About Medical Bills

Medical care in America is expensive, and paying for doctor's visits can be difficult for anyone who is uninsured or underinsured. This is a problem that affects all Americans, as we are all consumers of medical services, and the quality and cost of our care is linked, in many ways, to the ability of citizens to pay.

Significance

According to the 2005 U.S. census, 44.8 million Americans were uninsured. For people without medical insurance, it is often a matter of deciding whether or not they are "sick enough" to seek medical care. Doctor's offices and clinics are not required to see patients regardless of their condition. However, because emergency rooms do have to see patients, many uninsured patients utilize the ER as a primary care physician. Because ER visits are substantially more expensive than doctor's visits, bills can quickly become insurmountable.

Misconceptions

Many consumers wrongly believe that unpaid medical bills cannot harm your credit. This is untrue. Just like any other agency, hospitals and medical providers can report you to the credit bureaus. However, it is true that in most cases, they will not do so until the bill has remained unpaid for a long period of time and has been turned over to a collection agency.

Types

Medical bills can arise not only from services that were rendered to a patient with no insurance but also to patients who are billed for care that their insurance did not cover. It is extremely important to be familiar with the terms of your insurance plan, if you have one, and to determine what level of coverage is provided, and to take care of any pre-certification or referral requirements to avoid denial of claims.

Warning

According to consumer advocate Clark Howard, you should not pay for medical bills on a credit card even if it seems like the easiest method of payment. Most hospitals will negotiate a payment plan with you at little to no interest. If you are in the middle of an appeal to your insurance company, and you pay the bill with a credit card in hopes of getting the money back, you will still have paid hefty interest on it in the meantime.

Considerations

If you do not have insurance, you should consider looking into an individual plan, as well as checking into government programs such as Medicaid. Lower cost, high-deductible insurance plans will at least provide protection in the event of an accident or serious illness. If you already have medical bills, you should stay in contact with the provider and attempt to negotiate a payment plan. Most hospitals are quite willing to work with you. Ignoring the bills is never a good idea, as it will be harder to negotiate when your bill goes into collection.