Medical Debt Nightmare: How To Avoid It In First Place?

When receiving health services from any hospital, most patients possess insurance coverage that reduces their expenditures, and hospitals treat the patient without pressurizing them to pay the fees. Even getting benefits from insurance coverage there is a cost named a “co-payment” that you have to pay in the form of a bill at the time of medical service. But what if you can’t pay the bill? Most patients in this situation opt for medical debts that typically help them get out of this situation, but give them a lot of problems in return.

Medical debts, as the name indicates are taken specifically for health services. But since it is a debt, it negatively impacts your credit score i.e creditworthiness to return borrowed loans, which can restrict you to receive funds for other purposes in the future. It is a huge nightmare that most people try to avoid but sometimes they find themselves in such a critical situation where getting a debt is the only option left for them.

However, in order to prepare yourself in advance to avoid medical debts while getting health services, here are some best practices that you can implement to ensure smooth medical bill payments.

Preparation For Medical Bills In Advance

There is homework that should be done to prevent medical debts when getting health services.   Here are some precautionary measures to take.

Checking Insurance Coverage

If you are expecting medical treatment sooner or later, the first step you must take is to examine your insurance plan. Evaluate what are the services that are covered in your plan, what are the costs your insurer will pay and how much co-payments and deductibles will come on your part. 

For this, you can discuss with your insurance payer and ask about the plan. If there’s a health service that doesn’t come under your plan ask the payer to offer you an alternative way to cover those expenses so that you don’t have to opt for medical debts.

Keep The Records Ready

Preparing supporting records and documents in advance will save you from a number of complications. Have all the relevant documents ready, including EOB (Explanation of Benefits). EOB is sent by the insurance company stating all the medical expenses they cover and the costs you owe.

Review The Bill

After getting the treatment when you get the bill, thoroughly check the services with their respective costs. Make sure your bill is dated with the exact day when you received the medical treatment. 

For further confirmation, estimate the cost of each service by yourself. Calculate the expenditures of all health services and medications with their exact cost. Sometimes, any carelessness may cause the bill to contain information about wrong services and misleading service charges, which may cause you pay more than the actual amount. That’s why it is essential to examine the medical bill properly.

Dispute The Bill

If by chance, you get a surprise bill that costs more than you estimated and is still not capable of paying the charges, here’s how should you deal with it.

Negotiate

Go for negotiation. This is the first step you have to take if can’t pay a medical bill. Sometimes hospital staff is supportive enough to listen to your situation and offer a possibility of negotiation that can reduce the amount of the bill. So, be prepared in advance to negotiate and back up your points with accurate facts. 

In many cases, if you pay the whole cost upfront, medical bills may be decreased a little. But it all happens after explaining your circumstances.  

Preparing The Document

Hospitals also offer a debt plan in return if you can’t pay the bills. These medical debt plans come with favorable terms, including enough time period to pay the debt and no or little interest rates. Instead of going to the collection agencies for debt, you must go for this option. 

However, to ask the hospital about the medical debt you have to prepare an agreement, in which you must request the following terms:

• No interest rate should be applicable to the debt
• Monthly statement update on the paid amounts and outstanding balance
• The debt should stay within the boundaries of the hospital, and it mustn’t be handed over to a third-party like collection agencies
• A confirmation that you are not required to pay the total bill immediately if you miss a payment in the plan

Quickly Respond To Dispute Or Resolve The Bill

When you receive the bill, you must give a quick response instead of delaying it. Pay the bill upfront at the time of treatment or if you can’t, negotiate and ask for the debt right away as we have described above. 

In both cases, try to resolve the matter as soon as possible. Otherwise dragging the bill for a longer period may result in late fees or interest rates.

Pay The Bills Without Taking Medical Debts

If you are capable enough to pay the bills, go ahead and don’t linger, but if you can’t bear the expenses don’t prefer medical debts and get financial assistance.

Hospital Financial Assistance

Many hospitals offer funding programs for needy ones, they are mostly called charity programs. Ask for all the different programs that hospitals offer, and choose one that suits your needs and you are eligible for. 

Your insurance provider too can help in this regard. Ask your insurance company about financial assistance to help you pay medical bills. 

Again be at your full pace while handling the situation as these programs must have any kind of expiry date after which you won’t be able to apply for financial assistance.

Don’t Use Credit Card Before Paying The Bill

It is worth-noted that never use a credit card for medical bills before asking for a payment plan. Because using a credit card for payment can disqualify you from multiple payment plans and you could end up owing heavy medical debts.

Conclusion

Avoiding debts is everyone’s priority in an economy full of interest rates and medical debts are no exception. However, following these tips and taking these preventive measures in advance may save you from many inconveniences and prevent you from paying excessive interest rates on your debts.