Community Chat

[shoekitty]

Now all hospitals have to give you the exact cost of treatment when you go in.     It used to fluctuate, and one never knew how much it would cost for an emergency procedure.   I was in ER a couple weeks ago, and they do have printed list if you ask.   There was something posted on front door as well...I didn't read it.  It is a new truth in emergency treatment.  Also, when you get an elective surgery, you should be given a bill up front

[Cakers3]

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@Duckncover wrote:

Medical debt alone has not been allowed to negatively impact your credit score for several years. 
It's all about the coding. Wrong code, you are in for months or years of letters, phone calls, etc, likely with no resolution.
I once received a past-due notice for a medical bill and didn't receive the invoice for the charges until three days later. It's a racket. 

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@Duckncover   This^^. 

Even our PCP says that the coding is a nightmare.

My bone density test is supposed to be 100% covered and yet twice now I received a bill for $20.   The insurance co. says to have them recode (but will not say what code to use) and the facility claims "we know what we are dong" so there's that.

[Cakers3]

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@shoekitty wrote:

Now all hospitals have to give you the exact cost of treatment when you go in.     It used to fluctuate, and one never knew how much it would cost for an emergency procedure.   I was in ER a couple weeks ago, and they do have printed list if you ask.   There was something posted on front door as well...I didn't read it.  It is a new truth in emergency treatment.  Also, when you get an elective surgery, you should be given a bill up front

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@shoekitty   I think we should be given a complete breakdown of all charges before any surgery or procedure.  Barring anything unforeseen, it would be beneficial to know exactly what we are supposed to pay.

[Cakers3]

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@teganslaw wrote:

A few years ago I got a notice from a debt collector about a medical bill, which I never received! Something got mixed up in the billing process. I paid it off and it didn't affect my credit too much. I wonder why they hire people who don't know how to code things properly. Too many mistakes are made. 

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@teganslaw   True.

Back home I received a bill one time for $3000+ for all visits, mammograms, colonoscopy, etc.  Considering our insurance was one of the best and all we ever had to pay was a $3 co-pay each time.

This bill covered YEARS at this facility.  I had to have a billing supervisor get on the line to see the mess somebody made;  all of a sudden years of medical care  now being billed incorrectly.

Down here we've had even more issues with billing; even our PCP says that coding is a mess.  Some places cannot even get the co-pay right; you have to argue every stinking time.

[gertrudecloset]

Here's a con to this new consumer practices regarding medical debt:

More changes are expected. It will now take one month before unpaid medical collection debt appears on a consumer's report, instead of six months, the previous standard.

[gertrudecloset]

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@Duckncover wrote:

Medical debt alone has not been allowed to negatively impact your credit score for several years. 
It's all about the coding. Wrong code, you are in for months or years of letters, phone calls, etc, likely with no resolution.
I once received a past-due notice for a medical bill and didn't receive the invoice for the charges until three days later. It's a racket. 

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@Duckncover not sure what you're trying to relay, but here are the facts about medical bills on your credit reports.

Unpaid medical bills take longer to hit your credit report and are weighed less heavily in some scores, but they can affect your credit.

NerdWallet

Mar 16, 2022

As of Sept. 15, 2017, there's a 180-day waiting period before unpaid medical debts can show up on people’s credit reports.

Eventually, your medical provider may turn over an unpaid debt to a collections agency. The collector will then contact you and try to get you to pay up. At this point, your unpaid bill probably is showing up on your credit reports as having gone to collections.

This is where things get messy, because the information on your credit reports is used to create your credit scores. Failure to pay a bill affects the biggest factor determining your credit scores: payment history. Consequently, having a medical bill in collections can result in serious damage to your credit scores.

There is a way out, however: Medical collections will drop off a credit report if the bills are paid by a health insurer.

[hckynutjohn]

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@Duckncover wrote:

Medical debt alone has not been allowed to negatively impact your credit score for several years. 
It's all about the coding. Wrong code, you are in for months or years of letters, phone calls, etc, likely with no resolution.
I once received a past-due notice for a medical bill and didn't receive the invoice for the charges until three days later. It's a racket. 

@Duckncover 

My wife worked for over 25 years as a Medical and Dental Claims Analyst. The number of coding mistakes(?) were a huge part of her jobs. Some were not mistakes, and those doctors offices were on notice! Keep "falsifying" claims, and they would have some BIG problems.

Some of those in offices that were the "one's in charge" of the coding? She said they did not even have basic knowledge of what their patients insurance policies covered!

With all our medical Bill's, she found many, many coding "mistakes"(?), and got them changed. The amount of overcharges we would have had to pay had she not worked in that field??

hckynut   🇺🇸

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[Annabellethecat66]

I think most people do want to pay their bills, they just get so bogged down they can't get out from under them.

This is different (not medical) but it is about people getting behind in bills.

My late husband had a lot of various companies.  Most were himself and one or two people.  They'd come about because he'd loan someone money to start a business (an idea) and he'd be the boss.

One of the things he did was loan a guy money to buy up the debt a window replacement had.

The guy would contact the person owing (often a few thousand dollars; and try to get payment for the debt.

My husband wasn't involved except to supply the original amount to buy the entire debt owed to the window company.

My husband had a few rules to the guy who contacted the person who owed the money.

He was not allowed to threaten the person. He was to treat the debtor with respect.  He was to work with them on how much they could afford to pay each month.  There were a few rules, but you get the idea.

This "business" became very profitable.  The main reason it was profitable was because most people don't want to owe money.  They just didn't know howtomake the payments lower so they could manage them.

My late husband and I have always believed there are many more honest and kind people in this country than bad.

He just made it easy and possible for them to get out from under the debt.

Ours was just one example of how you can make money if you treat people with respect and kindness.  

Most want to do the right thing if given a chance.

I think the OP's post is an example of helping people.

[occasionalrain]

Since medical debt will not be included, credit reports will be unreliable. People will receive loans they can't repay, approval for apartments they can't afford, and mortgages with foreclosure in the future. Medical debt is money owed that needs repaid. Because it won't affect a person's credit score, people will make no attempt to pay, default, and costs will increase on those who do pay and their insurance premiums to cover the loss.  It's unfair to those who are responsible for the debts they incur; those who deserve their excellent credit score.

[Cakers3]

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@occasionalrain wrote:

Since medical debt will not be included, credit reports will be unreliable. People will receive loans they can't repay, approval for apartments they can't afford, and mortgages with foreclosure in the future. Medical debt is money owed that needs repaid. Because it won't affect a person's credit score, people will make no attempt to pay, default, and costs will increase on those who do pay and their insurance premiums to cover the loss.  It's unfair to those who are responsible for the debts they incur; those who deserve their excellent credit score.

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@occasionalrain   I was thinking the same thing.

I was also made aware that as long as you sent something in each month the medical bill would not be sent to collections and/or tacked to your credit score.

I just paid off a medical bill for me-it took 3 months but I was consistent with time and $$ amount.  I never had a problem with it showing up on my credit score.

Same with DH and his several medical bills.

We never asked for a payment plan, either.  We just sent in a payment every month, no questions were asked.