ACA Survey Shows Penetration of Medical Accounts in the ARM Industry

According to the results of a survey released by ACA International Wednesday, collection agencies that responded to the survey said that healthcare accounts made up the largest share of new placements in 2006 than any other asset type.

ACA – the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals – conducts a periodic survey on the most-worked collection markets among its 3,000 members eligible to participate. ACA has more than 5,500 members.

The ACA reports that its “Top Collection Markets Survey” reflects the responses from nearly 142 different collection agencies in the U.S. representing all sizes and segments.

A key figure in the survey was new business reported by the participating agencies. Of the $25.6 billion in total new account value reported by collectors, 42.3 percent – more than $10 billion – was classified as Hospital or Other Healthcare accounts.

As for the total number of collection agencies pursuing medical accounts last year, 60 percent worked Hospital accounts and 69 percent worked Other Healthcare accounts, the ACA found.

“What this shows is a majority of the collection agencies that responded were actively collecting on medical debt at some point in 2006,” said and ACA spokesperson.

The second most prevalent market, Credit Cards, saw a third of survey respondents working accounts in that segment during last year.

The full report is available for purchase by ACA members and non-members through the association’s web site, http://www.acainternational.org/store.