how to pay bill collectors?

Question

I am a kidney transplant patient and will constantly be at doctors offices and hospitals. Just for this year alone I have recieved 4000.00 in bills from the hospital alone. That is my deductible from medicare and my secondary insurance. not mentioning other doctor bills and the like. I am also legally blind. If I pay on some of these bills then other collectors call and want money paid on there accounts too. We are living on a shoestring as it is but every couple of months a new bill collector calls for another bill and there seems to be no end since I am constantly in the hospital.

I have thought about bankrupsy but what about next year after I am sick or have problems again. I am always getting new bills in constantly.

Real answers please.

Answer 1

Call medicaid or medicare. Try if you can pay $5.00 at least you are trying on all or trying with one collector agency, Or try in ingoring them. Talk to each and every collecting agency. Talk to your local church. Hope this help.

LC

Answer 2

I work in a medical lab that does testing for people like you...and I sit and wonder somedays how you guys come up with the money to pay for all of the tests. You have to have your antirejection medication levels taken so often and I am just glad that I don't have to go through it. What I would do is to honestly call the hospital, or local Senator and find out what kinds of help are really in your area. Within the year the offices that you owe money to will be writing off those moneys. See if there is any type of assisstance for you. I know that I have heard of a company that helps xplant patients with their medical bills but I dont know what it is called. I wish I could be of more help and take care of yourself.

Answer 3

Look into debt consolidating programs. I was on one many years ago and it worked out great. They combine your debt and close out all accounts (credit cards) and you pay one fee per month w/ no finance charges etc. Then when you can, you can always take care of the bill(s) in full when you get money, like taxes or something. It does take some time, but keep making the payments, and I believe you can add the new medical bills to it, of course the payment will go up. You can search online for programs or ask your local mortgage people, then call. Good Luck ! DO NOT GO BANKRUPT! It always seems like an out, but it will affect your future. (Thank goodness I didn't declare bankruptcy :-)

Answer 4

Just close the door on Bill collectors. If the phone ring and it is a bill collector, wait for that person to ask for you, say politely just a moment please.. next pose the telephone receiver on desk and let the bill collector hang there fore ever.. do this until your phone goes off line..

send your bill collectors advertising you received from other mail instead of payment; they at least will receive 2 for 1 pizza instead of money..

Keep answering annoying bill collectors by saying "a moment please.. wait someone else on line, please hold..( must never speak with bill collector, it could get you upset and ruin your day!).
you can also say you left for the grocery store or you left to buy a new car.. sometimes make them hear you laugh hysterically over the phone.. whispering you will never pasy, then leave..

do this until you have some money.. ask them if they are willing to settle for less , like 1000$ instead of 4000$, if accepted ask them to send you letter of settlement.. If they refuse settlement,, repeat
with step one..

Answer 5

Far too many people file for bankruptcy because of their inability to budget and because they are living beyond their means...bankruptcy shouldn't be for them...it should be for people like you who have caught a really tough break...as a consumer, I would rather pay higher interest rates because of your bankruptcy than because of the bankruptcy of some jerk who didn't know how or did not want to practice self control...file if you need to...file again if you need to...if you really want to try to find a way on your meager budget...contact Consumer Credit Counseling Services in your area...they are also known as CCCS...they are not for profit and will help you out...you will pay what you can...even if it is just twenty bucks a month...they will work it out with the collectors and you will make just one small payment...good luck.

Answer 6

I would suggest looking at your credit report and making a plan for yourself to pay off everything you owe. They are going to hassle you no matter what because you owe them money. And even if you do get them to quiet down, it doesn't mean your problems will go away. They could still sue, garnish wages, etc.

What you need to do is take care of it. Perhaps try an agency that will allow you to consolidate and pay monthly?

Answer 7

The problem is with your last sentence. You are already planning more debt for next year. Anything we suggest gets you out of trouble now, but you are already planning more debt in the future. How in the world can we help you with that?

Without some sort of government assistance I don't know what to suggest. It's all going to come crashing down next year unless you can figure out how to balance your budget.

Answer 8

make a standard letter with your situation, leave a space for your account # and creditors name... in the letter tell them you want to make "good faith attempt" to make payments of $5.00 until the debt is satisfied.. make several copies of the letter always keep an original and just plug in the info of creditor name and acct #.
as long as you make a good faith attempt to satisfy debt, they cant mess with you.
they will always ask you for more, thats their job, but you dont have to, and keep substatiation of your payments ie. returned checks , money order receipts etc

Answer 9

send them all five dollars a month and they cant do anything because you are making an effort.