Medical Bill - Does it affect credit?

amother

Thu, Apr 30 2020, 9:12 pm

Long story short I was told incorrect info when having my dd, and there was a $4000 bill because of it. I felt it was the hospitals fault because they told me the wrong information. I went through a bunch of steps, had a lawyer contact them, etc and nothing came of it. I was upset and felt it was an unfair bill.

This all happened a few years ago, and we still get occasional letters from a collection agency about it. This bill is in my name, and we have paid some of it but there is still $3500 or so left. We recently purchased a house and it did not raise any flags on my credit. Does that mean it is not on my credit? What happens with this type of bill? Will I be getting letters for the rest of eternity? Or at least until I have a spare $3500 laying around?

amother

Blue

Thu, Apr 30 2020, 10:10 pm

You have the right to request a free credit report from the two major credit agencies each year. I would suggest you do that so you can see exactly what is being reported.

This will probably put your mind at ease.

In terms of debt collection, the statutory period for collecting debts varies from state to state but when I checked the longest possible period of time to collect a debt is seven years but in many jurisdictions, it is shorter. Depending on jurisdiction, medical debts can be treated differently. You could google for your state +medical debt and see what it says.

Oddly if you make even a partial payment to a collection agency, it can start the clock running again.

In terms of real life repercussions, since you got a mortgage, you probably have no worries but - again - why not just check what is on your credit report since it is free. It will also give you your credit score as I recall.

In terms of anyone coming after you to garnish wages etc., they would have to collect an actual judgment against you. Since you have never received any kind of service of process, they haven't done so and whatever collection agency bought your debt for pennies on the dollar is just calling periodically to see if they can get some money out of you.

amother

Thu, Apr 30 2020, 10:34 pm

I googled my state and it said medical bills last 5 years. So interesting to note about how it may restart the clock with each payment! Thank you for that info! Now I regret the few hundred I paid last year Can't Believe It

I’m assuming it is not in my credit report because I saw any and all issues when we were doing all the mortgage paperwork. If I confirm it’s not there with my mortgage lender, I can assume it won’t pop up, right?

Thanks for the help, all you knowledgeable ladies Smile

amother

Brown

Thu, Apr 30 2020, 10:40 pm

Before we bought our house my husband cleaned up all his collection bills and the easiest one was the medical because based on Hippa laws, the hospital wasn’t allowed to give over all the info to the collection agency. My husband wrote them a letter and they removed the bill. (Live in NJ and bill was from FL, not sure if that matters)

amother

Blue

Thu, Apr 30 2020, 10:43 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I read that about restarting the clock a few years ago so I might be fuzzy on the details. I had read on an article on how medical debt was really making people's lives terrible especially when it was caused by "surprise" out of network fees since many emergency departments use a service to provide the doctors and so even though the hospital is in network the doctor might not have been. Some states are trying to protect people from those kinds of surprises by ruling that if you are in a network hospital and the hospital provides the medical personnel, those doctors have to accept your insurance.

So in that article it said that some people were surprised when they made a payment to the collection agency and the Statute of Limitations didn't end the debt because they were told they have in effect made a new contractual agreement to pay with that partial payment which started the clock anew.

Of course, if you have high deductibles, for many people just paying the deductible - even if in-network is financially ruinous. Not to stray off topic, but when I read the articles on the long lines for food pantries being used by people who were doing okay financially, it really brings home how close so many families are in the US to financial disaster. It isn't right that so many people are literally one - or at most two - paychecks away from starvation and inability to pay rent or mortgage. Sad