Medical bills are ruining my credit. Need advice!?

Question

My husband and I have no credit card debt, and we just sold our home and moved into a smaller home so we can start saving up for the house of our dreams. But the problem is, we have terrible credit, even though we don't have any real debt. These are medical bills that have hit our credit reports even though we've always had excellent health insurance. Most of the time I have never even seen a bill until much later, from a collection agency, once it's too late to file through insurance and we do not owe this money. There have been many I have paid just so it won't affect my/our credit but it's such a waste since this should have all been covered. Is there a way I can prove I have been covered by insurance and have these charges dropped? What do I do? By the way, we are paying 18% interest on our vehicle because of this problem and cannot get approved for a second vehicle, even with $2000 down because of this problem. Husband makes great money and has been at his job for 9 years. Help!

Answer 1

It's very simple of how medical bills are handled.
1- You go to the doctor/hospital, the doctor submits the bill to the insurance company, the insurance company sends you an itemize of what they paid and the remain should be your responsibility (no delay there)
2- Your doctor/hospital then will send you a bill. If you can't pay in full, you can certainly call them and make payment arrangement without any additional interest or late fee as long as the hospital or your doctor agreed a certain amount.
3- As long as you do that, there is no reason why they report you as a bad debt. I have a bill and I'm still paying them since July of last year. I have 2 more payments then I'm done. No problem there. I don't understand why they sent you to collection agency if you're making payments. There must be something that you didn't disclose. Hospital or doctor office are always working with patients. No one has couple thousand of dollars to pay in full and they understand that. That's why they're willing to make payment arrangement with their patients.
4- The only thing you can do now is to call the agency and start making payments.

Answer 2

A medical claim can be filed for up to one year after the date of service (this can vary with each state, but this is the norm). If this time period hasn't passed, re-file the claims.

Having health insurance doesn't mean that the insurer will pay everything. If these bills are from deductibles, co-pays or the infamous insurance company denial for whatever reason, you are responsible for the bills and the only way to fix your credit is to pay them.

As always, get any terms in WRITING prior to paying any collection agency one penny. NEVER give them money first. You aren't alone in this dilemma....I recommend watching the documentary "Sicko" which just came out on DVD.

Answer 3

You need to start reading everything which shows up in your mail from any medical provider. They ALL send bills, whether or not you have insurance. Have you been assuming that your insurance pays for everything in terms of medical costs? These days, such plans are nearly unheard of.

I will grant you that medical bills are not always easy to understand, but I've never heard of a medical facility not sending a statement of charges of any type.

If you've ignored these statements until you hear from a collection agency, it's not surprising that your credit report is a shambles. And when you DO hear from a collection agency, you need to react promptly and handle whatever it is they are attempting to collect.

Answer 4

you should get a copy of your credit report. you can get one free one per yr from each major credit bureau. file a dispute for anything on there you are not familar with. when you go to the doctor make sure they have your insurance information correct. you should receive a notice from your insurance company once they have paid. if not then wait 45 days and call the doctors office to find out if the insurance paid and what the balance is. usually the doctors office will refile the claim for you if necessary but make sure you stay on top of each and every bill. if you have to call the insurance company yourself to find out why they havent paid your doctor then do so

Answer 5

get well soon

Forget your bills your health is more impotent