According to www.forbes.com, 60% of Americans have medical bills. You never know when you are going to face a medical emergency and the hospital or a doctor’s office is going to make a huge medical bill. If you have medical insurance, you will not have to face any problem, but if you do not, the medical bills are going to be huge and chances are that you are going to land up in medical debt. No matter what your situation is, it is crucial that you protect yourself from the myths that are associated with the medical bills. These myths are responsible for a lot of confusion and you need to educate yourself about them beforehand.
Given below is a list of the myths that are associated with the medical bills.
If unpaid medical bills are sent to the collection agencies, they are not going to affect the credit score in a similar manner in comparison to the unpaid bill of a credit card
Whenever any unpaid debt is sent over to the collection agency, irrespective of whether it is a medical bill or a credit card bill, it is definitely going to appear on the credit report, and it is going to affect the credit score in a negative way. It hardly matters whether the unpaid bill is as a result of the huge debt of credit card, overdue loan payments, or medical bills, which has not been paid by you. You need to understand that the credit score will be affected in a similar manner, whether it is a medical or a credit card debt.
The medical bill will not be sent to the collection agency if the payments are being made
It is vital to make payments on time and ensure that you are not falling behind the medical bills. If the payments are late or you are not making the minimum payments, as required, it is obvious that your credit score is going to drop. It is completely dependent on the laws that are prevalent in the state you reside in and also, the kind of care that you have received from either the office of your doctor or your local hospital. But, no matter what, in most of the cases, the unpaid balance of the medical bills is turned to the collection agencies.
Your medical bill will not go to the collection agency without notifying
Although the creditors are going to attempt recovering the unpaid medical bills before they are deciding to turn the account over to the collection agencies, you have to understand that it is not important to notify you of the decision that they are taking. Moreover, there is a high chance that you will not even notice that the creditors have already gone to the collection agency until and unless you start viewing the negative scores on the credit report.
If you are paying the medical debt, no negative repercussion is going to affect you and it is going to reverse automatically
As soon as a particular account has been turned to the collection agency, it is going to be reflected in the credit report. This means that the credit score is going to be affected and there is no bouncing back from there. Although you are going to see a certain difference by clearing the debt amount, you need to understand that you are not going to observe anything drastic. However, a negative item is not permanent on the credit report and hence they will be removed with time. You can contact the collection agency and negotiate with them that you are going to clear your debt, but they have to remove the negative mark from the credit report. Ensure that you are accepting this in the form of a written agreement so that the collection agency does not deny the promise made to you.
If the unpaid medical bill has already been sent over to the collection agency, not clearing the money is not going to make a difference
Even if you are not able to observe a huge change in the credit score, it is still crucial to clear the debt. Otherwise, there is a high chance that you are going to be sued for the unpaid debt amounts. This can also affect the credit score in a negative manner and you can also be subject to wage garnishment, which is definitely something that you do not want.
If your medical insurance is covering everything, you are not responsible for any adverse situation
It is the responsibility of a consumer to understand what he should pay and what he should not. Numerous people have the impression that medical insurance is responsible for covering all the medical bills, and hence, they do not owe any money to the creditors. However, this is not true at all. Moreover, a particular consumer needs to be prepared for the medical bills especially if he lands up in medical debt, and the bills have already been sent to the collection agency.
The medical collection accounts are known to be treated in a different manner
The medical providers, like the hospitals as well as doctors, are not responsible for reporting the medical bills. In fact, the bills are not going to show up on the credit report, until and unless they have already been sent to the collection agencies. When a particular bill is sent to the collection agency, there is no difference between the medical collection as well as the other kinds of collections.
In order to clean your credit score, you need to clear the medical bills
You can clear the medical bills if they have been sent to the collection agency but you can never expect any dramatic change to the credit score. The truth is that a collection account is responsible for hurting the credit score despite the fact, whether the payments have been made or not.
Conclusion
If you are going through a huge amount of medical debt, it is crucial that you turn to professional financial solutions, which will assist you in this situation. Ensure that you are taking care of all the myths so that you do not face any trouble in the future.
