Expert: Regan Shinski - 3/12/2010

Question
I just recently went to emergency.My bill is almost 5,000.00.After talking to their billing dept. I do not qualify for any assistance(I didn't have any insurance).All I can afford is $10.00 a month.That's because I made a deal with another medical office to pay them $50.00 a month for the stress test,the physican's bill was $1500.00 and I paid that off.They told me I had to pay them $96.00 a month or they will turn it over to a credit collection agency.By law what do I have to pay,I seriously cannot afford any more tha n the $10.00 a month,we lost our house and we have 4 months left to stay here before finding a new place to live,can you help us out?

Answer
Hi Linda:

I'm sure what happened, but this question is showing up as having never been answered but it was not in the list of my questions to answer.  So I apologize for the delay or if you have already received an answer.  I pass the proverbial buck on this one because, like I said, it's just now showing up :)

Anyway, there is no mandated minimum amount in a case like this.  In fact, in most cases the hospital does not need to take anything.  What you would want to look at is the hospital admission records you likely signed.  Sometimes, they will have payment options but usually it will say something like "payment due when services rendered."

I do not know your situation and clearly you are trying to do the right thing, but I would take a step back and wonder why you are paying anything.  If your house is in the situation it is, your credit is likely already to the point that a medical collection will not drag on your credit as much as your think.  You have to take care of yourself and that $96 or $10 a month seems like it would be better suited elsewhere.

If they turn it over to a collection agency, you will receive a letter that contains a fine print statement something to the effect of "unless you notify this office within 30 days of receiving this notice that you dispute the debt..."  Once you receive this letter it is critical you send them a certified letter asking for VALIDATION under the FDCPA.  You can also put in the letter that you want all future communication from them to be in writing only.  If you send this letter that legally prevents them from calling (they can call only one-time after receiving it.)  This way you won't have to deal with harassing calls.  More importantly, it often stops collection agencies in their tracks and often prevents them from reporting to the credit bureaus - not always - but often.  They may send it to another collection agency after a few months and you have to do the same thing over.  Even if they pursue, at that point you likely can make more favorable payment arrangements for less than the full amount.

I normally don't recommend letting it go to collections if it can be helped because there is no guarantees and it can put your credit at risk.  However, based on the situation you mention with your house and finances, I think you should consider it.  If things are even MUCH worse than you mentioned, slight consideration to bankruptcy may be considered.  you need significantly more debt than this to justify bankruptcy though.

Good luck, I hope this helps.  Sorry for the delay and let me know if I can help further.

Regan