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What happens with unpaid hospital bills?

J

jamison

Platinum Member
I am 19 (fresh from leaving my parents health insurance policy) and I had an unplanned visit to everyones favorite place - the hospital emergency room. Anyway, I ended up staying for three days total and now the bills are coming in. I have a very low income and I am applying for "charity care" benefits. Health insurance in NJ is amazingly expensive and it doesn't cover past illnesses/hospital stays.

If for some reason I do not get the "charity care" and can not pay the bills, how does that affect me overall? I have every intent of paying them off some way or another, just not in the immediate future. Other family members have told me that their unpaid bills were never pursued by the hospital with collection agencies or negative credit reports.
 
I would contact the hospital ASAP and make payment arrangements. Get the agreement IN WRITING.

You want to avoid this from being referred to collections and ruining your credit.
 
Originally posted by: RossMAN
I would contact the hospital ASAP and make payment arrangements. Get the agreement IN WRITING.

You want to avoid this from being referred to collections and ruining your credit.
Click to expand...

I was going to say pretty much the same, but I can just quote it so why type it again?

Let them know you are willing to work with them & aren't going to skip out on the bills & you will be fine.

Viper GTS
 
Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
I have personally seen a lot of hospitals write off "bad debt." They will screw your credit in the process.
Click to expand...

yip, the only bad report on my credit report is a $1.65 charge from when we took my son to the ER after he decided to chomp on an amonia inhalent. The hospital siced collection agency after me and i told them to buzz off. so they reported on my credit.
 
Originally posted by: CraigRT
hospital bills?

(canadian)
Click to expand...

rolleye.gif
 
Originally posted by: Citrix
Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
I have personally seen a lot of hospitals write off "bad debt." They will screw your credit in the process.
Click to expand...

yip, the only bad report on my credit report is a $1.65 charge from when we took my son to the ER after he decided to chomp on an amonia inhalent. The hospital siced collection agency after me and i told them to buzz off. so they reported on my credit.
Click to expand...
Wow, $1.65 on your credit report? That's crazy, it costs them $15 to put it there I think..
 
My cousin was rushed into the ER twice and he told me his medical bills are a mile high. He told me he got his payment reduced (some but I doubt it was anything significant) by telling them he was thinking about filing for bankruptcy. Of course, the hospital got scared and worked out a payment plan where he didn't have to pay as much.
 
Originally posted by: iwearnosox
Originally posted by: Citrix
Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
I have personally seen a lot of hospitals write off "bad debt." They will screw your credit in the process.
Click to expand...

yip, the only bad report on my credit report is a $1.65 charge from when we took my son to the ER after he decided to chomp on an amonia inhalent. The hospital siced collection agency after me and i told them to buzz off. so they reported on my credit.
Click to expand...
Wow, $1.65 on your credit report? That's crazy, it costs them $15 to put it there I think..
Click to expand...


yip and the cost of the a$$hole collections jerk who harrassed me over $1.65.
 
well, you see, they'll send over some of there shadier doctors in the middle of the night to do a little midight organ harvesting. mainly they start with a kidney and maybe a lung. then they work up to the bigger ticket items, such as liver, pancreas, testicals, eyeballs and the such...
 
Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Originally posted by: RossMAN
I would contact the hospital ASAP and make payment arrangements. Get the agreement IN WRITING.

You want to avoid this from being referred to collections and ruining your credit.
Click to expand...

I was going to say pretty much the same, but I can just quote it so why type it again?

Let them know you are willing to work with them & aren't going to skip out on the bills & you will be fine.

Viper GTS
Click to expand...

But your so much more eloquent 😛
 
Originally posted by: RossMAN
I would contact the hospital ASAP and make payment arrangements. Get the agreement IN WRITING.

You want to avoid this from being referred to collections and ruining your credit.
Click to expand...

I thought medical bills couldn't be used to ruin your credit?
 
ER rooms usually dont do id checks. Mine didnt. You can just give a fake name and stuff next time you have an impromptu visit.

yes yes im an ass, but they rape you with hospital bill AND a separate doctor's bill
 
i work at a hospital.

the billing department takes care of sending the bills and collecting payment. i heard that they were doing a crappy job and alot of people got free healthcare. maybe thats part of the reason why we were losing $60million a year.

We were in alot of debt until some company bought us up and fired all the best and expensive docs we had to cut down on costs. They couldnt fire anyone in the billing department because of some sort of issue that i dont really know.

we are still losing money.

healthcare is not free folks. pay your bills !!
 
Originally posted by: cerebusPu
i work at a hospital.

the billing department takes care of sending the bills and collecting payment. i heard that they were doing a crappy job and alot of people got free healthcare. maybe thats part of the reason why we were losing $60million a year.

We were in alot of debt until some company bought us up and fired all the best and expensive docs we had to cut down on costs. They couldnt fire anyone in the billing department because of some sort of issue that i dont really know.

we are still losing money.

healthcare is not free folks. pay your bills !!
Click to expand...


They are closing 2 hospitals where live I because of losing money. But then not everyone can afford health insurance. Talk to them, they will set up easy payments. They would rather have a little money at a time then none at all. Would your folks help with a little too ?

 
Originally posted by: Lazee
ER rooms usually dont do id checks. Mine didnt. You can just give a fake name and stuff next time you have an impromptu visit.

yes yes im an ass, but they rape you with hospital bill AND a separate doctor's bill
Click to expand...


You are correct in part of this, guess which one I mean. Its called handling responsibilty.
 
Originally posted by: tyler811
Originally posted by: Lazee
ER rooms usually dont do id checks. Mine didnt. You can just give a fake name and stuff next time you have an impromptu visit.

yes yes im an ass, but they rape you with hospital bill AND a separate doctor's bill
Click to expand...


You are correct in part of this, guess which one I mean. Its called handling responsibilty.
Click to expand...

When I went, I paid in full.

I'm telling it like it is. Welcome to atot.
 
Originally posted by: Lazee
ER rooms usually dont do id checks. Mine didnt. You can just give a fake name and stuff next time you have an impromptu visit.

yes yes im an ass, but they rape you with hospital bill AND a separate doctor's bill
Click to expand...

You may have paid in full, but a lot of people don't...and THAT'S the reason hospital bills are so high in the first place. They have to recomp. for all of the patients that end up getting care for free. Throw in the fact that most ER's can't turn away a patient based on their inability to pay, and you have inflated health care prices.

Though the insurance companies are usually the main cause of bills not being paid. If the insurance information isn't entered PERFECTLY into the billing software, then the insurance companies won't pay a dime. It's pretty funny some of the things they'll use to deny payment. If the hospital fights, the insurance companies usually take it to court, costing everyone more money. Yay.

 
Originally posted by: Gravity
Originally posted by: RossMAN
I would contact the hospital ASAP and make payment arrangements. Get the agreement IN WRITING.

You want to avoid this from being referred to collections and ruining your credit.
Click to expand...

I thought medical bills couldn't be used to ruin your credit?
Click to expand...

They can. I moved and a bill for $150 never made it to me, several months later a collection agency came looking. One of the bureaus shows it as a collection amount but my credit score is still good.
 
In Michigan if you are uninsured and have to be admited to a hospital you can apply for medicaid to help cover the bills. I have no idea if N.J. has the same rules. If not you definately want to contact them and setup payments arrangements and get them in writing.
 
You want to avoid this from being referred to collections and ruining your credit.
Click to expand...

Hospital bills are some times overlooked on credit reports as you have to get yourself repaired... I saw it happen many a time when selling cars. No your not leasing anymore but it won't be ruined...

pay if you can though but eat first
 
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