Is it true that if I make payments to a hospital account on time every month they cannot sell the account to a collection agency?
By 101abn from Huntsville, AL
Companies and hospitals do sell delinquent accounts to collections agencies. I knew a fellow who was in that business for a while. Your best recourse to visit the accounting dept of the hospital and make arrangements to pay what you can afford every month. A relative owed a very large sum to the local hospital and they worked out a payment plan. She did get one call from a collection agency about the bill but no other calls after the payment plan was agreed on.
Wanted to let you know something I learned not long ago. Some hospitals will give you up to 20% off the bill if you pay the bill in a lump sum. I know not everyone can do this, but those of you who can, maybe the bill is 200 or so.
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Is it true that if I make payments to an oil company on time every month they cannot sell the account to a collection agency?
By Michelle
I disagree. If the payment is not the agreed on amount I've seen accounts go to a collection agency. Some think they can pay $1.00 a month and avoid collection, and it doesn't work that way.
Depends on the company. I have seen someone make a small payment each month and have no problem, and I have seen someone make a large payment but because it wasn't the minimum it was sent back and the account went to collections anyway. Call or write to make an arrangement, and get it in writing so if the account is sent to collections you have recourse.
Usually, when you need to negotiate a price, ask them what would be acceptable and negotiate what you can afford. Then you have to comply with the agreement. If you can't make a full monthly payment on the negotiated price at some point notify them.
On a 13,000 dollar debt at a hospital, what is the minimum that has to be paid per month to keep it from collections in state of Georgia?
Call the billing department of the hospital. Many times you can negotiate it down considerably and stretch out the payment.
Hi,
I agree it would be a good idea to call the hospital billing office and set up payment if you can. Many of us cannot afford to pay off huge medical bills before they go to collections.
At that point I would dispute the amounts that are in collections because they may have been over-billed.
This means that you need to dispute the bill in writing, when you get a notice that a bill will go into collections. This will stop the process until the bills can be proved to be correct.
I hope this helps!
Blessings,
Robyn
I was not able to find the minimum that needs to be paid...so I would think the hospital would be able to tell you that.
Having worked in healthcare for many years, I know the following:
Talk to the hospital billing departement and if they are not responsilve, the social worker deparment at the facility and ask for information on 2 things...a payment plan and how much of the costs can be paid through a free care or charity fun.
As far as I know every facility should have both options available to you and it (the free care part) is most likely defined by your income so they often want to see a copy of your taxes.
Also, if you have a health insurance plan, be sure that insurance has paid correctly and that you are not being charged for things that should have been covered by insurance--I go over health insurance bills with a fine tooth comb to make sure every dollar is paid correctly and that you are paying the correct after coverage amount.
Lastly, if you do have insurance, but it did NOT cover items, ask if the facility will allow you to pay something called the reasonable and customary amount--which is the amount they would have got IF it was covered by insurance, which is a lot less than the price they charge.
Post back how it goes! Prayers and healing wishes!
Hospital bills can be overwhelming but hospitals had rather have money paid to them directly as collection agencies keep a large portion of what you pay on your bill.
always call the biller. they are sending you the bill and can tell you what you need to know. you can also ask if there is anyway of reducing your total bill amount.
Definitely contact the hospital but they may send you to collections anyway.
I went to the hospital (Kaiser) to pay off one of my bills, only a couple of hundred dollars. There was no record of the debt in the system so I guessed that I had gotten confused and had already paid it off. Nope! They sent it to collections and washed their hands of the whole thing.
I got a call the next day and figured out what happened. I paid it immediately with no penalty but it was still disappointing. I think so many people can't afford their medical bills that it's just a cost of doing business for them.
Good luck and let us know what you find out.
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Is there any truth to if you pay just $5.00 on your credit card bills that they can not turn you into a collections agency?
