I recently had to go to the emergency room...i don't have insurance and i wait tables?

Question

3 different bills came and add up to over $3000...i don't know what to do. my bf told me that if i don't pay them, it won't really effect my credit, but i don't want to be that person...i called to set up payments, one place said they would allow $15 a month, another said they would accept $160 a month....i just can't afford it. if i send them only $5 a month, will that be enough?? what are my options??

Answer 1

I had the same situation. This is what I did. I told them this is what I could afford to pay and that I will pay all of it but it will have to be in installments.  I got the name of the person I talk to and when I mailed in my bill I referred to the person that I talked to and the arrangements that I had made with her concerning payments. Just pay what you can however long it takes you.

Answer 2

Your boyfriend is wrong..and you'll ruin your credit doing that..and that's hard to fix.

Answer 3

you can only afford $5 a MONTH??? at that rate, you will be paying off that debt for the rest of your life. i would cut out the things you dont really need to spend money on in your life and pay as much as you can.

and about your boyfriend, hes wrong. dead wrong. it WILL affect your credit, and if you dont pay the bills, they can sue you. and, garnish your wages if it goes that far. bad advice.

Answer 4

Well, your bf is dead wrong - medical collections are particularly aggressive.

You really need to call each of them, and ask them to reprice the bill to a CASH PRICE.   Rather than trying to pay off $3K, get them to knock the bill down to the $600 or whatever the insurance company would have paid, if you had had it.  

Then you can ask if they have any financial aid programs for low income people, to help you pay for it.

Don't try to work out a payment plan, until you've knocked the bill down A LOT.   It's much easier to pay off  $600 bill in a year ($50 a month) than $3,000.

Answer 5

Call the hospitals back and ask if they offer financial aid. Public hospitals usually are required to do so. If they do have it ask they why they didn't inform you of that. Call Social Services and see if they have any programs. It will effect your credit. File a complaint with the BBB and don't be talked out of it. Also see if the hospital has an ombudsman.  GL  8~)

Answer 6

Your BIG mistake was letting it go this far. You lose options that you could of had with the hospital once it goes to collections. Hospitals have "charity care" and state Medicaid programs for low income cases. Avoid letting it go to collections. The hospital collects only 50% of the money you give to the collection agency, so they have a interest in keeping your account current with them and not sent out to collections. The collection agencies can't ruin your credit, but, if the bill gets turned over to the hospitals attorneys they can garnish your wages.

If this ever happens again negotiate directly with the hospitals business office to pay a reasonable sum on a monthly basis.  

If you want to be honest and pay, You have to pay more than $5 a month. That does not cover interest on 3 grand. Look at it this way, 3000 divided by 5 = 600 months = 50 years!

Offer to pay each place $50/month. That's a lot less than insurance will cost you every month.