800-282-2881: The Phone Number of Medco Health Solutions
When you receive a phone call from 800-282-2881, it is coming from Medco. They may call this number under any of their brand names, such as Express Scripts or Evernorth, since these are all the same company.
They are calling you because they claim that you owe money to a pharmacy or that you need to take action on a prescription or to sign up for their mail order prescription program. Many people report that they have no outstanding balance and no reason for the calls and that the company continues to call despite their requests to stop calling.
Understanding who Medco is and why they are calling is the first step in stopping the calls.
Who Is Medco?
Medco is a pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company. They process prescription claims and negotiate drug prices. They also have a mail order pharmacy and the calls you are receiving from 800-282-2881 are often to convince you to fill your prescriptions by mail instead of at a retail location.
Here are the important details about Medco:
Name: Medco Health Solutions, operating as Express Scripts Pharmacy, Evernorth Health Services
Type of company: PBM and first-party creditor when collecting unpaid prescription copays
Industry: Healthcare and pharmacies
Parent company: Cigna Group
Annual revenue: $247 billion
Employees: 73,500
Headquarters: Bloomfield, Connecticut (Cigna) and St. Louis, Missouri (Express Scripts)
Area served: All 50 states
Number of prescriptions filled: Over 100 million
Some of the largest clients of Medco include Medicare Part D, TRICARE (United States Department of Defense), CalPERS, and employer-sponsored health plans.
Medco's rating with the BBB is a D and they are not accredited. The Better Business Bureau has issued a consumer alert about doing business with Express Scripts because of the pattern of complaints about billing and charges that the company put on cards for prescriptions that were not delivered.
Why Is Medco Calling Me?
Medco is calling you from 800-282-2881 because it stands to make money by doing so. Whether you have an outstanding copay, need to take action on a prescription, or if the company wants you to fill your prescription by mail, Medco profits from the calls.
If you do not pay the balance you owe on a prescription, Medco may call you two to four times per day in an effort to get you to pay the prescription copay. Medco can send your debt to a third-party collection agency which can put the balance on your credit report. You have the right to dispute a credit report error that you find on your report and you should do so right away.
Why Are Consumers Complaining?
It's not surprising that many consumers complain about the calls from 800-282-2881. A pattern of complaints is one of the reasons that the BBB has issued a consumer alert about working with Express Scripts.
On RoboKiller, there have been 72,604 reports of calls and 1,796 user reports for the phone number 800-282-2881. On PissedConsumer, Express Scripts has an average rating of 1.9 out of 5 stars with 925 reviews.
What Medco Is Saying
Medco corporate office has told at least one caller that the company does not make outbound calls. However, anyone who does an online search for the phone number 800-282-2881 will see that many people report receiving calls from this number, which belongs to Medco. Medco's corporate office is lying to consumers and this is something that you should note when you are disputing the debt.
How to Stop Calls from Medco
The FDCPA and FCRA are laws that protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, and abusive debt collection practices. These laws can protect you from harassment from debt collectors and first-party creditors like Medco. You have the right to dispute a credit report error that you find on your report and to request that the credit reporting agency verify the information that it reports about you.
When you dispute a debt, you can use the FDCPA and FCRA offensively.
The FDCPA has specific rules that debt collectors must follow when communicating with consumers. Debt collectors may not harass or oppress consumers or use unfair or unconscionable means to collect or obtain information about a consumer. Debt collectors may not use false representation or deceptive means to collect or obtain information about a consumer. When you dispute a debt, you can point out any violations of the FDCPA that have occurred.
This includes calls to you at an unreasonable or inconvenient time or place. If a debt collector calls you before 8am or after 9pm, this is a violation of the FDCPA. If a debt collector calls you at work, this is a violation of the FDCPA unless you have given the debt collector permission to call you at work. If a debt collector continues to call you after you have asked them to stop calling you, this is a violation of the FDCPA.
A debt collector may not contact a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer. A debt collector may not contact a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt at the consumer's place of employment unless the debt collector has reason to believe that the consumer's employer does not prohibit the consumer from receiving the communication.
Absent unusual circumstances, a debt collector shall not communicate, in connection with the debt collection of any debt, with any person other than the consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.
Absent unusual circumstances, a debt collector shall not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer; in connection with such debt at the consumer's place of employment unless the debt collector has reason to believe that the consumer's employer does not object to the communication; at any time if the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with respect to such debt and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such attorney's name and address unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to a communication from the debt collector or unless the attorney consents to direct communication with the consumer; at the consumer's place of employment if the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer's employer prohibits the consumer from receiving such communication.
The FCRA is the federal law that regulates credit reporting. The FCRA requires that every item on your credit report be accurate, complete, and verifiable. When you dispute an item on your credit report, the credit reporting agency must investigate and verify the information.
If the credit reporting agency cannot verify the information or if it is inaccurate or incomplete, the agency must delete the item from your credit report.
You have the right to request verification of any information that is reported about you to the credit reporting agencies. When a credit reporting agency cannot verify information that you dispute, it must delete the information from your credit report.
There is a specific process to follow when disputing information on your credit report. You should review your credit report carefully to identify any information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable. You should make a list of any information that you dispute and the reasons why. You should write a dispute letter to the credit reporting agency and provide it with a copy of your credit report with the disputed information circled. You should send your dispute letter by certified mail with return receipt requested.
The credit reporting agency has 30 days to investigate and respond to your dispute. If the credit reporting agency cannot verify the disputed information or if the information is inaccurate or incomplete, it must delete the information from your credit report.
How Does BBB Strengthen My Case?
Express Scripts has a D rating with the BBB, which is a red flag for consumers. The reason that Express Scripts has a D rating with the BBB is because of the pattern of complaints about the company's business practices. There are nearly 1,000 complaints about Express Scripts on the BBB website, including complaints about billing issues and problems with customer service.
The BBB has noted a pattern of complaints about unauthorized card charges for prescriptions that were not received. The BBB has noted a pattern of complaints about billing issues and inadequate responses to customer complaints.
The pattern of complaints is something that you should mention in your dispute letter to the credit reporting agency. The pattern of complaints about Express Scripts is evidence that your experience is not an isolated incident.
When you dispute information on your credit report, you should explain why you are disputing the information. If the information is a collections account and you did not receive the goods or services associated with the debt, you should say so in your dispute letter.
If the credit reporting agency is reporting an account from a company that has a pattern of complaints with the BBB, you should mention this in your dispute letter. The pattern of complaints about Express Scripts with the BBB is evidence that the company may have engaged in unfair or deceptive practices when collecting debts from consumers. This is something that you should mention in your dispute letter.
Summary
Medco calls consumers from 800-282-2881 to collect debts or because the company is trying to convince consumers to fill their prescriptions by mail instead of at a retail location. Medco can continue to call even when consumers ask them to stop calling. Medco may send debts to a third-party collection agency which can put the balance on your credit report.
You have the right to dispute any credit report error that you find on your report and to request verification of the information that the credit reporting agency reports about you. The FDCPA and FCRA are federal laws that protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, and abusive debt collection practices. When you dispute a debt, you can use the FDCPA and FCRA offensively.
If you have a credit report error from Medco, contact us at FightCollections.com.
