[USER]

I have a $2k medical bill that was sent to collections… we just got hit at a hard spot with a ER visit for our baby plus college tuition, a replumbing of the house for a big leak, and redoing all the walls after they fixed the plumbing all within 3 months..

The collections company has already sent us a letter and tried to call me twice. But I only found out it was them after I googled the number (it was a weird number so I didn’t pick up and they didn’t leave a message)

I checked my credit score today and it is not showing in collections and my credit score has not been impacted at all (yet)

Anyways… here are my questions:
– can I negotiate this bill at all? I’m not good at negotiating.. so not sure what to say.

It truly is a rip off baby had a fever that we could not control and broke into hives on 4th of July..

nothing was open other than the ER… they saw her and gave her Tylenol and sent us home… and we got a $2k bill… found out later she had an infection.

– how long does it take for something like this to show up in my credit or impact my score?

– what are the consequences (other than credit score) from having a bill go to collections?

I’ve never had this happen… and I’m just worried. We are now dealing with a broken AC unit at the house, broken AC in one of our vehicles, broken garage door… ugh it’s been one thing after another… but I guess I have to prioritize this hospital bill at some point.

[Azariah]

I’d just ignore it. I’ve done that in the past. Never had any consequences to my credit score.

[Beth]

Hives are most often caused by viruses. An ear infection could have developed later, but if hives usually treat with antihistamines.

(And Tylenol or Motrin for fever).

And ear infections very commonly overdiagnosed. Pediatric ER doctor

[Melissa]

Yes, you can negotiate for a pay to delete, but next time pay the hospital $2 a month, as long as you are paying it they can’t send it to collections.

Also, medical debt will no longer hit your credit score, Biden signed thay bill last week.

[Kay]

Medical bills don’t go to collections, therefore it won’t show. Call and ask for a payment plan or pay it in full.

[Mary]

I would call the hospital and ask that they pull it back from collections and set up a payment plan with them.

[Emma]

Before negotiations…
Are you in the USA? Do you have medical insurance for the baby?

1) If not, call the hospital’s financial services and apply for medical assistance for baby.

Typically they can retroactively pay 3 months prior. Children are the easiest to insure

2) if you do have medical insurance, make sure that you have emergency room copay and that the insurance claim was processed
correctly.

Sometimes claims are not even sent to insurance so do that

3) if everything is correct then speak to financial services and negotiate the bill. Explain the situation and they will remove it from collections with active repayment.

Also to answer your question, you are in medical billing collections and not credit collections.

Once they resubmit the claim it comes out of collections
I do clinical appeals and have to go through these steps several times.

[Susan]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday issued new regulations barring medical debts from American credit reports, so I simply wouldn’t pay it.

It’s possible you could get sued for it, but that would take a while (if they even bother).

Trump could reverse it, but that would be wildly unpopular, and you know how he craves adulation, so he probably won’t reverse the rule.

[Zack]

So, assuming you are American, I believe that Biden just signed a deal making it so medical debt cannot affect your credit.

I’m not sure when that goes into effect, or if it will be blocked tho.

That being said, collection companies can still potentially sue you for what you owe.

But also, you totally can call the collection company and negotiate payment. From my understanding it works like this: the collection company buys your debt from the hospital for a lower price, and then they work on pressuring you to pay.

But a lot of the time they just want some kind of payment for it.

Call them and explain that you cannot pay the full amount of the debt, and ask about payment plans, or if they could lower the total amount to something you could pay in full right now.

They would prefer to have some money instead of not getting anything.

[Heather]

Did you talk with the ER about the bill since she was misdiagnosed? I once left a review about an ER because I got a big bill after being misdiagnosed and they contacted me and said I didn’t have to pay the bill.

Might be worth a try although it’s been a while now.

[Jessica]

Sounds like there’s a lot hitting you at once. An unfortunate domino effect.

Do you have an emergency fund in place to help alleviate some of this stress?

[Nikki]

I don’t think your last point was clearly answered: what are the potential consequences?

Collections can bring suit against you, take you to court and sue for the bill amount + legal fees. And if you continue to ignore, they will garnish your wages.

Unfortunately, this amount is ripe for this potential outcome. I’m not trying to scare or upset, but it is a very possible outcome.

Don’t ignore it — take some great advice given by others and deal with it directly.

For those saying don’t pay, it will go away– it doesn’t all the time and if Collections is already calling, it’s a chance you may be sued if you it’s not dealt with. Good luck!

[Chris]

Just because it won’t impact your credit score is no reason to ignore it. You owe the bill. As other stated, try again with the hospital for a reduced charge or payments.

If you agree to a payment with the collection agency, get it in writing before you send any money, and then send secure payments via a bank check or something.

[Bryan]

Ask the hospital for an itemized statement for that visit. I had to go in once and they then charged me for things that were never provided.

They fought on giving me the statement, but after they did I let them know it was fraud and I was reporting them.

Magically, my account became $0 balance.

[Sarah]

You have a right to request validation of the debt from the collection agency (even if you know it’s valid). Many debt collections agencies can not provide this and will stop all attempts to collect the debt.

“Under debt collection laws, you have the right to request verification of a debt, including a copy of the bill, within a certain timeframe (usually 30 days) from the initial contact by the collection agency.”

Additionally, many collections agencies will settle for 25-50% of the amount owed.

Just make sure you get something in writing that it’s been settled if they agree to take less.

[Cathy]

Ask for an itemized bill and make sure you are not being charged for services you did not receive. Then negotiate.

$2000 seems very high

[Kara]

Yes you can negotiate it, some hospitals have “in house” debt collectors also and then you can buy more time because it’s just working for the hospital not themselves, tell them you might be disputing some of it, ask if they have a case number for you and if you can put it on hold and push back the due date while you are talking with the hospital…

Doesn’t hurt to try and might but you a few months, just be friendly with the collector and learn as much as you can…

Just don’t forget to keep calling and checking in, then see if they will give you a discount…

Might be able to get you through this hump of heavy cash hits

[Author]

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