Medical Bills Sent to Collection Agency Making Threats – Settle Debt or Pay What I can Afford?
A few years back, I had a hernia surgery. My parents paid for part of the procedure, and the hospital was able to cover the cost of the operating room with their indigent fund. However, a previous E.R. visit generated a bill for a little over $600.
I have been getting a lot of these calls regarding it, with a recording "Is this" (different voice) "John C.." (different voice) "If so, press one". I had gotten some previously, and stayed on the line long enough to explain that I had been working on creative projects and doing odd jobs, and I had no significant assets. Then, the debt got passed to a Franklin Collection Agency. The guy sounded friendly enough, but he says that if I just start paying what I'd prefer to, the debt will go to their legal department, and I'd have to pay an additional $200 in court costs.
Allowing the case to go forward isn't completely out of the question, since a wage garnishment would affect me only when things were going well enough to have a wage (they are also helping me get some dental work done); but I'd prefer to pay e.g. $50/month. They say that if I don't give them an account with automatic withdrawal, and agree to give them ~$164, or pay ~$219 with a non-automatic withdrawal account, that it will not prevent them from sending me a summons, and, the fellow said, "Frankly, I don't know why you haven't gotten one already."
I may be able to scrape one of these amounts together, but I'd really like some advice on if the guy with Franklin is telling it straight, and what are the pros and cons of either 1) paying it like they want, 2) just paying, say $50/month anyway, or 3) not paying it. It seemed like a last-minute ambush for money TODAY, but maybe or maybe not how they are proceeding is normal, and I should just cough up badly needed money. He says "the bank" is unwilling to accept a settlement.
Should I go to court, can I get a public defender, and are my odds good at getting a 60% settlement?
What do I do about medical debt and the collection agency saying summons is overdue?
—John C.
Short answer
Take a collector’s talk of a lawsuit being long overdue with a grain of salt. Medical debt tends to settle at higher percentages than credit card debt, so if you are already preparing to settle at around 60 percent, save the money as fast as you can and settle, rather than sending payments.
Key points on this page
- Debt collectors are trained to press your emotional and stress buttons to get paid, and a reference to being sued is an effective one. It does not mean a lawsuit is coming.
- Negotiating a lower payoff on medical debt is often done at higher rates than on credit cards, which means you save less.
- The lower the medical debt, the more the general rules about which accounts belong in a settlement plan apply.
- Small payments you send without an agreement in place do not necessarily prevent a summons.
- Around 60 percent looks like a realistic settlement on this kind of medical bill. Get the money together first, then negotiate.
When a debt collector tells you that your being sued is long overdue, take it with a grain of salt. It is not that they cannot or will not sue. I would need a whole lot more information in order to offer feedback about the risk of that happening to you. But collectors are trained to press your emotional and stress buttons in order to get paid. Making reference to being sued is rather effective.
Settling medical debt is often different than negotiation credit card bills that went unpaid.
You mentioned he said “the bank” and used quotes. The debt collector you spoke with probably also collects on bank debts, not just medical bills. I would not read too much into that other than, here is an example of a guy following his script and routine in order to get some form of payment – which accents my point about his reference to a summons being over due.
Negotiating a lower payoff and settling medical debt is often done at higher rates. In other words, you do not save as much. The lower the medical debt, the more the principles I laid out in this article apply: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/credit-card-debt-to-include-in-settlement-plan
If you are unable to make payments as high as the debt collector is requesting; if sending smaller payments (that are not agreed to in advance) does not prevent a summons; if you already are preparing yourself mentally and financially to settle at 60% – Save up the money as fast as you are able and settle the medical bill rather than make payments.
I think you can settle this for close to 60%. When you are ready with the money, come back and review the debt settlement section of our fee online debt relief system. Post questions on this page and get feedback.
Any questions or concerns you have after reading my feedback can be posted in the comments below. All readers concerned about dealing with medical debt in collections can post below and receive feedback.
About Michael BoveeMichael 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. He is available to speak with you about your financial struggle and helps people resolve their debt problems daily.
I just received a summons to go to court in 2 weeks from a medical bill from 2011. I’m not sure what to do. I have rent , car payments , student loans, and a $600 medical bill I’m paying on now. Any advice ?
What state are you in? How much are they suing for? What ability do you have to pull money together to settle, say for 50 percent?
I have a similar situation here. I just received a summons for my son’s medical bill from 2015 for $1,159.00. What are my options? Can I work with the original debt or do I need to go through the collections? I have 10 days to respond. I live in NY. I would rather settle and get it off my credit report. What do you recommend? And what do you recommend I obtain in writing from them?
You are typically going to have to deal with the collection law firm once sued.
If you are prepared to pay close to the full amount you will likely be able to get things negotiated and paid in order to get them to drop the case. You will want to get everything in writing before paying, which is part of a collection law office’s normal work flow.
If you cannot come up with the money to pay quickly, I would defend the lawsuit in order to buy time to gather the funds.
Can you recommend someone I can contact? The last time we went through this with my husband about 5 years ago, we won the case but we ended up paying the attorney more than we owed the debt collector.
I will email you a list of experienced debt collection defense attorneys in New York. But you are going to be looking at the same thing here (paying more in legal costs than the the amount owed) because of the low balance they are trying to collect.
Hello
Recently my son (15 months) vomited twice in the middle of the night and we thought it was an emergency and we took him to an ER. By the time we got there he was alright and since we were there we thought of having him checked. The ER staff did a basic examination and we were made to wait in a room for observation. After a while a doctor came and we consulted. He prescribed medicine and after a while we were discharged. The total amount of time we were there was 2 hours. We got a bill from two entities, the hospital and the doctor. The hospital charged $625 and the doctor $320, totalling $945. As I mentioned earlier my son was alright by the time we got to the hospital and the level of severity was low. But we were charged for a intermediate level and I am disputing with the hospital, saying that it was an non-emergency case and we were there for 2 hours waiting in the room and nothing really happened. I was wondering if I can dispute this at the small claims court and is it worth it to do that. Your response if appreciated
Thank you
Balaji
Are you being sued for the bill in small claims? If so, you can certainly try to break the situation down, or otherwise get them to substantiate the balance they are suing for.
If you are not being sued, I would try to work this out administratively still.
Was there any part of the either bill covered by insurance?
Was admitted to hospital they never got pre approval from insurance company and insurance company said it was medically unnecessary – so no discount. 2 days for observation and 10,500 (but would be 20 % of that if insurance company was paying). Hospital did offer 25% off but this is after a year of medical billing nightmare. How can I get them to settle for a reasonable amount?
Can you raise a lump sum of, say half the amount owed? How quickly can you pull that amount together?
Do you have other unsecured debts besides the medical bills? If so, how much does it all add up to?
If you send the company you owe money to i.e. medical expense, that you will pay say 20 dollars a month and have it notarized, will that hold the dogs off? And you seriously do not have that kind of money and this IS the best you can do.
Making minimum payments is not going to do much good, and will typically not stall off the normal collection process. Watch this video I did about making good faith payments.
Mr. Bovee,
My medical debt of $6,821.82 was sent to the collection company. I did not get any information about any organization that can help me pay that debt. I am disabled, and have been unemployed my whole life, due to my frail body.
Please, can you help me how to negotiate with the.collection company to make a settlement for a lesser amount? Thank you.
Call in for a consult to go over the details I need to offer the best feedback. You can reach me at 800-939-8357 ext 2.
Mr. Bovee,
Thank you so much for your reply. I will follow your advice and will call you to talk about some more details. Very much appreciated for your kindness.
Hello, I have a hospital bill that went to collections and they say that if I pay the amount in full $850 they will not report the debt to my credit. I asked for a negotiated amount and they only offered to cut the debt to $805. They want full payment by July 23rd. I also asked to do a payment arrangement but I was told they will still send the account to my credit anyway even if I am making payments. I want to buy a house next year and terrified of what this will do to my credit. I have the money to pay but honestly I would have to not pay my rent to pay it 🙁
Guess I’m trying to decide, do I pay it and default on my other bills or let it go to my credit and hope for the best. They did say they will reflect my payments on the credit report and show a balance of $0 when paid off. But even with a $0 balance doesn’t the collection still hurt my credit?
Btw I have no other accounts in collections, this is the only one.
Thank you!
How many months is it going to take to pay off the medical bill?
I have a very old medical bill that I would like to settle. I believe the amount is around $2,000.00. Collection agencies have long ago stopped calling. The original amount was about $3000.00. I received notice to appear in court and sent a letter with a check for $1,000.00 stating I could not appear. How can I resolve this?
When did all of this happen with the court?
I received a summons for a $799 medical bill from 2012. I did not recall this visit and knew that the creditor had the burden of proof, so I filed my answer with the court that I wanted them to provide the original medical bills.
Two weeks later I received the verification of debt and first discovery. The debt is valid, unfortunately.
I contacted the attorney listed on the paperwork to hopefully settle the debt. They have now tacked on an additional $516 in attorney’s fees, court fees, and interest, bringing the new total to $1315. Is it still a reasonable request to settle for less? Is there any chance of that happening?
Also, is there anything I can do about them only sending one bill (which I don’t recall ever seeing) in the four years they have had this debt? They apparently sent one letter in June 2015 and then sued me.
I don’t want a judgement against me and I don’t want my wages garnished. I CAN make payments, but I would prefer to settle and be done with it.
Thanks in advance!
Smaller balance accounts are harder to settle for less. There can also be an issue with “illegal discounting”. Watch this video for more detalis about how this can make settling for less a difficult task: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKEVRqmpp7s
There is really nothing tangible you can do with only receiving one bill.
Settling is ideal with any older unpaid bills. If that cannot be accomplished, and payments necessary, be prepared to have to sign a stipulation or consent to judgment.
Hi Mike,
This is regarding my wife’s medical bill for a exam done in 2013. The medical insurance(aetna) is in my name and she is the co-dependent. Lot of things were going on personally at that time and I could not pay the bill for the 2013 exam until Dec 2014. I got the last collection agency(Micheal Harrison llc) notice Oct 2014. Instead of calling the collection agency in Dec 2014 I logged into the provider web site(univ of radiology) and paid the balance using the account number from the bill. Couple of days back my wife checked her free credit report as we were planning to refinance our house and found the collection agency remark on her credit. I called the provider and informed them that i had paid the amt,, they then informed me that when I paid the bill it went to the 2014(apparently she has got a similar exam in DEC 2014) active balance and not 2013 as it was with the collection agency. They also informed that both the balances were on the same account number for the same amt. I have no issue paying the bill but I don’t think I received the Dec 2104 bill. When i spoke to my insurance provider they confirmed that the amt i paid went to the 2014 deductible, he also indicated that hospitals usually will have a diff acct for each visit t=and was not sure why they have the same in this case. i would like a suggestion on how to proceed.
If it were me I would try to pay the other balance the same way, and avoid the collection agency all together. Shortly after I paid I would send in credit report disputes about the collection agency reporting as being invalid. Taking those steps can often result in the collection agency deleting the item as they have/had nothing to do with the account.
I got a letter today from the lawyers office saying they no longer can except payments for the hospital they was collecting for I paid them monthly for a few years we still owe money and I don’t understand why the Hospital has done this.
Contact the hospital directly and find out what gives. Creditors, lenders, and medical service providers and institutions will change vendors form time to time, and that can include debt collectors.
I am being sued for medical bill the total amount is $2200 they want me to pay 200.00 monthly but I cant and I told that the amount can I pay is $50.00 they say not and that I will receive a notification to go to court
If you cannot afford to pay anything now it just is what it is. They are not compelled to take what you can afford to pay. Once they get a judgment they may change their mind if they are unable to force collection through wage garnishment, bank account levy or property lien. Watch this video about trying to avoid debt collectors extra collection efforts.
I am being sued for medical debt by a collection agency that represents our local hospital. The amount they say I owe is $5,021.. I have tried to tell them that one claim was submitted to insurance with wrong codes, so the insurance returned it as ‘not covered,’ and said patient is responsible for $2395. Then the hospital correct the codes and sent again, insurance paid the claim. The problem is, the hospital never removed the first claim for $2,395 and are saying I owe it. That entire claim needs to come off, but nobody will help me at the hospital. I told the collection agency, and offered a settlement of 1/3 of what I thought the charges should be. It was declined, so now i have court in 2 days. How can i convince the judge that the charge is wrong, and couldn’t that be a good enough reason for the judge to dismiss the entire lawsuit? I’m scared and have no idea what to expect.
Showing that you are being sued for an erroneous amount is indeed a method to get a suit dismissed. Can you show the whole paper trail of how this all happened?
Hi. I just received a letter from a debt collection attorney attempting to collect on a $19,783.78 medical bill. In October of 2014 I went to the ER and was later admitted to run tests. Finally through surgery to pass a tube with the camera, we found that I had a large duodenal ulcer. I was kept in the hospital for 10 days. At the time I had an insurance plan through my work, but it wasn’t a great plan. I work part time, and at the time I made about $9/hr for 22 hours/week. I still work the same number of hours, but am at $10.05/hr. Insurance paid what they would cover, but obviously I have a huge amount owed.
I’m 46 years old and have many medical issues, including Diabetes 2, Panic Attacks, and Fibromyalgia. At this point, I’m taking 10 prescribed medications (several more than once daily), along with Insulin and prescribed Lidoderm patches for pain. I’m divorced and living with my two adult children that both have mild mental health issues. 26 y/o daughter works about the same hours a week as I do, at $8.55/hr and 18 y/o son is not currently employed.
I live in Louisiana and got the letter from a lawyer in Alabama, attempting to collect. We are barely making the bills as it is, but I could possibly pay about $30/mo or so. I’m terrified of possibly going to jail over this, or having to go to court. Yes, I should have called earlier to work out a payment plan, but I honestly have difficulty just getting through the day without anything other than work. When I get home, I end up taking medicine and sleeping because I hurt and am exhausted.
I do understand I owe this bill, but with the large amount, please let me know what I should do in my case. I now have until May 15th to notify if I dispute any of the debt. I have no way to borrow that amount and have no credit cards or any way I can pay a huge chunk of money. I live paycheck to paycheck, no savings or any other money stashed anywhere.
Thank you so much for any advice you can give me. I did read from a response about calling the hospital, speaking to a patient representative, and asking about applying for charity care for low income. I would like to try that, but am unsure if the hospital will even speak to me at this point now that it’s been turned over to an attorney.
Do you have any other unsecured debts? If so, how much do they add up to?
Throwing 30 dollars a month at this will not get you far. My first suggestion is to speak with an experienced bankruptcy attorney in your area. Filing chapter 7 could eliminate this, and other debts.
I do encourage you to speak with the hospital regardless of the collectors involved. But if there are no options there, get an understanding of what bankruptcy would like like for you.
Hello Michael. I have been sent to collections for an ER visit for my daughter in 2014. Part of the bill was sent to the insurance company and was paid. The portion for an MRI and lab work was somehow sent to our previous insurance and denied, rightly so. We contacted the hospital numerous times with the current insurance information and they said they would bill the correct insurance. After several conversations with my insurance, they stated they never received the claim. The account went to collections and when I called the collection agency they said they would take my insurance information and send it back to the hospital so they could submit the claim. Again my insurance said they never received the claim. We now have a balance of over 4k that we don’t feel we should be responsible for since we had insurance coverage at the time of the visit. Do we have any options besides paying the debt? We are beginning the process of buying a new house and this has had a negative affect on our interest rate. We would like to get it cleared up before we close on our mortgage in 3 months.
Who is it that is showing in your credit reports for this debt?
I broke my foot recently and didn’t know where else to go but the ER. It was a sliding accident while playing softball, so my leg was cut, but not related to the broken foot. I was given an aspirin in the ER and they cleaned my cut. My foot had to be XRayed and they came back in and said it was broken. They then gave me a soft boot, crutches, and told me there was nothing they could do for me. They then gave me the number to call for an orthopedic surgeon. I have a high deductible insurance and after what they paid, I owe $1100 total for the ER visit. The ER doctor’s “Prescribed” treatment was for me to wear the soft boot and the total bill was $1600. My part of that bill is $450. The ER charged $2200 and my part was $650. They didn’t do anything for me that was beneficial and if I would have had any idea, I would have just toughed it up and called the orthopedic surgeon in the morning instead of going to the ER. I want to negotiate payment, or get it waived. I feel it is criminal. I looked at the medical records and they didn’t add any false treatments. I’m not sure if I have any grounds to stand on because of this. I have good credit, but I own my house and cars outright and pay for things instead of getting loans. I am willing to mess up my credit because I think the hospital is stealing from me.
I live in Southern California. In 2014, my son was taken by a city ambulance to a hospital emergency room as a precaution after he briefly passed out while on an outing with a day care worker. The charge was $1,714, of which my insurance, Blue Cross of California, paid 70%, leaving me with 30% of the balance ($514), which was as expected (although I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be 30% of ALLOWED amount, or 30% of the BILLED amount. I am not disputing the amount due.
However — I thought we had paid the bill and then suddenly, at the beginning of this year I received frequent calls from a bill collector (super nice, btw) informing me that in addition to some $30 in interest, there was a collection fee of $130. They claim they are authorized by the City to collect that fee, and referred me to a law passed by the city.
This collection fee seems excessive. On the billing document from the City it simply lists the expected charges and my balance due of $514 as “Write-off-bad debt”. I did not agree or sign a contract with the collection agency — should I have to pay the $130? At this point should I simply offer to pay the amount due plus the interest?
Have you contacted the City to discuss the fee? It sounds like you paid the bill you were presented with. I would want clarity on what happened after that. Let me know what you learn.
What city in California is this?
This is Is in Burbank. I have NOT paid anything yet. No, I haven’t contacted the city (although City Hall is across the street from my office).
I would exhaust those communication options first.
Thank you so much for the help .
The name of the collection afni sub rigatoni department Bloomington il 61702
Rigatoni is a noodle or Italian dish. AFNI is a legitimate debt collection agency. I have some concerns about whether you are in communication with a collection scammer if they are describing themselves in such a silly way.
My husband had an accident last November well and he didn’t have any insurance the bill is 9200. He has been making a payment on one of the bill monthly but this past month . He suffered a accident or he has a broken leg. The collection agency try to contact me and say the I need to pay because the car was under my name . I resive a second later say the I need to pay it . If not I will not able to have Dl.
Who is the debt collector contacting you?
What state are you in?
I live in Sacramento . Because I was the owner of the car . But I wasn’t driving it in the day of the accident . And they say if my hobby don’t have the money. I need to pay for it because I was the owner of the car. If not my driving licencia will be suspended. I am very depressed and stress out because of it . I don’t know what to do .
I am going to send you an email with contact details to an experienced debt collection consumer law attorney. He works with people all over the state. Ask him about what you are being told.
I have a medical bill from an ER visit. I thought insurance would cover it, it did not, and got lost in the shuffle of changing insurances. I have been sued by the Hospital directly. I never dealt with a collection agency. They have a lawyer and I was served a complaint. I completed the answer and was hoping for a pre-trial meeting in order to settle the debt. Instead I have a notice to appear for nonjury trail in two months. Is there a way to pay a % still to settle it? What should I do? I don’t want to go to court. They apparently also have another bill that they haven’t sued me over but plan to. The attorney’s office had two cases going against me.
Thank you for your advice.
Did insurance cover any portion of the bill(s)?