Yes, when the debtor is an individual resident or a responsible family member. Those accounts fall under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and CFPB Regulation F. That means we are required to send a written validation notice within five days of first contact, honor any dispute submitted within 30 days, and follow all communication restrictions. We train our agents across all FDCPA and Regulation F requirements and apply them to every account. We do not collect consumer debt in California, Oregon, or Washington.
Nursing Home Collections
NURSING HOME COLLECTIONS
Nursing Home Collections
Long-term care facilities deliver some of the most personal, continuous care that exists in healthcare. Your staff shows up every day. The beds are occupied. Families are involved. Then the bills go out, and a meaningful portion of those balances sit unpaid for months. Families are hard to reach. Responsible parties dispute what they agreed to. Third-party payers stall. Southwest Recovery Services works with nursing homes and long-term care facilities to recover those balances using an approach that respects the dignity of your residents while protecting the cash flow your facility depends on. We do not collect consumer debt in California, Oregon, or Washington.
Why Long-Term Care AR Falls Apart
The Financial Pressure Long-Term Care Facilities Face
Long-term care is expensive to deliver and expensive to bill. Staffing costs are high, reimbursement timelines from Medicare and Medicaid are unpredictable, and private-pay balances from residents and their families are even harder to pin down. Most nursing homes do not have the internal staff or infrastructure to pursue delinquent accounts systematically. Accounts age. Recovery rates drop. Write-offs accumulate. We give your billing team a professional extension that pursues past-due accounts while your staff focuses on care delivery.
Federal Consumer Law and Your Facility’s Obligation
Consumer Debt Law Governs Patient and Family-Responsible Balances
When the debtor is an individual resident or a responsible family member, that account is consumer debt under federal law. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and CFPB Regulation F govern how those balances are collected. That means written validation notices, documented dispute rights, limits on communication frequency, and specific disclosures on every account we touch. Our agents are trained across all of these requirements. We handle the compliance burden so your facility does not carry that risk. We do not collect consumer debt in California, Oregon, or Washington.
Resident PHI Stays Protected
HIPAA-Compliant Handling of Resident Information
Nursing home records contain protected health information. Diagnoses, care histories, medication lists, dates of service. All of it is PHI under HIPAA, and every step of the collection process that touches that information has to be handled correctly. We access only the minimum information necessary to work each account. Our agents do not discuss resident health details with unauthorized parties. We do not use protected information beyond what the recovery process requires. Your facility keeps its HIPAA obligations intact when you work with us.
Finding the Responsible Party
Locating Responsible Family Members
In many cases the resident is not the primary financial obligor. A spouse, an adult child, or a court-appointed guardian holds financial responsibility for the account. Finding that person, confirming their legal obligation, and reaching them through compliant outreach takes resources most facilities do not have in-house. We have the skip-tracing capability, data tools, and trained staff to locate responsible parties and initiate contact through proper channels. Where a family member has capacity and willingness to make payment arrangements, we work out a plan they can realistically follow.
Medicare, Medicaid, and Retroactive Coverage
Third-Party Payer Follow-Up and Retroactive Medicaid
Not all nursing home revenue comes from private pay. Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance payers make up a significant share of long-term care billing. Unpaid or partially-processed claims with those payers are a major source of outstanding balances. We follow up with third-party payers on open claims as part of our process. Retroactive Medicaid applications are another avenue that many facilities miss. We help identify and pursue eligible retroactive coverage so you recover payments on accounts that might otherwise be written off entirely.
Contingency Pricing, No Upfront Cost
How We Work and What It Costs
We work on contingency. You pay nothing until we collect. Our fee is a percentage of what we actually recover. If we bring in nothing on an account, you owe nothing for that account. No retainers, no monthly minimums, no setup charges. You send us the file and we get to work. Recovery rates decline as accounts age, so earlier placement produces better results. We accept both current past-due accounts and older backlog placements. For aged accounts, we give you an honest read on recovery expectations before we start.
Related Collections
Related Articles
NURSING HOMES AND LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES
Recover What Your Facility Has Already Earned
Southwest Recovery Services collects nursing home and long-term care balances using FDCPA-compliant, HIPAA-aware practices. We work resident accounts, responsible-party accounts, and third-party payer follow-up on contingency. No upfront cost. Note: we do not collect consumer debt in California, Oregon, or Washington.