Don’t Pay Medical debt

I know, it’s shocking to hear someone saying this, but DON’T PAY MEDICAL DEBT! LET THEM SELL IT TO COLLECTIONS!

I’m sure I will inevitably be met with some angry boomer-mentality people leaving awful comments over this.

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They love to say things like “Just pay your bills” and “When you don’t pay YOUR hospital bills, everyone’s go up”.

1: By the logic if one of us doesn’t pay all costs go up, that would imply that America is using any form of socialized healthcare. As of the writing of this post, we are not.

2: Most people DO pay their medical bills, but due to human error, incorrect medical coding, or straight up negligence on the part of hospitals, people are sent to collections and often pay out of fear (or harassment). Don’t do that. When the hospital sells your debt to collections, they sell it for pennies on the dollar. The collection agency will often buy a $1,000 debt for less than $50. So settling with the debt collector CAN BE easy and for very very low (if you go this route, always make sure you only offer to pay it in exchange for it being removed from your credit first. Get this promise in writing. Send everything certified mail ALWAYS).

I’m not sure who started the rumor “You can just pay $5 a month and they won’t take you to court”.

This is untrue. The reason some collection agency probably started this rumor is because the 7 year ”die off” of debt isn’t from the beginning of the 7 years, when you incurred the debt. It’s 7 years after the last PAYMENT. If you can’t truly pay something off, DON’T send a few bucks a month. That’s a tactic they do to get you banking information and keep your debt fresh. What you can do: When the bill is sold to collections there’s a few things to know. Almost no collection agency has the original signed paper work from the hospital (which is required under the FDCRA if you ask for it). The older the debt the less likely they have it (file turnover is high). No agency has proof you agreed to your personal information being sold. They are required to give you a break down of your incurred charges, the original paperwork, and to back up those claims legally. Usually, the required breakdown of hospitals charges isn’t redacted properly and ends up violating your private medical history.

Nearly no debt collection agency has this. They will ignore your letters, or send back what you didn’t ask for, so make sure you’re sending your correspondence certified mail AND mentioning their last letter/what they didn’t do in your next letter. This can be tedious, but ultimately is often worth it. Remember, you aren‘t “avoiding” your debt. You’re holding these companies up to the FDCRA standard you’re legally entitled to.

I’ve decided to share the letter I send these agencies (always certified mail) to help others. Medical debt can cripple a family, unfairly. I’ve added this letter to drop box here, make sure you fill in your own information where necessary.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l9rm15gqvgfsbsq/Debt%20Collection%20letter.pages?dl=0 I hope this helps. If you have any questions, please don’t be afraid to reach out via Email or Instagram messenger. If you found this info helpful and want to say thanks, I always appreciate a cup of coffee https://venmo.com/u/BoujeeBee