A To-Do List for Efficiently Handling Medical Debts That You Are Unable to Afford

According to a report, the health treatment costs such as general illness, pregnancy or accident in the United States can easily reach up to five figures. This becomes a serious problem when even with your insurance policy covering your bills can leave you with an outstanding balance due. The major issue is that most people take their present day condition for granted and do not plan for the future that consists of uncertain medical emergencies. You should be backed up with strong tactics to get out of whopping health-related treatment bills. These due payments can turn into an overwhelming situation with a blink of an eye if you do not keep a track of it.

The Federal Reserve recently reported that there has been a massive negative impact on the credit scores of two out of five Americans due to the outstanding medical bills. In addition to that, one out of six credit reports consist of a medical debt. However, there is nothing to panic if you are equipping yourself with straightforward strategies to counter such scenarios. Speaking of which, here is a list that describes the steps to brilliantly manage a health-related debt situation that you are not able to afford:

Ensure that the Charges Are Accurate

Have you ever wondered why medical bills are so expensive on paper that even your insurance policy cannot completely cover? It is because of the system that often creates a mess while making loads of billing errors. Some of the most typical errors that have been reported include medical service charges, which you did not avail along with the price list of medications you never received. In addition, often the overall medical bill is decked up with charges for a full day when you are having an extended stay at the medical center and check out in the morning itself. In order to avoid such worse case scenarios that can hit your finances real bad and force you to enter in a debt situation, ensure keeping track of all your bills to pay only for the accurate bills.

Do Not Neglect Your Medical Bills

Perhaps this is the biggest reason why most of the families with health patients in America are facing a debt situation. Even though this point bears repeating, never avoid your medical bills as it can hit you really bad in the long run and drain you out of your finances, calling for further personal loans to make up for the outstanding medical debt payment. If you keep on avoiding your medical bills for a long time, your health care provider will send the bills to a collection agency and provide them with the responsibility to take care of the unpaid bills. With debt collection agency handling the situation, not only you will face annoying phone calls at any hour of the day, but also it will also badly affect your overall credit ratings. 

Avoid the Urge of Using Credit Cards for Medical Bills

Needless to say, it is hard to resist the temptation of using your credit card to deal with a situation when you are facing an outstanding medical debt situation. Even if it helps in getting your health care provider off your back, you should attempt to never use your credit card for medical bill payments. Doing so will have a negative impact on your credit scores as you will be carrying multiple balances on your credit card. This will further lead to a never-ending cycle of debt payments, thanks to the massive high rate of interests on credit card debt. Although you might find multiple medical bills overwhelming at first, you would be at least relieved to learn that unlike most debt payments, medical bills have a great room for negotiation. As long as you provide your health care provider with something and work out on a repayment plan, you can easily deal with the situation without bringing your credit card into the application.

Focus on an Interest-free Payment Plan

Compared to other debt situation, medical bills are not something that comes with an interest rate, which provides you with some room for breathing. The negotiable amount of payment for each month entirely depends on the medical establishment or your health care provider’s office. Even though the provider is most likely to start with the payment that might be too much for you, do not sit back and ensure negotiating and talk them down. For further assistance in your debt payment, you can consult experts under the national debt relief programs.

Deal Smartly with Collection Agencies

If you are unable to undergo any sort of negotiation or find financial assistance, there will be no options left other than collection agencies to come into the fold for taking control of the unpaid bill situation. Now, this can be worse if you are not dealing with it smartly and keep on making impulsive decisions. To your relief, most of the internal collection agencies hired by the hospitals are somehow willing to adjust with the payment scheme and hold off from providing the report to credit bureaus.

Provide the Collectors with Something

According to Daveramsey.com, if you are capable of negotiating the payment, make sure that you make it a priority in your budget after you effectively secure the Four Walls. Also, when you have reached an agreement regarding the payment, make sure that you get it physically documented. Besides, the debt collectors will generally want to have the full payment, however, hold yourself up and pay whatever you can for the time being. Furthermore, if you come across counteroffers, accept it generously. On a different note, if you are able to pay your bills all at once, it will look good on your credit report. Nevertheless, if you are not in a situation to make a complete payment, settle the collectors with whatever payment you can manage.

Conclusion

Finally, medical bills are stressful and you should not ignore them at all. As there is no immediate repercussion, adhere to these strategies and prevent yourself from entering into a massive debt situation.