When I made my original Facebook post, everyone offered me “advice.”
The most common of which seemed to be “Don’t pay the bill.” Accompanying this
were many reasons of why this should be my go-to plan. This post will look at two common misconceptions concerning medical debt.
#1-Medical debt won’t affect your credit score
Wrong. While doctors and hospitals don't generally report unpaid bills to credit bureaus, the collection agencies they send those unpaid bills to will. And they can stay on your report for seven years. Luckily, newer versions of the FICO score give less weight to medical debts. Unfortunately, most lenders still use older FICO versions that don't make that distinction. Experian does allow a six month grace period before medical collections show up on your credit report, giving you time to work out any billing or insurance hassles or to arrange a payment plan.
#2-As long as you're paying something, they can't take you to collections
Several people told me to just pay $20 a month and that as long as I was making this effort to pay, the hospital couldn't do anything. False. The hospital has to agree to the payment plan and the payments have to be large enough when compared to the whole of your bill. Additionally, other comments said that they had their wages garnished for unpaid medical debt. Granted, for medical debt they have to sue you for this to happen, but it does indeed happen.
I feel your pain. 2 of our 3 sons have been diagnosed with Bipolar 1 and have been hospitalized for episodes.They are both young enough to still be on our insurance and our support. We are teachers and make decent money and have pretty good insurance but have spent the last several years paying close to $ $1500 per month on Bill's related to mental health care. Just keeping track of the numerous, numerous bills from different providers and dealing with insurance companies is enough to push anyone over the edge! On top of all that we have felt the heart ache of having our sons, in their most vulnerable moments, experience the stark reality of really crappy mental health care, and we, new to the mental health scene and not knowing better, were clueless how to advocate for our kids. I have to say, as we have learned more, I have figured out how to maneuver through the hoops on their behalf and they have also had some really great care but that comes at a cost and is hard to find. Mental health issues are tough but we have grown closer as a family through the struggle. I wish you well.
ReplyDeleteI tried to commit suicide, something I swore I'd never do, and never plan to do again. I was told I would stay at the hospital for 3 required days. After seeing the doctor, 4 days late . I was told because they put me on medication, that I had to stay a few more days to "see how I reacted to it" even though I had already been on it for 4 days. It total I was kept about8 days. I have really great insurance but was still left with a $13,000, and that's not counting the ambulance ride, nor the emergency room charge.
ReplyDeleteHey Nicole. I'm an investigative producer with national CBS News. I'm so interested in speaking with you about this bill. We have a series called Medical Price Roulette and its about how there's no transparency in medical billing and how prices are essentially made up since no one is regulating. Can you please email me at rosenblume@cbsnews.com. Or call / text at 347-306-4027.
ReplyDeleteU