How to Get Medical Records Off of Your Credit Report

Health care is expensive. And even if you do have health insurance, you may pay a huge out-of-pocket expense for doctor visits, surgeries and emergency care. Unfortunately, failure to pay a medical bill can result in a lower credit score. Hospitals and doctors may report unpaid bills to the credit bureaus. Aside from dealing with a low credit score, having medical records on your credit report can prevent you from getting a mortgage or auto loan. For these reasons, it's essential to get these records off your report and rebuild your credit.

Instructions

1

Before you can deal with the medical records on your credit report, you have to know the specifics. Order a copy of your report from Annual Credit Report, or write a letter and request reports from each of the three credit bureaus. Next, grab copies of all of your medical bills and statements. Double-check these statements against your credit report and calculate your total balance.

2

Agree to pay off your medical bills with one payment. If you have money in savings or disposable income, contact the hospital or your doctor and arrange to pay off the balances. Once the hospital or doctor receives your full payment, they'll contact the credit bureaus and remove the negative remarks.

3

Make weekly or monthly installment payments. Ignoring medical bills doesn't make the problem go away. Rather, the medical records remain on your report for up to seven years, thereby decreasing your credit score. If you cannot pay off the medical expenses, establish a payment arrangement. This way you're able to pay off the balance within a fixed time frame and get the medical records off your credit report.

4

Wait until the negative remark falls off your credit report. If your medical bills are too expensive and you don't have the means to pay off the balance, you can wait until the credit bureaus delete the medical records from your report. This generally takes seven years.