Bill collection question? I'm clueless. HELP!

[Mr. Green]

I'm extremely frustrated right now.

The hospital where we were treated sent us billing statements saying we had 170 days to arrange payment. I waited as long as possible to do so because we have a bunch of medical bills as a result of the event, almost 10k and climbing. I called in about two weeks ago to set up a payment planb only to be told they'd already sent the bills to collections. I explained how their own billing statement said we were within the allowed windows and they put in a request to see if the bill could be pulled back. The lady I spoke with said most of the time that is successful.

It's been two weeks so I called in to check on status. Still pending. Though the guy I talked to today said 9 times out of 10 they won't pull them back. He also told me they only wait 120 days before sending bills to collections, which is a contradiction to their own billing statement. He did say we could pay the bill in full but I don't really want to do that with all the bills we have coming in. If I paid it in full would it squash the collection and prevent a ding on our credit? The last thing I want is to pay the bill in full and still see a collection event go on our history.

I have not received anything from a collection agency yet. I know who it was sent to but I don't know if I should contact them and try and explain what is happening. I'm afraid that once I'm voluntarily on their radar it might reduce our ability to have the bill handled by the hospital.

I have no idea what I should do here. Never had a bill sent to collections before. Part of me is pissed that they are sending the bill to collections early and I'm ready to burn it down. I'm not planning on buying a house or car in the near future but the Internet says collections stay on your record for 7 years and that's a long time. I don't even know what the impact is of one bill collection on someone's credit score. Ours is near perfect. If interest rates fall we would want to refinance our house and it would be incredibly short sighted to miss out on that opportunity over a pissing match with a medical bill.

Anyone been through something like this before and have any advice?

[LongtimeLurker]

Makes me wonder if 170 days was a typo. Its an odd number to choose, where 120 is more common. Regardless, it will stay on your credit report for 7 years, but generally as long as it is paid eventually, the effect on your credit score drops dramatically after 2 years. It would still be a good idea to get this resolved amicably to keep your pristine credit. Perhaps get a personal loan or HELOC or some other loan to consolidate all the bills, pay them off, and then work on paying off the loan.

Also, its not unusual for medical billing to get screwed up, since it usually goes through a 3rd party provider who then bills insurance before billing you with the balance. Lots of people invovled with lots of opportunities to screw it up. I once worked for a major health insurance company, so I know how complicated the stuff gets and how often there are disputes about who is responsible for what.

[bacchi]

Pay the hospital bill directly.

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/medical-debt-anything-already-paid-or-under-500-should-no-longer-be-on-your-credit-report/


If it ends up on your credit report, 1) send a letter demanding they take it off, with quotes from the FCRA; 2) submit an explanation to the credit companies.

[Mr. Green]

Pay the hospital bill directly.

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/medical-debt-anything-already-paid-or-under-500-should-no-longer-be-on-your-credit-report/


If it ends up on your credit report, 1) send a letter demanding they take it off, with quotes from the FCRA; 2) submit an explanation to the credit companies.

Big thanks for this. I just called the hospital and paid the bills. Not worth taking the chance that it goes to collections further and hits our credit.

@LongtimeLurker I thought it was an odd number too but it's on all three statements they sent us so I figured we were fine. All the more reason to be pissed off that they jumped the shark. I plan to contact, at minimum, their patient relations department to let them know they need to change the language on their bills. It is unacceptable that they could be putting patients in a position where they think they have time to set up a payment plan when the hospital has already sent the bill to collections. If we were unable to pay the bills in full right now, the impact to our credit could create significant problems for us for years to come.