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Medical Debt - Medical Bill Options

Nurturing a good credit score is important as this is where your ability to apply for credit and what kinds of terms you will be offered depends on. Paying bills late will always be seen negatively while reduced debt is seen as a positive thing. Paying your hospital bills late is never a good thing. But if you’re struggling to do that, here are a few tips that should help you to eliminate your hospital bills and get a good credit score.

The hospital bill may be inflated.
Unfortunately, hospitals typically charge uninsured patients far more for medical services and a patient’s stay than the lower, discounted prices that are provided to health insurance companies and government programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. According to the National Consumer Law Center, the medical bill for prescription drugs, rooms, and medical care for an uninsured individual can be two or three times higher than the price paid by insurers.

This being the case, you need to ask the hospital to charge you the same prices it charges patients who are on Medicaid, Medicare, or its biggest health insurance customer. If you’re worried about getting a favorable response, studies show that medical bill negotiation can have up to a 90% success rate. If the resulting bill after negotiation is manageable, you can go on to work out a payment plan with the hospital. Always be sure to get a written copy of your agreement before you start payments on the hospital bill so that the hospital can't later claim there was a mistake or that the amounts you paid were not correct or inadequate. If the negotiated bill is still too high, you can always turn to a medical billing advocate to help negotiate a lower medical bill.

Determine whether you qualify for government help, charity or discounts.
Many hospitals will have financial counselors who will be glad to review your financial situation and they will then check whether you qualify for any assistance. You may be able to get help with your hospital bill from the hospital itself, government assistance programs or charities. You can pursue this possibility even if your medical debt has already been sent for collections. If the bill has gone for collections, make sure that the collectors get a copy of your application for assistance so that they are on notice that you're in financial straits.

One of the downsides to this is that you may need to negotiate directly with specialists, doctors, or other medical service providers who may bill you separately. The reason that hospital charity programs may not cover their services and the willingness of these parties to discount their services may vary.

Check your hospital bill for errors.
Sounds basic but you will be surprised to learn that quite a number of people don’t do this. And the more you should check hospital bills for errors because medical bills, and also hospital bills, are notorious for having errors. Some estimates say that up to 90% of hospital bills will have a mistake. You can be charged for prescription drugs that you never took. You may be charged for a full day of medical care when you checked out in the morning, or you even may have been charged twice for a single procedure. Unfortunately you will not able to find these mistakes from the basic summary of the hospital bill that's typically sent to patients. To get the detail on your hospital bill, you need to ask for three documents, of which you're entitled to.

• A copy of your medical chart.
• An itemized copy of your hospital bill.
• The copy of your pharmacy ledger that will show the prescription drugs that you were given during your stay.

You then need to compare your ledger and chart to the itemized hospital bill to see if there are any discrepancies. Be sure to also look for charges that are the result of a hospital error, such as an X-ray that had to be redone because a technician goofed. You do not have to pay for someone else's mistakes. If you need help reviewing the hospital bill, medical billing advocates can help.

Free health care from the Hill-Burton Act.
This is a federal government regulation that ensures that hospitals and medical providers across the nation provide free or discounted health care. Most hospitals receive some type of federal aid or grants, and in return for that federal assistance, they need to offer local individuals health care that they can afford to pay.

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Medical Debt - Medical Bill Options

Nurturing a good credit score is important as this is where your ability to apply for credit and what kinds of terms you will be offered depends on. Paying bills late will always be seen negatively while reduced debt is seen as a positive thing. Paying your hospital bills late is never a good thing. But if you’re struggling to do that, here are a few tips that should help you to eliminate your hospital bills and get a good credit score.
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