re: Medical Debt Should Not Ever Be Used to Harm Credit Worthiness

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This. Hospitals are more than willing to negotiate payment plans. The only way it's going to ding your credit is if you refuse to pay the money you owe.

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This is true, but there is more to it than this. You stated "Hospitals" and that would be great if the hospital did all the billing and it was one resource to deal with, but it's not. You then get a $90 bill from a lab, and $350 bill from another outside agency and another. I have seen 3000+ different credit reports in my time and countless charges for ...$200 items that the client had no idea about because something got billed to them 6 months after a visit ... Looking junk mail or something they didn't recognize ( " I live in Montgomery ...why am I getting a bill from XYZ in Park City Utah" ) ... The issuing firm is quick to sell it to collections or you have a charge off for $95 on your credit report. From an operational aspect, we wouldn't factor that small amount ( make the client clear it) but we couldn't change a credit score