanation. I made a follow-up call to make sure they understood this. I spoke with a certain Julie and again was trying to speak to my daughter to ask another permission to speak to me. This is absolutely ridiculous! How many times they needed to speak to my daughter to get an authorization. My daughter had already suffered emotional trauma from these people who don’t know to approach people over the phone. This Julie was also very short tempered! These people from BME were notorious!
They sent a letter to me. Said it was assigned 08-03-18 that I owed a debt of $155.00…I left a message saying this bill was paid and didn’t appreciate the mail I received. They called me back on aug 13th said to send pic of check that paid bill..did..called hospital today because the check cleared my bank on July 23rd..she said they never sent me to collection. Should I close my checking acct since now they have a copy of my checking acct and signature…this is not right. Kathy Morrow
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