Can unpaid hospital bills affect your credit?

Question

I have about 6,000 dollars in unpaid hospital bills. I've been told by many people that this doesn't affect your credit. Is that true? If it does affect my credit, what are my options?

Answer 1

Absolutley!!! Don't let them get out of hand make a payment at least. Call and arrange some form of payment plan

Answer 2

Your physician submits a bill to your health care organization or insurance company. For whatever reason, payment is delayed or denied entirely. Meanwhile, you quite logically refuse to pay; after all, you're insured. You may not even know a bill hasn't been paid.

The doctor then turns the matter over to a collection agency. It reports the debt as delinquent to the credit reporting agencies -- Experian, TransUnion and Equifax -- and commences hounding you to pay up.

"Typically, the doctor's office is not the one reporting to the credit reporting agency, it is the collection service that is putting the ding," says Mike Kidwell, vice president and co-founder of Myvesta debt counseling service. "And rightfully so. If you're not paying your bill and that bill is unpaid, the fact that it has had to go to collections in an effort to be paid is true and factual information."

...

Once an unpaid bill shows up on your credit report, you have four options: pay it, dispute it, explain it or ignore it. Paying the bill won't erase it from your credit report, but it will be marked paid, a far more positive entry than an unpaid debt.

To dispute it, you're going to have to prove that it is erroneous in fact, such as a clerical error. If you can, the credit reporting service will gladly delete the entry.

Answer 3

Yes, it will be reported. Any unpaid debts are considered "income" of financial or services.

I would recommend making stallment plans with the hospital.

(I been there, done that. Even though it was not my fault (Never recieved a late notice and was told I didn't need to pay the 120 co pay when I went in for testing that day), it still is on my credit report (yet, shown as paid as I paid it when I got a letter from the credit company). I gave you the very very very short version.

Answer 4

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RE:
Can unpaid hospital bills affect your credit?
I have about 6,000 dollars in unpaid hospital bills. I've been told by many people that this doesn't affect your credit. Is that true? If it does affect my credit, what are my options?

Answer 5

I heard the same thing and believed it until I got a letter from a collection agency and saw on my credit report a hospital bill that i hadnt paid. You should call the hospital or collection agency and try to work out a payment plan, even if its just 20 a week try to pay them something so it looks like you are trying.

Answer 6

Trust me, it will very adversely affect your credit rating. Hospitals can be worse than banks and other financial institutions for reclaiming debts, often employing legal assistance to take people to court. I know of one person that got 2 weeks in jail for continually refusing to pay a hospital bill of just over €300, and that person never spent a day in prison before that in his life. It is a very substantial debt you owe however... i'd recommend that you contact the financial comptroller at the hospital and come to an agreement on a feasible repayment plan, so as to ease the burden on yourself.

Answer 7

I have always heard that it DOES effect your credit. After having my daughter it seemed like the medical bills would never end. The hospital I went to luckily let me make payments of around $120/month till it was paid off. Just check with them, most places will let you make payments as long as they get their money.

Answer 8

Anything that could get reported to a credit bureau could affect your credit if you are delinquent on the account. Your friends are unfortunately wrong.

Answer 9

From what I understand ... if it is a State Hospital ... they do not inform credit bureau ... but if they are a private clinic / hospital ... they can very well inform the credit bureau ... look for the terms on the bill ... if it says that they will use collection agencies ... then they will report ... if it gives you councelling options for payments ... hopefully they will not report.

http://www.childfaqs.com

Answer 10

Wrong. I will affect your credit. My b-friend went to refinance the house and because of his ex-wife and all of her medical bills that she never paid he was not going to get the refi and took us about 6 months of written and verbal contacts to get this off of his credit report. Pay off your bills.