Putnam County Commission approved a more than $682,000 debt write-off for the county’s emergency services.
Putnam County Emergency Services Director Tommy Copeland said the write-off is a standard year-end procedure required by auditors to remove uncollectible debt from the county’s financial books.
“We do try to collect it,” Copeland said, “We use a third party billing company. They roll it to a collection agency. I mean, I’ve compared it in the past just kinda like eating your meal and then deciding if you’re not gonna pay for it. Some people can’t pay, some people don’t pay, some people actually expire, they they die before that, you know, the bill comes due.”
Copeland said the accounts being removed from the active books will remain with a collection agency for continued pursuit. Lee said the write-off amount is consistent with previous years, typically representing between five and 10 percent of the total amount billed by the department.
“We are still trying in these accounts, even though they’re written off the books, so to speak, they’re still with the collection agency, so within the limits of what’s allowed with the debt collectors, they will continue to pursue to collect these accounts,” Copeland said. “But, you know, there’s just some of these folks that, you know, they can’t pay, don’t pay, whatever, and pretty much like I said, every medical provider writes off, you know, medical debt.”
Copeland said the department has faced increasing challenges in reaching certain individuals to collect payments. Copeland said officials have seen a rise in calls involving homeless individuals who lack a permanent address or reliable contact information for billing purposes.
“We go through this every year and it’s a very simple equation,” Commissioner David Andrews said. “Some people like Tommy said, they die before they could be billed, and quite simply some people cannot afford to pay it and they still need the service and some people just won’t pay it, period.”
Copeland said federal regulations also impact how the county handles these accounts. Copeland said there are specific limitations on how far back agencies can go to collect smaller debts, specifically those under $500.
“I think the limit is 10 years,” Copeland said. “But they also made some changes also that affect medical debt collection in smaller amounts as well, so they’ve they’ve done some federal limitations on how far back and on a smaller amount, I think it’s less than 500 bucks or something like that as to how much they can go back on.”