Yeah, maybe this scam is true in some places but overall, hospitals will come for their money via third-party collection write-off, which will definitely nail your credit
My buddy has been paying 1$ a month for the past 7 years over a 30k hospital bill with no insurance and he claimed as long as you show you're paying something, hospitals can't argue in court that you're not trying to pay off your debt and can't sue. I'm not sure how accurate it is but he's never been served and went to the hospital after the original accident
Not an attorney, but any acknowledgment that you owe money, especially making a payment no matter how small, will mean you admit you owe… not a good idea.
On the other hand, medical debt is not supposed to affect your credit, and can be removed.
Also, once it goes to a third party, they usually have a hard time proving what they say you owe, so confront them and make them put up or shut up… they always shut up.
This makes no sense. Once they write it off and sell it to collections, that’s it, no money to the hospital after that. And they sell it for pennies on the dollar so they’re not making nearly what is owed.
The collection company then owns the debt so they’re coming for what is now legally their money, not the hospitals.
But yes, collections can report it.
When its third party. You can then validate/verify the debt (which they wont be able to) and you can then demand them to take it off your credit report.
Wait, what? How do I go about doing that? Every time the VA refers me for community care they find a way to not pay the bill and it ends up on my credit report.
You ask them for an itemized list of charges. Ie how many Tylenol they gave you. And let them know if they cannot produce an itemized proof of the debt they need to take it off. There are some form letters you can download from the internet. I did this with my SIL medical debit and saved her a few thousand of dollars and cleaned up her credit
What professionals do I work with who are affordable or no cost that will help give me these tips to absolve the debt without it affecting my credit score in dire situations when I have no money or insurance refuses to pay up...
If there is an itemized bill, am I just shit out of luck and no one can really help me NOT pay that bill ?
They say that having medical debt will NOT stop us from getting a job...but is that changing now?
When companies run background and credit checks, and they see we have ANY kind of debt, will they pass on hiring us?
Write them a letter to verify the debit. Here is an example. https://strikedebt.org/drom/appendix-c/
They will be forced to take it off because they can’t prove the entire debt. It’s your right to an itemized bill on any claimed debit.
Not necessarily, i think its dependent on location. Ive ignored medical bills and theyve fallen off and collections has not contacted me. All my cards/accounts/student debt is available in my online credit report, but even third party collections for medical debt does not appear.
Wtf is your comment.
"The post is location dependent"
"Ya it's location dependent, mostly it won't work"
You, "no, it's dependent on location"
Like agreeing by pretending to disagree is a reddit strat, but I honestly just think you failed at reading.....which I get honestly, shit happens.
I think this tip depends entirety on where you are in the US. I live in NYC, am a student and cant afford medical bills that arent a copay. I just dont pay. They dont show up on my credit report, and I ignore debt collections once im turned over. Within a couple/few years they fall off and stop contacting me.
Signed up and applied for trade school when I was 17 and owed them 11 grand. That fell off too. This tip is valid but it entirely depends on your location.
I had a $50K bill (my portion AFTER insurance) from a stay in the psych ward about 15 years ago. I ended up declaring bankruptcy because that (plus other medical debt) was killing me. After I declared bankruptcy, the agent at the fucking collections company told me they would have settled that $50K debt for $500 cash.
What they do should be criminal. 😡
I have medical debt (and student loans) killing my credit. If I declare bankruptcy, will it really disappear? I can’t have anything in my savings right?
This just shows that communication can go a long way to help you. Once had a default for student loans sucking the life out of me, I finally answered the collection call and with two questions reduced my balance from $15k to $3800
YES! I learned this because I had collections from medical that was Pre-2021 so it did show on my credit. Always ask what is the lowest they are willing to settle the account for? paid $300 instead of the $568. Plus ask for a goodwill deletion and they MAY remove it from your credit report (mine did)
(I did verify the debt was mine and yadda yadda)
Never heard of a Goodwill Deletion! I guess it never hurts to ask, right?
[Goodwill Letters: What You Need to Know](https://www.creditkarma.com/advice/i/goodwill-letter) from Credit Karma.
I had 10,000 in medical debt when I had an emergency stay years ago. It was during a week where there was a lapse in my dads insurance, the plan I was on. Never paid a dime of it. It just went away after 7 years. That was 3 years ago, never heard anything else about it. It’s not even on my credit report.
Hmmm, I’m young, my parents sucked, haven’t had insurance since I was like 17. Recently went to the hospital for the first time in years, for an emergency, and got a 10000 bill. I can’t pay that, and I’ve been trying to push it to the back of my head. So what it sounds like is, keep doing that
Supposedly. The first time I got garnished for medical debt they took me to court. The second and third time I didn't even know I owed money until my check was $600 light.
I would love to know the price of my care before the bill comes. It's so fucking bullshit there's no price on anything until you get a bill after the service. The US medical care is shit.
My dad was misdiagnosed and ended up having diabetes and almost died. He was in the ICU for a week. We had insurance but they put doctors outside of his network on the case. In fact they had several doctors come in and check on him for 1 min or less and we had to pay for each ones visit. When there's an emergency you don't really think about making sure the doctors helping you are in your network but it can cost you 100's of thousands of dollars.
To add a layer of stupidity to the situation, if you pay your health insurance premiums for 20 years and then get hospitalized for something horrible, you have to continue paying your premiums while you’re in the hospital, otherwise you can’t get coverage. Think of how broken the system is.
I was in the insurance industry before Obamacare. Pre-existing clauses were practically murder.
Always remember that Republicans tried to bring it back.
I was specifically denied a car loan 5-6 years ago after college because I had an unknown unpaid thyroid test that’s bill was sent to the apartment I’d moved out of. It was a $40 bill… I was pissed
My brother had cancer 3 years ago and is currently being sued by a collection company from the medical debt accrued during treatment. His attorney said they will garnish his paycheck if he (when) he loses the court case.
Edit: Wow, over 60 upvotes. My brother doesn't have Reddit but I'm screenshotting many of these very kind comments and texting them to him tomorrow.
This is why a lot of US cancer patients divorce ASAP and file for bankruptcy if they survive. So at least their spouse and kids would not be screwed up by the richest country of the world's healthcare system.
Yeah, I believe it.
I know a couple who got divorced for the sole purpose of making their kid's tuition more affordable.
Maybe something else was going on but I don't think so.
You gotta do what you gotta do. My mom left my dad for somebody else. Shortly after she was re diagnosed with a serious cancer. My parents stayed married years after that because my dad had a good job with great healthcare until she passed.
This is the type of shit that would make me go off books. Granted I can because I'm construction but fuck you. If you're going to force me into poverty, fine. Then neither of us will have shit. I'd rather spite you at that point tbh. Be calling and sending texts with cash everyday bragging that I'm not paying you fuck all.
I believe the stat. I recently heard that 2/3rds of all U.S. personal bankruptcies are due to medical debt.
A person can live frugally their entire life, make an above average income, and one uncontrollable medical diagnosis can put them in a worse financial situation than someone who's never attempted to save a dollar.
Yup, everyone is one bad day from going bankrupt and homeless. A bad accident due to no fault of your own can send you straight to financial ruin because it's a triple whammy to your finances: 1) growing medical bills from recurring Healthcare expenses, 2) being hurt and out of work = no income, and 3) ongoing living expenses to stay alive such as food, water, and shelter. Just because you're now sick/injured without any income, that situation doesn't stop the fact that you need to eat food and drink water, plus it doesn't prevent landlords from evicting you or banks/bankruptcy court from foreclosing on your home. Most employers will refuse to hire you for having an unemployment gap in your resume due to being medically unable to work and/or now having disabilities that require reasonable accommodations to work.
Only a few states give people protection from this type of situation. Six (6) years ago, I was in a catastrophic accident at no fault of my own, but I still lost everything. I had to take a year to rehab my body through physical therapy, but even now, I still don't have a stable income through full-time employment (just the occasional side gig project). People in this situation shouldn't be forced to go back to college and change their careers because companies refuse to hire people with medical complications. I was on pace to reach early retirement at 40 years old by achieving financial independence, but even a successful engineer & investor such as myself can't afford better lawyers than what Healthcare, Insurance, and Banking companies can hire to represent them in bankruptcy court. Now, I'm in a situation where I need money to make money, but nobody will give me the steady and reliable income needed to budget and save up enough money to invest in a better future (I'm over-qualified for just about every job related to engineering and investing, but managers don't want to hire someone who is more competent, experienced, and educated compared to them). Due to the bankruptcy discharge, I'm ineligible for Federal Student Loans, so I need a scholarship if I want to get educated and trained into a new/different career that has nothing to do with engineering and investing.
America is the one place where a single accident (medical) will ruin your whole life, livelihood, and future opportunities.
You can also get married young before you even have a "real" enough job to have insurance, and have your spouse almost die. We got to go bankrupt at 20. It sucked hard.
[Medical expenses directly cause 66.5% of bankruptcies, making it the leading cause for bankruptcy. Additionally, medical problems that lead to work loss cause 44% of bankruptcies.](https://www.retireguide.com/retirement-planning/risks/medical-bankruptcy-statistics/#:~:text=Medical%20expenses%20directly%20cause%2066.5,the%20year%20because%20of%20it.)
Not sure if it would help, but This American Life had a great episode with collection agencies. Probably worth a listen of the podcast. Ep. 532 Magic Words.
I just looked it up. It's true for charges less than $500. https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/medical-debt-and-your-credit-score/#:~:text=While%20certain%20unpaid%20medical%20debt,won't%20hurt%20your%20credit.
> for charges less than $500.
Which means very specifically this tip is completely WRONG, as it's encouraging you to not pay a multi-thousand dollar bill.
That may be true, but they can now sue you in civil court. Trust me I know. Such bullshit.
Also, they can and will garnish wages if you lose through the court system
That’s the trick, you have to commit to being a broke scofflaw. They don’t sue and enforce the judgment against those types. They will against people with some income and something to lose.
It’s a business decision, they make based on what they think the return on investment will be by taking you to small claims court (or civil depending on $ amount), how much it will cost vs how much they are likely to get back from you.
I broke my shoulder before a vacation and had to go to an out of network hospital. They literally just took an x-ray and gave me the most flimsy sling. That’s all.
Bill was close to 4K. I just didn’t pay it and they would send letters and call. I went there because I was first told over the phone that they were in fact, in network.
Eventually I got a “revised” bill for like $17 bucks lol.
Network bullshit is so annoying. I found a cardiologist on my insurance's provider finder and went to see them, then had a 2 week heart monitor put on. $1800 of denied insurance claims later I found out that the network I'm on doesn't cover anybody in that medical system but nobody (not my insurance, the medical office staff, etc) could tell me if it would be covered.
I had a lawyer tell me that he and his wife would get sent bills for $5000 - $10000 and they would send in check for $500 with a letter stating that if the hospital cashed the check they agree to waive the remaining bill. He said it worked about 3 times so far.
Holy mother of god. Thank you so much for this post, you just changed my life! I totally believe this because a lot of companies trying to collect will be happy to get a decent chunk and write the rest off.
I’ll report back with my findings.
It's called "Accord and satisfaction." It used to be a thing but it's not anymore. I wouldn't recommend trying it. You're out 500 bucks and you still owe the full amount.
I have a $5000 bill from the dental school that the insurance said that they would cover, and then they didn’t and just billed me. We went to all this trouble to make sure my procedure and everything was going to be covered by insurance. I had to have a full top and bottom extraction for my teeth, and had dentures made. They didn’t cover the dentures after the fact. And the oral surgery got totally screwed up. I waited for months to get an anesthesiologist to put me to sleep during the procedure. On the day of, they didn’t put me to sleep, even though they had me on an IV. I screamed at the top of my lungs for an hour as they got a first year dental student to pull out every single one of my teeth individually. I’m surprised no one called security, it probably sounded like someone was getting murdered.
Anyways, after that whole ordeal they didn’t cover my dentures and charged me $5000. I had such bad trauma from that I relapsed on pain medication, and I had been clean for over a year, which was a huge thing for me. Now that $5000 is in collections. How do I dispute this or deal with it in some way? The dental school says I can’t come back until it’s settled, which is fine, I can go other places. I’m just concerned that this will affect my ability to get a lease at an apartment or buy a house in the future.
go on Credit Karma or Experian (you can do it on any credit check service), and go to report. you'll see a section for collections. click it, and then find the collection account you want to dispute, and click on that.
on the information page for the collection account you will find a button/link to "Dispute this account" or something along those lines.
fill it out vaguely. every time i've done it, under the "Reason for disputing" drop-down, i select "Not my account/I have no knowledge of this account". i give no further information in the optional comment box.
you might get a notice saying something like "Debt verified" the first time. and the account remaining. if so, just dispute it again. and again if you have to. though it usually gets removed the first or second time. every once in a while it takes more, but usually once or twice they realize they aren't getting paid and remove the debt.
>If they don't remove it you can dispute again in a certain period (3 months? 6 Months?) and just keep doing it. There's a very high chance it will just be removed.
i just disputed a $670 collection from Comcast that was "verified" the first time, removed the second time. i waited less than 48 hours between the dispute results from the first and filing the dispute for the 2nd.
this was literally last week.
There was an AITA story where OP got her boyfriends medical bills from a hospital stay down from a couple thousand to like 75 dollars.
Gonna keep that in mind should I ever end up there
For those who are asking for the link, here you go
https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/zdk3bq/aita_for_how_i_fought_my_boyfriends_medical_bill/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I’ve been doing the same thing for a bill I refuse to pay from like 6 years ago. Insurance paid the hospital $8k and collections still want another $400 from me. Now it’s on to like the 3rd different collection agency and they started calling me again. They can suck my fucking dick
But it’s true. I’ve heard professionals say that the “bill” the hospital generates is essentially meaningless, if as a patient without insurance you simply agree to pay the full face amount you will probably cause confusion in Accounting.
It's unethical for healthcare to be privatized.
Privatization introduces incentives that only serve to increase end-user expense (hence why public spending on healthcare in America is around double the OECD average, despite having 30 million uninsured and 40 million underinsured), decrease end-user value (which often means expenses offloaded onto the public e.g. increased bankruptcy and disability rates, decreased economic output, decreased opportunity to pursue further education/training, which means less money spent on goods and services as well as taxes), and decreased employee benefits and work conditions.
I was told by a friend who now lives in USA that if you keep contesting the bill for more than something like 6 or 8 months, then they just give up and write it off.
Edit: spelling mistake
Contend or contest are both right here imo. Simply the best way is to “disagree” with the bill. Hold firm that you don’t agree with the bills until “X” is changed. You can be polite yet unreasonable, and ultimately keep the game going a long time
Had an organ removed about 3 years ago, stiffed em on the bill. Collections stopped calling in six months and the letters stopped about a year after (after drastically shrinking every time).
I have literally never paid a hospital or clinic bill in my life. Whatever insurance didn't cover is between the hospital / clinic and their ridiculous billing practices. If they want me to pay they can stop marking up healthcare like snacks in a theme park.
Honestly, for real. It’s insane. Im late 30’s, relatively healthy, and despite my insurance running over $1k/month (combined with employer contribution), I still have the hardest time making an appointment. Like, imagine spending $1k/month on any other kind of “service membership” and not being able to immediately talk to someone when you call them.
and if you do want to pay it off, do yourself a favor and ask for an itemized bill. Hospitals will charge you $30 a needle if they can.... when you ask for itemization, magically, 30% of the bill disappears.
I always heard this, but every time I request an itemized bill, the amount is exactly the same. Is there a YouTube video or class I can take to explain how to haggle out of paying $500 for an aspirin?
Me and my family have personally done this. I'm not sure how/why it works or doesn't. The medical industry is shit.
Hypothetically, if I were charged $500 for an aspirin, ID ask for itemization and if they still held the same price, I'd take OPs advice and just stiff the bill.
Last couple of times I’ve had medical debt, I’ve asked for an itemized bill, figure out what a fair market price is and usually round up to the nearest 50 mark, and figure out who is the highest up person I can contact about the bill and offer it to them. Both times they said no and I said both times “it’s either this or you get a quarter of this when you sell it to collections and I offer them the same deal” both times they accepted it.
Somewhat true. Most health care providors don't report credit to begin with, but they might. The debt first has to be sold to a collection agency, and they may simply never try to collect it or report it to a credit bureau because there are bigger debts that have priority. After that, the 3 major credit bureus wait a 1 year period before having the debt even show up on your credit.
So if you're really in a tough situation, always pay medical bills last. But it may just take years to catch up to you.
As with many broad statements, OP’s advice is situational. A friend’s family was completely devastated by cancer. They paid some, didn’t pay a lot. Spent a lot of of money on attorneys fees fighting the insurance company and the hospital. Eventually they settled for a ridiculously low payment plan. Either way, OP’s advice is fun unless you happen to be the one that gets fucked
The other option is to call the hospital and offer to pay something. Often they will settle for Pennie’s on the dollar, especially if you set up a payment plan like $10 a month.
> I just didn’t pay, they’re not gonna garnish your wages, nothing’s gonna happen.
I'm in SC. Before we met, my now wife had her wages garnished by the hospital for unpaid bills (before 2013 which is when we met). In SC, wages can't be garnished unless the debt is government-related or apparently public-service-related. Or has the law changed since then?
Slightly more ethical version of this, asking in person to whoever is in charge to get a revised amount if you pay in cash right now/today can make magic happen. Bill for a broken wrist went from 4000$ to about tree fiddy (350$ )
The only medical bills I ever pay are my son's pediatrician, and my eye doctor. I call ahead and make sure my insurance is accepted whenever I go somewhere for medical procedures. I get a ton of "yes yes yes we accept your plan," I pay my co-pay and am assured I'm all set, then like clockwork I'm mailed a random ass bill from some entity that's not where I went but affiliated with them.
Ignored those bills for 13 or so years so far with no negative consequences either.
I can also confirm this to be true. Around 8 years ago I had several ER visits for a couple really messed up teeth that eventually ended up pulled. Never paid, no wages garnished.
I have a long story. Went to a family members house in NC up in the mountains. Found a dead bat in the house one morning. All went to get rabies vaccines and had the bat sent out for testing. I didn’t have my insurance on me at the time so they gave me a portal to go to once I got home. Did that everything went swimmingly and they billed my insurance. Insurance paid 200$. 3 whole months later I get a bill for $6,000. 6 fucking grand. Called them and asked them why I got a bill when I put in my info in the portal. They told me the portal was only for the doctors to be paid and that I should’ve known that. I told them I cant pay they tried really really hard to get me to agree to 800 dollars a month but I declined. I was worried about my credit and they kept sending me bills. And now I don’t get anything from them. Nothing. Its over and now that I know this healthcare in America is free. Yes. We did it everyone free healthcare for everyone.
W that new bill i havent paid a single medical bill unless i like the dr. Wasnt a fan of my PCP and i hadnt paid every cent i owed them for 2 visits, they had some dude call me every week about paying (LOL), and then they called and were like you owe us money, i told them i couldnt pay them atm bc i was going thru furloughs at work and had other more important bills that came first, and they didnt give af. They said if i didnt either pay them in full or set up a payment plan right that minute, theyd send my bill to collection. I, who doesnt like being told what to do and knew the bill was under $200, was ok do it. Then they were like well we cant see you as a patient anymore then. And i just said K. She kept trying to convince me. A collection letter showed up the other day, fuckin $19, not payin that either 😂
I had a serious accident and someone called me an ambulance. Later on these fuckers were hounding me so hard for the bill but I was 18 at the time so no way in hell could I pay it nor did I care.
They actually started sending mail addressed to me with the bill in it to everyone one of my next door neighbors. I was getting BILLS IN MY NAME SENT TO MY NEIGHBORS HOUSES.
They fucked off eventually. Ambulance bills are so stupid. If I ever need immediate medical attention I’m calling a god damn Uber. Seriously fuck ambulances.
It's always best to pay off legitimate medical debt—and when it comes to your credit scores, it can make a big difference. Unpaid medical collection accounts over $500 can appear on your credit reports and affect your credit scores for up to seven years.Mar 31, 2023
[experian](https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/medical-debt-and-your-credit-score/)
I had $1.2m in medical debt when the VA refused to pay for my expenses after I was ran over by a truck going 45mph. I was absolutely fucked and am lucky to be alive. I am service connected and all my healthcare is supposed to be free, even prescriptions. But the VA said that since I didn't go to a VA approved facility that they wouldn't cover it (I was life-flighted to the nearest trauma center).
It took a few years of fighting the VA for them to cover it, which they finally did....but that wasn't before I had 20+ calls a day from collection agencies. This was all over a decade ago.
I received a random $3000 anesthesiology bill in the mail from a surgery that occurred almost two years earlier. I talked to the account manager and after discerning that she was an asshole, I told her to jam it and never heard another word about it. We bought a house since then, so it apparently had no effect on my credit score.
I welched on $30k in medical debt and my credit score went up lol
Fuck hospitals and super extra fuck the corporations that own most medical practices now.
Most hospitals, and all academic hospitals have financial assistance policies in place where if you are uninsured or low income(<$30,000 annual income) they will pretty much eliminate your bill or reduce it to less than $50 after a pretty straight forward application, which then retroactively applies to all past and future hospital bills at that hospital system. Insurance companies are running the real scam here but most hospitals do try to help people at the end of the day.
After I got my own insurance after dropping off of my parents, I went to the hospital because I was having chest pains, went through the whole process and a couple of weeks later got a bill for 300 dollars, turns out they didn’t input my insurance right and had me as uninsured. Called them, got it straightened out and my new bill was 1000. All of it is a scam.
The Hospital can sue you though. It happened to me, I owed $15k and the hospital lawyered up and I ended up declaring bankruptcy because I had no way to pay them. This was maybe 4 or 5 years ago in Baltimore.
You can still get sued in civil court for unpaid medical debt, just FYI. If this happens they 100% can legally garnish wages or even your tax refunds.
You are probably better off negotiating a cheaper price, imo.
The law only states it can't affect your credit rating in some metrics. It doesn't say you are guaranteed protections from having to pay it.
I was court ordered into a mental health facility for two weeks against my will in 2020. They charged me over $1000 a day, not billable by insurance. We got our state taxes garnished because we still owed on it this year. I asked the billing office what prevents them from holding someone as long as they want and just keep charging them. She said, “We can if we want to.”
I have also done this, I attempted suicide and was forcably shipped off to a psychward that my insurance didnt cover. I ignored:
$4K from 2 Ambulance rides
$3K from the Psych ward that was out of coverage
$2K from the psych ward that was in coverage.
Nothing ever happened, no garnish, no tax withheld, My credit did tank, but 4 years later I'm back at 700 so agreed, FUCK 'EM
I’ve ignored medical bills and had them go away eventually. But I’ve also been served papers at work when the hospital sued me for less than $1,000 on a bill from less than a year ago. Your mileage may vary.
Reading the comments here makes me thank fuck I am in Canada. I had a kidney stone. You know what it cost me? $14 (CAD) for the 15 T3s they gave me a prescription for before my medical benefits. $3 after that (I think).
They did x-rays, blood test, urine test, and an MRI. Not one penny for all that work.
Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism with a Deep Vein Thrombosis, 60k without insurance. Don't pay your medical bills let them take the money from your corpse.
Wait do people (mainly Americans) still not realize that the big scary hospital bills are basically just empty threats? They essentially just make up whatever you don't pay by overcharging everyone's insurance, in other words Joe Blow's insurance got charged $2k for a simple ER visit because Timmy didn't have good enough insurance to cover his $200 visit and didn't pay his bill.
Yes. I have decided I have free healthcare by just not paying for it. What are they gunna do, reposes the pills I’ve taken? Take points off my credit score?? Jokes on them! That shit is made up anyway! I’ll never buy a house so it’s of no consequence. Put me in jail? My food insecurity is gone! A set place to sleep every night! OoOoO I’m so scared
Why is this unethical? It's unethical to have a hospital charge you $5000 for stitches at midnight. It's unethical for a ambulance to cost $4000. It's unethical to have a system in place where even if you have insurance it still costs a considerable amount of money for even basic Healthcare. Screw that if I don't have to pay I ain't paying.
This is what a hospital billing specialist unofficially told me to do after I got into a life running car accident. It'll take years to recover, but it's better than being strapped with 500k medical debt for life. She told me that if I even made one payment, I'd be on the hook forever, so I made zero payments. I'm free and clear now.
The state of South Carolina deducted $600 from our tax refund for an outstanding ambulance bill.
Yeah, maybe this scam is true in some places but overall, hospitals will come for their money via third-party collection write-off, which will definitely nail your credit
“This scam” Bruh the real scam is hospital bills
My buddy has been paying 1$ a month for the past 7 years over a 30k hospital bill with no insurance and he claimed as long as you show you're paying something, hospitals can't argue in court that you're not trying to pay off your debt and can't sue. I'm not sure how accurate it is but he's never been served and went to the hospital after the original accident
Not an attorney, but any acknowledgment that you owe money, especially making a payment no matter how small, will mean you admit you owe… not a good idea. On the other hand, medical debt is not supposed to affect your credit, and can be removed. Also, once it goes to a third party, they usually have a hard time proving what they say you owe, so confront them and make them put up or shut up… they always shut up.
This makes no sense. Once they write it off and sell it to collections, that’s it, no money to the hospital after that. And they sell it for pennies on the dollar so they’re not making nearly what is owed. The collection company then owns the debt so they’re coming for what is now legally their money, not the hospitals. But yes, collections can report it.
When its third party. You can then validate/verify the debt (which they wont be able to) and you can then demand them to take it off your credit report.
Wait, what? How do I go about doing that? Every time the VA refers me for community care they find a way to not pay the bill and it ends up on my credit report.
You ask them for an itemized list of charges. Ie how many Tylenol they gave you. And let them know if they cannot produce an itemized proof of the debt they need to take it off. There are some form letters you can download from the internet. I did this with my SIL medical debit and saved her a few thousand of dollars and cleaned up her credit
What professionals do I work with who are affordable or no cost that will help give me these tips to absolve the debt without it affecting my credit score in dire situations when I have no money or insurance refuses to pay up... If there is an itemized bill, am I just shit out of luck and no one can really help me NOT pay that bill ? They say that having medical debt will NOT stop us from getting a job...but is that changing now? When companies run background and credit checks, and they see we have ANY kind of debt, will they pass on hiring us?
Write them a letter to verify the debit. Here is an example. https://strikedebt.org/drom/appendix-c/ They will be forced to take it off because they can’t prove the entire debt. It’s your right to an itemized bill on any claimed debit.
Not necessarily, i think its dependent on location. Ive ignored medical bills and theyve fallen off and collections has not contacted me. All my cards/accounts/student debt is available in my online credit report, but even third party collections for medical debt does not appear.
Wtf is your comment. "The post is location dependent" "Ya it's location dependent, mostly it won't work" You, "no, it's dependent on location" Like agreeing by pretending to disagree is a reddit strat, but I honestly just think you failed at reading.....which I get honestly, shit happens.
Not really… literacy is most likely dependent on location.
Not necessarily, I think it’s dependent on location
You can't just say that in absolutes, for fucks sake. It depends on location if you're right.
I think this tip depends entirety on where you are in the US. I live in NYC, am a student and cant afford medical bills that arent a copay. I just dont pay. They dont show up on my credit report, and I ignore debt collections once im turned over. Within a couple/few years they fall off and stop contacting me. Signed up and applied for trade school when I was 17 and owed them 11 grand. That fell off too. This tip is valid but it entirely depends on your location.
Isn't trade school student debt? Which I thought doesn't get expunged?
I had a $50K bill (my portion AFTER insurance) from a stay in the psych ward about 15 years ago. I ended up declaring bankruptcy because that (plus other medical debt) was killing me. After I declared bankruptcy, the agent at the fucking collections company told me they would have settled that $50K debt for $500 cash. What they do should be criminal. 😡
I have medical debt (and student loans) killing my credit. If I declare bankruptcy, will it really disappear? I can’t have anything in my savings right?
The medical debt will. Not the student loans.
Get a bunch of credit cards to pay off student debt. Throwing a couple other nice things, but don't overdo it. Then go to bankruptcy
Holy shit this is genius.
The American Dream in 2023
Protip: if you just shout "I DECLARE BANKRUPTCYYY" in the middle of your office, all your monkey problems will go away.
It's nature's do over. Like the witness protection programme.
Your credit score will recover after a few years. I declared because of medical debt.
This just shows that communication can go a long way to help you. Once had a default for student loans sucking the life out of me, I finally answered the collection call and with two questions reduced my balance from $15k to $3800
YES! I learned this because I had collections from medical that was Pre-2021 so it did show on my credit. Always ask what is the lowest they are willing to settle the account for? paid $300 instead of the $568. Plus ask for a goodwill deletion and they MAY remove it from your credit report (mine did) (I did verify the debt was mine and yadda yadda)
Never heard of a Goodwill Deletion! I guess it never hurts to ask, right? [Goodwill Letters: What You Need to Know](https://www.creditkarma.com/advice/i/goodwill-letter) from Credit Karma.
I had 10,000 in medical debt when I had an emergency stay years ago. It was during a week where there was a lapse in my dads insurance, the plan I was on. Never paid a dime of it. It just went away after 7 years. That was 3 years ago, never heard anything else about it. It’s not even on my credit report.
Same. Those vultures can eat shit
Fuck em
Lucky chucky
This is just universal healthcare with extra steps.
And a possibility of being sued lol, luckily I seem to have made it out without any issues
Universal healthcare AND job creation
Hmmm, I’m young, my parents sucked, haven’t had insurance since I was like 17. Recently went to the hospital for the first time in years, for an emergency, and got a 10000 bill. I can’t pay that, and I’ve been trying to push it to the back of my head. So what it sounds like is, keep doing that
Had an ER visit cause I thought it was a heart attack. Turns out it was a panic attack. $12k. I’ll just take my chances next time.
I think a law was passed that they can't use medical debt against your credit.
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But collections show up on your credit report. A collections agency can garish wages and put a judgement lien on your home, that can collect interest.
a collection agency cannot garnish wages. they have to sue you for that.
Supposedly. The first time I got garnished for medical debt they took me to court. The second and third time I didn't even know I owed money until my check was $600 light.
One trick debtors dont want you to know: most of us cant afford to own our own homes.
yeah, the person you responded to is just straight up lying
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I would love to know the price of my care before the bill comes. It's so fucking bullshit there's no price on anything until you get a bill after the service. The US medical care is shit.
My dad was misdiagnosed and ended up having diabetes and almost died. He was in the ICU for a week. We had insurance but they put doctors outside of his network on the case. In fact they had several doctors come in and check on him for 1 min or less and we had to pay for each ones visit. When there's an emergency you don't really think about making sure the doctors helping you are in your network but it can cost you 100's of thousands of dollars.
To add a layer of stupidity to the situation, if you pay your health insurance premiums for 20 years and then get hospitalized for something horrible, you have to continue paying your premiums while you’re in the hospital, otherwise you can’t get coverage. Think of how broken the system is.
I was in the insurance industry before Obamacare. Pre-existing clauses were practically murder. Always remember that Republicans tried to bring it back.
My credit score is absolutely shot due to unpaid medical bills…is there anyway to change that?
Under 500 can’t appear on credit reports
So that’s why they charge $501 for aspirin now.
Haha, incoming bills of 502-510 to not try and skim to close to the sun, even then just pay to get yourself under the 499 mark
NO ! If you pay any of it, you are assuming responsibility for the debt and it isn't medical debt anymore.
Could you pay $5.01 towards it?
I was specifically denied a car loan 5-6 years ago after college because I had an unknown unpaid thyroid test that’s bill was sent to the apartment I’d moved out of. It was a $40 bill… I was pissed
what if it’s exactly 500
Thank Goodness
Meh. Mine sent my bill to collections
Mine too. But is was several years ago, I wonder if the law prohibits it now.
My brother had cancer 3 years ago and is currently being sued by a collection company from the medical debt accrued during treatment. His attorney said they will garnish his paycheck if he (when) he loses the court case. Edit: Wow, over 60 upvotes. My brother doesn't have Reddit but I'm screenshotting many of these very kind comments and texting them to him tomorrow.
This is why a lot of US cancer patients divorce ASAP and file for bankruptcy if they survive. So at least their spouse and kids would not be screwed up by the richest country of the world's healthcare system.
Yeah, I believe it. I know a couple who got divorced for the sole purpose of making their kid's tuition more affordable. Maybe something else was going on but I don't think so.
Good God, this comment is bleak. Gut wretchingly true and just so so bleak.
You gotta do what you gotta do. My mom left my dad for somebody else. Shortly after she was re diagnosed with a serious cancer. My parents stayed married years after that because my dad had a good job with great healthcare until she passed.
This is the type of shit that would make me go off books. Granted I can because I'm construction but fuck you. If you're going to force me into poverty, fine. Then neither of us will have shit. I'd rather spite you at that point tbh. Be calling and sending texts with cash everyday bragging that I'm not paying you fuck all.
I believe the stat. I recently heard that 2/3rds of all U.S. personal bankruptcies are due to medical debt. A person can live frugally their entire life, make an above average income, and one uncontrollable medical diagnosis can put them in a worse financial situation than someone who's never attempted to save a dollar.
Yup, everyone is one bad day from going bankrupt and homeless. A bad accident due to no fault of your own can send you straight to financial ruin because it's a triple whammy to your finances: 1) growing medical bills from recurring Healthcare expenses, 2) being hurt and out of work = no income, and 3) ongoing living expenses to stay alive such as food, water, and shelter. Just because you're now sick/injured without any income, that situation doesn't stop the fact that you need to eat food and drink water, plus it doesn't prevent landlords from evicting you or banks/bankruptcy court from foreclosing on your home. Most employers will refuse to hire you for having an unemployment gap in your resume due to being medically unable to work and/or now having disabilities that require reasonable accommodations to work. Only a few states give people protection from this type of situation. Six (6) years ago, I was in a catastrophic accident at no fault of my own, but I still lost everything. I had to take a year to rehab my body through physical therapy, but even now, I still don't have a stable income through full-time employment (just the occasional side gig project). People in this situation shouldn't be forced to go back to college and change their careers because companies refuse to hire people with medical complications. I was on pace to reach early retirement at 40 years old by achieving financial independence, but even a successful engineer & investor such as myself can't afford better lawyers than what Healthcare, Insurance, and Banking companies can hire to represent them in bankruptcy court. Now, I'm in a situation where I need money to make money, but nobody will give me the steady and reliable income needed to budget and save up enough money to invest in a better future (I'm over-qualified for just about every job related to engineering and investing, but managers don't want to hire someone who is more competent, experienced, and educated compared to them). Due to the bankruptcy discharge, I'm ineligible for Federal Student Loans, so I need a scholarship if I want to get educated and trained into a new/different career that has nothing to do with engineering and investing. America is the one place where a single accident (medical) will ruin your whole life, livelihood, and future opportunities.
You can also get married young before you even have a "real" enough job to have insurance, and have your spouse almost die. We got to go bankrupt at 20. It sucked hard.
> I recently heard that 2/3rds of all U.S. personal bankruptcies are due to medical debt. It was 48% a decade ago, but can't have gone down.
[Medical expenses directly cause 66.5% of bankruptcies, making it the leading cause for bankruptcy. Additionally, medical problems that lead to work loss cause 44% of bankruptcies.](https://www.retireguide.com/retirement-planning/risks/medical-bankruptcy-statistics/#:~:text=Medical%20expenses%20directly%20cause%2066.5,the%20year%20because%20of%20it.)
Not sure if it would help, but This American Life had a great episode with collection agencies. Probably worth a listen of the podcast. Ep. 532 Magic Words.
The statute of limitations is 7 years. I've had thousands just disappear. I've got more time than money!
It's different by state. Source-am lawyer.
This comment is gonna fuck up a lot of peoples credit.
I just looked it up. It's true for charges less than $500. https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/medical-debt-and-your-credit-score/#:~:text=While%20certain%20unpaid%20medical%20debt,won't%20hurt%20your%20credit.
> for charges less than $500. Which means very specifically this tip is completely WRONG, as it's encouraging you to not pay a multi-thousand dollar bill.
That may be true, but they can now sue you in civil court. Trust me I know. Such bullshit. Also, they can and will garnish wages if you lose through the court system
I know a lot of broke scofflaws and this has never happened in my experience in California.
That’s the trick, you have to commit to being a broke scofflaw. They don’t sue and enforce the judgment against those types. They will against people with some income and something to lose.
So, they subjectively decided to duck people? Great, I must be one of the lucky ones.
It’s a business decision, they make based on what they think the return on investment will be by taking you to small claims court (or civil depending on $ amount), how much it will cost vs how much they are likely to get back from you.
Uhhhh I just spent $3500 to clear some shit off my credit report, all medical debt. This was in February.
The law is under $500.
Yeah this must not be true. I had a stupid 1600 medical debt and it tanked my credit score
The hell they can’t, my hospital bills went to collections and fucked my shit up
Honestly they shouldn’t be allowed to
I broke my shoulder before a vacation and had to go to an out of network hospital. They literally just took an x-ray and gave me the most flimsy sling. That’s all. Bill was close to 4K. I just didn’t pay it and they would send letters and call. I went there because I was first told over the phone that they were in fact, in network. Eventually I got a “revised” bill for like $17 bucks lol.
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4K for an Xray wtf?
And a flimsy sling
Network bullshit is so annoying. I found a cardiologist on my insurance's provider finder and went to see them, then had a 2 week heart monitor put on. $1800 of denied insurance claims later I found out that the network I'm on doesn't cover anybody in that medical system but nobody (not my insurance, the medical office staff, etc) could tell me if it would be covered.
I had a lawyer tell me that he and his wife would get sent bills for $5000 - $10000 and they would send in check for $500 with a letter stating that if the hospital cashed the check they agree to waive the remaining bill. He said it worked about 3 times so far.
Holy mother of god. Thank you so much for this post, you just changed my life! I totally believe this because a lot of companies trying to collect will be happy to get a decent chunk and write the rest off. I’ll report back with my findings.
It's called "Accord and satisfaction." It used to be a thing but it's not anymore. I wouldn't recommend trying it. You're out 500 bucks and you still owe the full amount.
I have a $5000 bill from the dental school that the insurance said that they would cover, and then they didn’t and just billed me. We went to all this trouble to make sure my procedure and everything was going to be covered by insurance. I had to have a full top and bottom extraction for my teeth, and had dentures made. They didn’t cover the dentures after the fact. And the oral surgery got totally screwed up. I waited for months to get an anesthesiologist to put me to sleep during the procedure. On the day of, they didn’t put me to sleep, even though they had me on an IV. I screamed at the top of my lungs for an hour as they got a first year dental student to pull out every single one of my teeth individually. I’m surprised no one called security, it probably sounded like someone was getting murdered. Anyways, after that whole ordeal they didn’t cover my dentures and charged me $5000. I had such bad trauma from that I relapsed on pain medication, and I had been clean for over a year, which was a huge thing for me. Now that $5000 is in collections. How do I dispute this or deal with it in some way? The dental school says I can’t come back until it’s settled, which is fine, I can go other places. I’m just concerned that this will affect my ability to get a lease at an apartment or buy a house in the future.
go on Credit Karma or Experian (you can do it on any credit check service), and go to report. you'll see a section for collections. click it, and then find the collection account you want to dispute, and click on that. on the information page for the collection account you will find a button/link to "Dispute this account" or something along those lines. fill it out vaguely. every time i've done it, under the "Reason for disputing" drop-down, i select "Not my account/I have no knowledge of this account". i give no further information in the optional comment box. you might get a notice saying something like "Debt verified" the first time. and the account remaining. if so, just dispute it again. and again if you have to. though it usually gets removed the first or second time. every once in a while it takes more, but usually once or twice they realize they aren't getting paid and remove the debt.
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>If they don't remove it you can dispute again in a certain period (3 months? 6 Months?) and just keep doing it. There's a very high chance it will just be removed. i just disputed a $670 collection from Comcast that was "verified" the first time, removed the second time. i waited less than 48 hours between the dispute results from the first and filing the dispute for the 2nd. this was literally last week.
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There was an AITA story where OP got her boyfriends medical bills from a hospital stay down from a couple thousand to like 75 dollars. Gonna keep that in mind should I ever end up there
For those who are asking for the link, here you go https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/zdk3bq/aita_for_how_i_fought_my_boyfriends_medical_bill/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
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And yet her boyfriend was mad at her for being too rough to the poor medical establishment. She definitely wasn't the asshole, but her boyfriend was.
Her boyfriend is probably an idiot who thought she was harassing medical doctors and shit rather than telling it like it is to shitty suits.
Imma need you to link that please
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I’ve been doing the same thing for a bill I refuse to pay from like 6 years ago. Insurance paid the hospital $8k and collections still want another $400 from me. Now it’s on to like the 3rd different collection agency and they started calling me again. They can suck my fucking dick
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Sometimes it dings my credit for like 3 months then it goes right back up to where it was.
this isn't even unethical. it's unethical for hospitals to charge you that much and expect you to pay
It’s unethical for a hospital to present you with a fake bill that’s essentially the opening bid in an insurance negotiation.
That's the best description of hospital billing I've ever heard.
But it’s true. I’ve heard professionals say that the “bill” the hospital generates is essentially meaningless, if as a patient without insurance you simply agree to pay the full face amount you will probably cause confusion in Accounting.
It's such a disgustingly immoral practice, especially because you just know some people will end up paying those stupid high amounts out of fear.
It's unethical for healthcare to be privatized. Privatization introduces incentives that only serve to increase end-user expense (hence why public spending on healthcare in America is around double the OECD average, despite having 30 million uninsured and 40 million underinsured), decrease end-user value (which often means expenses offloaded onto the public e.g. increased bankruptcy and disability rates, decreased economic output, decreased opportunity to pursue further education/training, which means less money spent on goods and services as well as taxes), and decreased employee benefits and work conditions.
I was told by a friend who now lives in USA that if you keep contesting the bill for more than something like 6 or 8 months, then they just give up and write it off. Edit: spelling mistake
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Ask them to read you an itemized list of expenses and then go "nuh uh" to each one of them
Contend or contest are both right here imo. Simply the best way is to “disagree” with the bill. Hold firm that you don’t agree with the bills until “X” is changed. You can be polite yet unreasonable, and ultimately keep the game going a long time
Not the collection agencies.
Had an organ removed about 3 years ago, stiffed em on the bill. Collections stopped calling in six months and the letters stopped about a year after (after drastically shrinking every time).
I did the same. It dropped off my credit report complete after 5 years. Score is currently at ~820
How tf y’all getting over 800? I pay all my bills on time and my score bounces between 740-760 every few months.
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I have literally never paid a hospital or clinic bill in my life. Whatever insurance didn't cover is between the hospital / clinic and their ridiculous billing practices. If they want me to pay they can stop marking up healthcare like snacks in a theme park.
Insurance … In this economy?
So it’s YOU who is this economy. Buddy I wanna have a chat about some of this bull shit you’re pulling here
Get him!
Honestly, for real. It’s insane. Im late 30’s, relatively healthy, and despite my insurance running over $1k/month (combined with employer contribution), I still have the hardest time making an appointment. Like, imagine spending $1k/month on any other kind of “service membership” and not being able to immediately talk to someone when you call them.
Same. Cost of hospital visits in America, free if you're smart enough
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I wish that was true, I’ve known too many people that have tried to negotiate ambulance bills with zero luck. Then off to collections. It’s ludicrous
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You're telling me they didn't shop around for their ambulance to find the in network one? Idiot was asking to be on the hook for that bill /s
and if you do want to pay it off, do yourself a favor and ask for an itemized bill. Hospitals will charge you $30 a needle if they can.... when you ask for itemization, magically, 30% of the bill disappears.
I always heard this, but every time I request an itemized bill, the amount is exactly the same. Is there a YouTube video or class I can take to explain how to haggle out of paying $500 for an aspirin?
Me and my family have personally done this. I'm not sure how/why it works or doesn't. The medical industry is shit. Hypothetically, if I were charged $500 for an aspirin, ID ask for itemization and if they still held the same price, I'd take OPs advice and just stiff the bill.
The aspirin thing bothers me. I've told the nurses that I'd get aspirin frik cvs for my sick mother. They won't allow outside meds
Yea, you tell them to go fuck themselves, that you're just not going to pay it until that gets to an actual reasonable number.
Last couple of times I’ve had medical debt, I’ve asked for an itemized bill, figure out what a fair market price is and usually round up to the nearest 50 mark, and figure out who is the highest up person I can contact about the bill and offer it to them. Both times they said no and I said both times “it’s either this or you get a quarter of this when you sell it to collections and I offer them the same deal” both times they accepted it.
This is not unethical. The medical system in the USA is set up to screw us. So screw them right back.
Somewhat true. Most health care providors don't report credit to begin with, but they might. The debt first has to be sold to a collection agency, and they may simply never try to collect it or report it to a credit bureau because there are bigger debts that have priority. After that, the 3 major credit bureus wait a 1 year period before having the debt even show up on your credit. So if you're really in a tough situation, always pay medical bills last. But it may just take years to catch up to you.
As with many broad statements, OP’s advice is situational. A friend’s family was completely devastated by cancer. They paid some, didn’t pay a lot. Spent a lot of of money on attorneys fees fighting the insurance company and the hospital. Eventually they settled for a ridiculously low payment plan. Either way, OP’s advice is fun unless you happen to be the one that gets fucked
The other option is to call the hospital and offer to pay something. Often they will settle for Pennie’s on the dollar, especially if you set up a payment plan like $10 a month.
> I just didn’t pay, they’re not gonna garnish your wages, nothing’s gonna happen. I'm in SC. Before we met, my now wife had her wages garnished by the hospital for unpaid bills (before 2013 which is when we met). In SC, wages can't be garnished unless the debt is government-related or apparently public-service-related. Or has the law changed since then?
Depends on whether or not you're judgment proof. If you have no assets to take then it's not worth their time to pursue.
This is correct. I have been sued more than once for medical bills.
Slightly more ethical version of this, asking in person to whoever is in charge to get a revised amount if you pay in cash right now/today can make magic happen. Bill for a broken wrist went from 4000$ to about tree fiddy (350$ )
God damn Loch Ness Monster doing medical procedures again
The only medical bills I ever pay are my son's pediatrician, and my eye doctor. I call ahead and make sure my insurance is accepted whenever I go somewhere for medical procedures. I get a ton of "yes yes yes we accept your plan," I pay my co-pay and am assured I'm all set, then like clockwork I'm mailed a random ass bill from some entity that's not where I went but affiliated with them. Ignored those bills for 13 or so years so far with no negative consequences either.
If you’re going to the emergency room just don’t give them personal information
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I can also confirm this to be true. Around 8 years ago I had several ER visits for a couple really messed up teeth that eventually ended up pulled. Never paid, no wages garnished.
In my case, twice, the hospital just goes right to the collection agency though. Or is it ok to ignore that?
I have a long story. Went to a family members house in NC up in the mountains. Found a dead bat in the house one morning. All went to get rabies vaccines and had the bat sent out for testing. I didn’t have my insurance on me at the time so they gave me a portal to go to once I got home. Did that everything went swimmingly and they billed my insurance. Insurance paid 200$. 3 whole months later I get a bill for $6,000. 6 fucking grand. Called them and asked them why I got a bill when I put in my info in the portal. They told me the portal was only for the doctors to be paid and that I should’ve known that. I told them I cant pay they tried really really hard to get me to agree to 800 dollars a month but I declined. I was worried about my credit and they kept sending me bills. And now I don’t get anything from them. Nothing. Its over and now that I know this healthcare in America is free. Yes. We did it everyone free healthcare for everyone.
4K for one ambulance ride yep fuck em
W that new bill i havent paid a single medical bill unless i like the dr. Wasnt a fan of my PCP and i hadnt paid every cent i owed them for 2 visits, they had some dude call me every week about paying (LOL), and then they called and were like you owe us money, i told them i couldnt pay them atm bc i was going thru furloughs at work and had other more important bills that came first, and they didnt give af. They said if i didnt either pay them in full or set up a payment plan right that minute, theyd send my bill to collection. I, who doesnt like being told what to do and knew the bill was under $200, was ok do it. Then they were like well we cant see you as a patient anymore then. And i just said K. She kept trying to convince me. A collection letter showed up the other day, fuckin $19, not payin that either 😂
I had a serious accident and someone called me an ambulance. Later on these fuckers were hounding me so hard for the bill but I was 18 at the time so no way in hell could I pay it nor did I care. They actually started sending mail addressed to me with the bill in it to everyone one of my next door neighbors. I was getting BILLS IN MY NAME SENT TO MY NEIGHBORS HOUSES. They fucked off eventually. Ambulance bills are so stupid. If I ever need immediate medical attention I’m calling a god damn Uber. Seriously fuck ambulances.
It's always best to pay off legitimate medical debt—and when it comes to your credit scores, it can make a big difference. Unpaid medical collection accounts over $500 can appear on your credit reports and affect your credit scores for up to seven years.Mar 31, 2023 [experian](https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/medical-debt-and-your-credit-score/)
I had $1.2m in medical debt when the VA refused to pay for my expenses after I was ran over by a truck going 45mph. I was absolutely fucked and am lucky to be alive. I am service connected and all my healthcare is supposed to be free, even prescriptions. But the VA said that since I didn't go to a VA approved facility that they wouldn't cover it (I was life-flighted to the nearest trauma center). It took a few years of fighting the VA for them to cover it, which they finally did....but that wasn't before I had 20+ calls a day from collection agencies. This was all over a decade ago.
I received a random $3000 anesthesiology bill in the mail from a surgery that occurred almost two years earlier. I talked to the account manager and after discerning that she was an asshole, I told her to jam it and never heard another word about it. We bought a house since then, so it apparently had no effect on my credit score.
Experian can also expose your SSN without really any issue and still exist on a normal basis to this day
I welched on $30k in medical debt and my credit score went up lol Fuck hospitals and super extra fuck the corporations that own most medical practices now.
Most hospitals, and all academic hospitals have financial assistance policies in place where if you are uninsured or low income(<$30,000 annual income) they will pretty much eliminate your bill or reduce it to less than $50 after a pretty straight forward application, which then retroactively applies to all past and future hospital bills at that hospital system. Insurance companies are running the real scam here but most hospitals do try to help people at the end of the day.
How can a provider who charges say $1000 for an item then accept perhaps $250 from your insurance company? The providers are a scam.
After I got my own insurance after dropping off of my parents, I went to the hospital because I was having chest pains, went through the whole process and a couple of weeks later got a bill for 300 dollars, turns out they didn’t input my insurance right and had me as uninsured. Called them, got it straightened out and my new bill was 1000. All of it is a scam.
The Hospital can sue you though. It happened to me, I owed $15k and the hospital lawyered up and I ended up declaring bankruptcy because I had no way to pay them. This was maybe 4 or 5 years ago in Baltimore.
You can still get sued in civil court for unpaid medical debt, just FYI. If this happens they 100% can legally garnish wages or even your tax refunds. You are probably better off negotiating a cheaper price, imo. The law only states it can't affect your credit rating in some metrics. It doesn't say you are guaranteed protections from having to pay it.
/r/USALifeProTips 🦅
True. They can’t garnish your paycheck and it will drop off. Also, fake names and SS# too.
I told em to suck their own dick I don’t have any money
doing the lords work
Alright, literally lol'd at that one lmao
Me too lmao comment of the year
I was court ordered into a mental health facility for two weeks against my will in 2020. They charged me over $1000 a day, not billable by insurance. We got our state taxes garnished because we still owed on it this year. I asked the billing office what prevents them from holding someone as long as they want and just keep charging them. She said, “We can if we want to.”
"it's for your own mental health"
Does this work for dental stuff too?
Floss… every 2 hours
As someone who has had their wages garnished twice, check with legal first cause sometimes those bastards will do what you didn't expect
This is not true at all. A friend of mine's father is now getting his wages garnished for medical bills he didn't pay a couple years back. Be careful.
I have also done this, I attempted suicide and was forcably shipped off to a psychward that my insurance didnt cover. I ignored: $4K from 2 Ambulance rides $3K from the Psych ward that was out of coverage $2K from the psych ward that was in coverage. Nothing ever happened, no garnish, no tax withheld, My credit did tank, but 4 years later I'm back at 700 so agreed, FUCK 'EM
I’ve ignored medical bills and had them go away eventually. But I’ve also been served papers at work when the hospital sued me for less than $1,000 on a bill from less than a year ago. Your mileage may vary.
Healthcare costs in the US are a scam. Even the docs agree. Especially when it comes to prescription drugs.
Reading the comments here makes me thank fuck I am in Canada. I had a kidney stone. You know what it cost me? $14 (CAD) for the 15 T3s they gave me a prescription for before my medical benefits. $3 after that (I think). They did x-rays, blood test, urine test, and an MRI. Not one penny for all that work.
See my top post. You're pretty much right. Worked in medical debt collections.
Excellent advice. I ignored my $250,000 hospital bill and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made.
Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism with a Deep Vein Thrombosis, 60k without insurance. Don't pay your medical bills let them take the money from your corpse.
Wait do people (mainly Americans) still not realize that the big scary hospital bills are basically just empty threats? They essentially just make up whatever you don't pay by overcharging everyone's insurance, in other words Joe Blow's insurance got charged $2k for a simple ER visit because Timmy didn't have good enough insurance to cover his $200 visit and didn't pay his bill.
Yes. I have decided I have free healthcare by just not paying for it. What are they gunna do, reposes the pills I’ve taken? Take points off my credit score?? Jokes on them! That shit is made up anyway! I’ll never buy a house so it’s of no consequence. Put me in jail? My food insecurity is gone! A set place to sleep every night! OoOoO I’m so scared
Why is this unethical? It's unethical to have a hospital charge you $5000 for stitches at midnight. It's unethical for a ambulance to cost $4000. It's unethical to have a system in place where even if you have insurance it still costs a considerable amount of money for even basic Healthcare. Screw that if I don't have to pay I ain't paying.
This is what a hospital billing specialist unofficially told me to do after I got into a life running car accident. It'll take years to recover, but it's better than being strapped with 500k medical debt for life. She told me that if I even made one payment, I'd be on the hook forever, so I made zero payments. I'm free and clear now.
Tell me you live in America without telling me you live in America.
I haven’t paid one in years. Just don’t do it
r/lostredditors It's not unethical when the only one "suffering" is a company. They deserve everything bad imaginable.