What Happens If You Cannot Pay Your Medical Bills?

Medical bills resulting from a catastrophic injury or an unexpected illness can be financially crippling. This problem can be exacerbated if you have no health insurance. You can employ several strategies to make your medical bill payments more manageable and allow you pay them down over time. If your medical bills are too large, you may be forced to explore bankruptcy options to alleviate the debt.

Negotiate Debt

Negotiating medical bills is actually quite common, according to "The New York Times." Hospitals and doctors prefer to get paid something rather than ship your account off to a collection agency and be forced to write off the debt. Communicating your financial difficulty to your physician can be the first step in securing a discount on your medical bill. The total discount can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of your total bill depending on the practice and the physician's specialty. This discount may be enough for you to pay off your medical debt and avoid damage to your credit.

Medical Charities Fund

Nonprofit organizations geared towards helping consumers pay for large medical expenses, including the Medi-Corp Health System and The Patient Advocate Foundation are available in almost every state. Some organizations even have state funding. Finances are intended for those who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but don't make enough money to afford the large medical expenses they have incurred. Hospitals often have listings of state charities funds so patients can contact them and apply for assistance. Remember to ask specifically for nonprofit medical assistance programs after receiving treatment but before exiting the hospital. Hospital administrators are not required to inform patients about the existence of such programs.

Hospital Payment Plans

The majority of hospitals across the country are willing to work with patients who are experiencing financial difficulty. If you can't pay your medical bill upfront consider inquiring about a payment plan. If the hospital or other medical facility agrees to the plan you can be allowed to make smaller monthly payments on your bill. The hospital wins because it gets paid the entire sum owed for your medical care and you win because you can actually afford to make the smaller payments and avoid collection practices. The key to this plan being successful is to make timely payments on the account. A hospital may be forced to send your bill to collections if you can't make the payments on time.

File for Bankruptcy

If your payments options are exhausted and your medical bills are insurmountable, bankruptcy may be your only solution. Since medical bills are unsecured debt, meaning the hospital has no collateral to seize in the event of default, Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the more ideal solution. This chapter of bankruptcy expunges your unsecured debts by liquidating your non-exempt assets to pay your creditors. This may mean you lose some of your valuable assets, including a car or your home.