What can they do for unpaid medical bills?

[Atty]

I have some medical bills (probably $1500 worth) that I can't pay. I'm a college student, I work a part time job and our hours suck right now (living out of my savings account until I find something better or hours go back up), and I have no family (disabled mother living off income support that doesn't pay all her bills, no father, retired grandparents).

I don't have insurance (can't afford it through work and afaik there are no affordable alternatives for me right now).

I told them I can't pay them in full but was willing to pay as much per month as I could ($5? D: ) and then they told me that if I don't pay them off in 6 months they will go to a debt collection service.

I've been told by family that if they aren't paid they can't come after me? Impact my credit score?

Halp

 

[GT1999]

If they said they'd send you to a debt collection agency, and that fails, then it will impact your score. Get on a payment plan.

 

[Jaepheth]

They recently made a documentary covering this very topic.

 

[Vette73]

Did you ask for a cash discount? If not call back and ask for the cash price.

 

[soulcougher73]

They recently made a documentary covering this very topic.

LOL

 

[airdata]

i dont think they send to collections after 6 months...

at least in texas, they'll let you pay on it interest free for as long as it takes you to pay it off.

 

[Genx87]

You cant pay back 1500 dollars, even over the course of 6 months? Is this a hospital? Most hospitals will put you on a payment schedule. I do it as it is typically interest free.

 

[vi edit]

Ok...two questions....

1) Was this a for profit hospital (like Kaiser/Banner/Cardinal?) or a private, non-profit one? The non-profit ones typically have some sort of forgiveness or hardship programs you can apply for.

2) Almost any hospital should have some sort of payment plan program that you can try and work out. Even if it is minimum amounts if explaining the hardships. You might have to talk to them in person instead of dealing with the typical business office threatening collections.

 

[tcsenter]

Did you ask for a cash discount? If not call back and ask for the cash price.

Cash is the highest price they charge.

 

[richardycc]

call the hospital and apply for some financial assistance.

 

[Atty]

You cant pay back 1500 dollars, even over the course of 6 months? Is this a hospital? Most hospitals will put you on a payment schedule. I do it as it is typically interest free.

Yes, it is a hospital. And no? I've made $3,000 this year from working and spent $5,000 just paying my bills. I have to pay for my schooling in the fall.

Ok...two questions....

1) Was this a for profit hospital (like Kaiser/Banner/Cardinal?) or a private, non-profit one? The non-profit ones typically have some sort of forgiveness or hardship programs you can apply for.

2) Almost any hospital should have some sort of payment plan program that you can try and work out. Even if it is minimum amounts if explaining the hardships. You might have to talk to them in person instead of dealing with the typical business office threatening collections.

1) No, it was for a regional county run hospital.

2) I asked, was told no. They said 6 months and the balance is sent to collections. I talked to three people, all the same answer. Their paperwork sent to me stated the same.

 

[Newbian]

Go watch repo man op.

 

[Atty]

I have. Luckily, all they did was X-Ray me, so they can have the radiation back from me. They also gave me a shot which was metabolized and then urinated out, so they can also go trolling through the sewers for my old pee and the remittance of the pain killers and anti inflamatories.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Cash is the highest price they charge.

Maybe he means the discounted rate insurance companies usually get?

 

[Vette73]

Maybe he means the discounted rate insurance companies usually get?

That and many hospitals now offer a cash discount. You have to ask for it but many will lowwer the bill sometimes to the same price they charge insurance.

 

[blackangst1]

I would just pay what you can. Worst case scenario is it gets sent to collections. It may end up on your credit report; however, reporting medical debt on a bureau is most often a HPPA violation and can usually get it removed (Google HPPA dispute for more info). That said, you still owe the money.

 

[Jumpem]

Pay them. The last thing you wan to do is graduate, and get turned down for a job due to a bad credit report.

 

[mattpegher]

Definitely talk to the hospitals billing department to see if you qualify for any assistance program. Most cash discount programs offered by hospitals or offices are for immediate cash payment (credit card or cash, check if it wont bounce) not for payment plans over months. It has only been legal to offer discount to cash paying customers for about the last 10 years, ever since some senator's son got into the same situation, and the senator had to pay cash. I can be anywhere between 25% off for most offices to 85% off for many hospitals (the insurance companies actually pay about 10% of the billed amount).
Do not ignore this, if it goes to a collection agency they will report it to the credit agencies and your credit score will suffer severely.

 

[SandEagle]

forget it. medical bills make a small dent on your credit report

 

[blackangst1]

forget it. medical bills make a small dent on your credit report

Incorrect. A collection carries the same weight on a FICO on a credit report no matter who the original creditor is. And depending on how that collection agency reports it, it could tank your utilization as well, further tanking your FICO.

 

[DaWhim]

let your credit be damned!

 

[mattpegher]

let your credit be damned!

Counting on the zombie appocalypse on 12/12/2012, are we?

 

[BoomerD]

Counting on the zombie appocalypse on 12/12/2012, are we?

Don't forget, October 21, 2011 is just around the corner. Camping might have missed once, there's no damned way he misses twice...

 

[Bignate603]

forget it. medical bills make a small dent on your credit report

Compared to stopping all payment on your credit card bills like you've been talking about, yes the effect is small. Compared to what all of us normal people think, the effect can be relatively large.

 

[marvdmartian]

I'd go ahead and mail them a check for $10 a month, no matter what they say. Make certain to keep canceled checks (or, if your bank is like mine, and puts the scanned check on their website, print out the cashed check). So long as you're making an attempt to pay it off, you're better off than if you're ignoring it.

Suggest you read the bottom part of this page, the section marked "Credit Health Checkup".