Medical Debt Collection

MEDICAL DEBT WRITE OFFS – 39.3 BILLION

American Hospital Association released its annual report at what hospital do not get paid. The total amount of nearly 5,000 hospitals was $39.3 billion. But what hospitals that spends less? And those that spend more? Or about hospital in the middle?
The trade group said unpaid medical bills together accounted for 5.8% of hospital expenses. Data of the association include the costs reported 4,985 hospitals for the years 2010.

US MEDICAL DEBT – THE NUMBERS

1. On average basis, a person with a backlog/overdue medical debt owes $1,766.

“Someone with unpaid medical bills and other sources of debt maybe credit cards or back taxes owes an average of $5,638. More than half of the debt on the credit reports comes from medical expenses.”

2. In the US, nearly 20% of consumers with credit 42,900,000 have unpaid medical bills, according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Results show that many Americans are captured by debt due to the fact that they are confused with the warnings they receive from hospitals and insurance companies on the costs of treatment. As a result, millions of Americans will be surprised to be stuck with a lower credit rating/score, making it difficult for them to lend money to buy a house or car. People get into financial maze when they get sick and end up in the hospital with unexpected medical bills.

3. Almost 50 million Americans have no health coverage in 2009. Almost 60% of people with medical debt were insured.

Medicare plans rarely cover all of the costs of health care; For the insured, the space between insurance coverage and access to health care is reflected in medical debt. As regards any debt, medical debt can lead to a series of personal and financial problems, which include going without food and heat and a reluctance to seek medical care.

4. In 2007 a survey that was carried out shows that 70 million Americans have challenges in paying for medical treatment or have medical debt

Studies have shown that people are more likely to be indebted to large medical bills when medical insurance to cover the cost of medicines, treatments or procedures are not available.

MEDICAL DEBT COLLECTIONS

1. How to choose a medical debt collection service.

• Collection agency should be Hipaa Compliant
• Collection agency should give clients a portal to track payments
• Collection agency should be licensed with the financial board of regulations

2. Unpaid medical bills have a negative impact on credit scores that help determine how much money people can borrow and the interest rates for mortgages and auto loans.

An Unpaid bill of about $100 could lower an otherwise sterling credit score of 780 more than 100 points, this is based on an earlier model used to calculate creditworthiness.

3. Aggressive debt collection is designed as an aggravating factor.

One study found that almost 63% of adults with medical debt has prevented medical treatment, compared to only 19% of adults who do not have that long.

A study in 2012 by Demos shows that among indebted households 62% cited out-of-pocket medical expenses as a contribution to their debt.

Medical debt payment tactics

• Obtain court orders to garnish your wages, assuming wage garnishment is legal in your state.
• File litigation against you for the money that they are owed.
• Put liens on your home.
• Reporting your past due medical debt to one or more of the credit reporting agencies.