How can I negotiate and pay off old medical bills in collections?

How can I negotiate and pay off old medical bills in collections?

I have a lot of medical debt from as far back as 2007 with collection agencys. Is there any way to get that paid down or negotiated? Medical bills are the only bad things on my credit reports and they are bringing my score way down.

How can I negotiate and pay to settle old medical bills in collections with the least amount of money?

—Teresa

You can certainly approach settling these accounts as a means to resolve them. The affects to your credit by these collection accounts being there now, or in the future after you resolve them, will vary.

I have some questions for you before I can suggest a next best step:

What state are you in?

When was the last payment made toward any one of these accounts?

How many accounts are there and what are the amounts?

How prepared are you with money needed to fund negotiated payments and terms?

What goals do you have in the next couple years that would require your seeking out a loan product (home, car, student loan)?

Did you have medical insurance?

If you can respond in the comments below I will be better prepared to make some suggestions.

Anyone with questions or concerns about settling or paying medical debt in collections is welcome to post in the comments below for feedback.

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About Michael Bovee

Michael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry, and is a regular contributor to several personal finance websites.

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  1. Hi,
    I owe 1800.00 to a Medical collection agency. The court made me fill out questionaire to find out my assets. I am permanently disabled and í have a 2008 Hyundai and my 2009 town an country van to take me to my medical appointments. I am still making payments on my van and my Hyundai is free and clear. Can the collection agency take my van and my car?

    • It sounds like you have a judgment against you if there has already been asset discovery in the court. Whether or not your free and clear Hyundai is at risk can vary be state. Where do you live?

      The van you are still making payments on is not owned by you until you pay it off, so it is not common for that to be an issue.

      Collection agencies do not want cars, they want cash. Can you come up with a way to resolve the medical bill?

  2. Medical collections are prime for pay for delete offers. Just make sure that what ever you do you get it in writing BEFORE you pay. Once you pay your leverage to negotiate the deletion is gone.

  3. Need advice.
    My situation: I have just started rebuilding my credit last year and finally managed to get my score from a really bad 535 up to a not great but much better 655. June of last year I managed to create roughly $10,000 in medical bills which I plan to pay off this week with tax money and savings. I plan to pull my report to see how much of this is in collections (or has been reported) as I have 7 different accounts to pay and noticed my score dropped 22 points recently. My point….. I wanted to know if I payed the full debt for these accounts, how hard it would be to negotiate a pay for delete with the ones that have been reported?