medical bill and credit report?

Question

My medical bill for appendix surgery was about $44,000. will it effect my credit reprot if I dont pay it?? I have no insurance, no madical..also, is there a way to pay monthly or I have to pay $44,000 at once?

thanks

Answer 1

All these other guys seemed to say what I was gonna say. I'm gonna make this short. I've worked in a real estate company and we did credit checks for lease houses, and there was "unpaid medical" often on these reports.

Now, I've also worked in the medical field since I was a teenager. (Volunteering) And now as an adult (22...woo hoo), I can get paid for the work I do. In fact, I worked in the billing department for a while. If you call up to the hospital and speak with someone in the billing department about your financial situation, you can work something out... even if it's $20 a month or $100 quarterly or $3 weekly. And you won't get turned over to collections and it won't go on your credit report.

If you are paying on an impossible amount, like you are, eventually the hospital will probably turn this bill over, and let you slide without paying your full impossible amount.

Answer 2

Yes, it will show up on your credit report if you do not pay it. The best thing to do is to cal the hospital and talk to the billing department to see if you can make a payment arrangement or have some type of program that can assist you in paying the bill or lowering it since you do not have any insurance. They usually agree to a set monthly payment and if they don't what you can do is let it go to collections and then make arrangements with the collection agency to pay it off monthly.

This will still have a negative impact on your credit but it will show that you are paying and once it is paid it will disappear from your credit report after 7years.

Having a collection for a medical bill vs. a credit card or loan is not as damaging to your credit report. Most companies understand that medical expenses occur and most people do not have insurance and or the means to pay. It's not like racking up a bill with your credit card and just not paying it this is different and while it looks bad like I said it is better than another type of debt.

Also, make sure you can check to see that if you do not pay it what will happen. In some states the hospitals will garnish your wages and in other cases if it is left unpaid it will fall off your credit report in ten years. But I should point out most hospitals are quick to send you to collections and to garnish your wages. Good Luck!

Answer 3

Contact the hospital and ask them about assistance programs you can sign up for. You may be able to get some help paying for the bill. And yes, hospitals will set you up on payment plans, you just need to call them to work it out. Every business that you own money too has to go through a process before they can report you to a credit monitoring agency. They will send you many notices before threatening to do so. You will know when it's going to happen. Just call the hospital and tell them you need to talk to someone about getting help with the bill.