News
The Center for Conflict Resolution Receives "Case of the Year" Award from Los Angeles County Department of Community and Senior Services
The consumer came to The Center in December 2011 with a bag full of medical bills. The consumer had no job, no medical insurance and lived on a fixed income of less than $1000 per month. Despite this consumer’s constant and continuous efforts to negotiate with the service providers, the consumer was not able to resolve her health care bills and complained of being “harassed by creditors on a daily basis.” The consumer was told that “it’s because of people like you that our economy is the way it is.”
The consumer’s bills added up to nearly $55,000. The Center contacted the original service provider and learned that the consumer’s account had been referred to its internal collection department. The Center contacted the collections department and began the conciliation process. Through our efforts, The Center learned that the party had not applied for any charity deduction and was still eligible to do so. The collection department provided instruction on how the consumer should go about applying for the charity deduction - in particular, what forms needed to be completed and what additional information needed to be provided. The Center was able to relay this information and acted as the go- between to ensure that the service provider received the necessary information. Upon receipt of the information, the service provider said it would take anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks for a determination on the charity application. The Center followed up diligently and received a decision from the service provider in 6 weeks. The consumer’s application had been accepted, meaning that 100% of the bill, all $55,000 had been waived.
When The Center contacted the consumer to let her know what happened, the consumer was thrilled to hear from us, because that same morning she had received a rough call from another collection agency on another debt. Upon hearing about the 100% waiver, the consumer shouted for joy for about five minutes over the phone - “Ya hoo, Yee haw….” She also gave great praise to Associate Director Sara Campos and The Center. She thanked The Center Staff for being “God sent” and for caring about her and her conflict. Sara said she never heard such joy in her 13 years of working at The Center. She compared it to someone who just won the lottery.