There are a lot of reasons you
might have big medical bills. One example is being injured in a car accident.
You could also get an illness, such as a chronic disorder or be in some other
type of accident, aside from a car accident.
Medical bills can be thousands or
tens of thousands of dollars, even if you have insurance.
Depending on the situation, such
as may be the case in a car accident, if another person is at-fault, then your medical
bills may be covered by their insurance company.
Outside of that scenario, what
options are available to you if you can't pay your medical bills? What should you
know about effectively dealing with medical debt? It can be a significant
burden on your personal finances, but options are available.
Don't Ignore the Bills
First and foremost, don't make the mistake of ignoring
medical bills.
If you do, it can significantly and negatively affect your
credit score.
According to Experian, there are more than 64 million
Americans with a medical
bill in collections listed on their credit report.
Even though the thought facing medical bills head-on might
be intimidating, it is important to avoid long-term financial damage.
Go Over Your Bills Carefully
Just because you receive a medical bill, don't assume that
it's automatically correct. The Medical Billing Advocates of America group
estimates that 8 in 10 hospital bills have errors.
You should always ask providers for an itemized bill, and
then you should go over it to ensure you did receive all of the services
listed.
If you have insurance, you need to compare the listed items
on your bill with what's in your explanation of benefits statement.
If you do see there are things that aren't correct or
accurate, contact your medical provider right away.
You may also find that your insurance didn't cover things
that should have been, and if that's the case, you can file an appeal with your
insurance provider.
Too often, people assume their medical bills are correct or
don't think that filing an appeal with their insurance provider will do any
good, and that's just not the case.
Negotiate
Once you've gone through your medical bills and made sure
they're correct, you can attempt to negotiate
with providers.
Hospitals often have programs that will allow them to help
lower-income patients reduce their bills.
If you'd like to attempt to negotiate on your bill, you
should ensure you're speaking as soon as possible to the person who has the ability
to lower your bill.
This is usually the provider's billing manager.
Hardship assistance programs are available not only to
low-income people but to people who are facing hardship only because of their
medical bills.
Even if you can't show financial hardship, another
negotiating tactic is to compare the billed prices to the average price of that
service in your area.
Some medical billing managers are more likely to accept
negotiations if you agree to pay a percentage upfront and right away. Even if
you can only pay 30%, and then the billing manager writes off the rest, if you
can afford it, it can be a good option.
Ask for a Payment Plan
Even if you negotiate your total medical bills down, you may
still have a large amount to pay.
Beyond negotiating what's owed, you can also ask about a
payment plan. Most medical payment plans don't charge interest.
Try Not to Use Credit Cards If Possible
While it is important to
pay off your medical bills, using credit cards to do so might not be the
best option.
If you use credit cards, because of high interest rates, you
may just find that you're in a never-ending cycle of debt.
The better option than using credit cards is to do what's
listed above—ask for a payment plan and preferably one with no interest.
Beyond a credit card, the last option for repaying medical
debt should be a loan.
A loan may have a lower interest rate than a credit card,
but still, it's just not a good financial choice to deal with medical debt.
Medical debt can be overwhelming and difficult to do deal
with, but it's something many people face.
Don't ignore it and hope it will go away. Instead, be
strategic and come up with a plan of working with the provider to make it
something you can manage.
