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Spotlight
What If You Can't Pay Your Medical Bills?
You don’t have to be uninsured to struggle with medical bills. According to a survey from the Commonwealth Fund, a private healthcare foundation, an estimated 79 million Americans are finding it difficult to pay their medical bills, over 60 percent of which have insurance.
If someone you know has medical bills they can’t afford, encourage them to get in touch with their medical provider’s office as soon as possible. Unpaid bills may get turned over to a bill collector, which will hurt their credit score. They could also be sued, which could lead to their wages being garnished.
Here are some options for people struggling with their medical bills.
Ask for a plan. Call your medical provider’s financial aid office and see about being put on a payment plan in which you pay off your debt over time. The debt may not be reported to the credit bureaus, and medical facilities typically don't charge interest. Such plans usually need to be completed in twelve to twenty-four months, but may be allowed to run longer.
Ask for a discount. At many medical facilities, free or discounted care is available to patients based on how their income stacks up against federal poverty guidelines. Some offer discounted or free care for patients who don’t have insurance, patients with insurance but who can’t afford their co-pay amounts, and patients with insurance who incur charges that their insurance won’t cover.
For a person without health insurance, here are a couple of other resources to explore:
- The Association of American Medical Colleges lists community-based medical programs for the uninsured here: www.aamc.org/uninsured/start.htm.
- Many states offer free or low-cost insurance for kids. To search for a program in your state, go to www.insurekidsnow.gov/states.asp.
- Many independent nonprofit organizations provide financial assistance to patients suffering from specific diseases, such as cancer. The Patient Advocate Foundation (www.patientadvocate.org) provides links to such charities.
Ask for Help. Credit counselors accredited by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (www.DebtAdvice.org) may be able to help negotiate a workable plan with your medical provider, sometimes reducing debt balances or even getting debts written off.
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