Medical Debt: You CAN Get Rid of It
No one wants to get sick or suffer a significant injury. That may be obvious on the surface, but not all of the reasons for wanting to avoid these situations are clear. Sure, being sick or injured severely enough that a hospital stay and/or medical procedure is required is a terrifying, stressful experience. As people all over the United States know, unfortunately, it’s also a very expensive experience, even if you have health insurance. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Americans owe nearly $200 billion in medical debt.
That’s not all, for if we break it down further, 20 percent of American households are carrying medical debt according to a CNBC report, and that 20 percent includes people who have health insurance. Sadly, health insurance is not an impenetrable shield to medical debt. Like any other type of debt, it’s not simply going to go away, and managing it can be as confusing and stressful as whatever led a person to need the medical care at issue in the first place.
What is a person or family supposed to do with medical debt? Can you make it go away somehow without having to pay the full amount? How do you even know what you’ve been charged is remotely fair or accurate? Fortunately, there are comforting answers and approaches out there, and below you’ll find some examples of ideas that may work well for your situation.
Context: Nearly ALL Debts Are Negotiable
The first thing you should understand is that medical debt may be unique because it’s so complicated and confusing, but it’s also like most other debts in that you can negotiate to lower it. There are ways to do that and ways not to approach this idea, and we’ll discuss that briefly below.
The point is that if you’re facing medical debt, it’s not the end of the world and it’s not something that’s never going to go away. You just need to face it head-on and deal with it like you would any other challenge. Therefore, the sooner you get started on this effort, the sooner all of this will be in the past.
First Step: Check for Accuracy
The first step to consider when attempting to tackle your medical debt is not fun, but it can lead to a substantial amount of cost savings. You’ll need to go through your medical bills and look for errors. This is a worthwhile exercise. According to 1MD Nutrition and other sources, nearly 80 percent of all medical bills contain errors. Medical billing is not only complicated and confusing for patients, but also for those who are generating those bills.
Next: Determine if Your Coverage Was Properly Applied – Or Not
After you’ve obtained a more accurate idea of what your medical debt should look like minus any errors present, it’s time to approach your insurance company assuming you have coverage. That’s because according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, approximately 18 percent of all in-network medical claims were denied by insurance companies in 2020.
It’ll hardly come as a surprise to anyone, but guess what? Insurance companies are not infallible. They make mistakes as well, and in some cases, they’ll even admit to it. However, you’ll need to approach this properly as well. Take a look at your policy and review the appeals process and follow it in order to have claims that you think should have been approved reviewed. It could lead to more coverage and a lowering of your medical debt.
Finally: Get After That Medical Debt
After your immediately-available avenues have been exhausted, you should have a more accurate – and hopefully lower – number to deal with. It’s time to go after that medical debt and get it handled one way or another. Depending on how long you’ve been carrying the debt, some or all of it could be with your original provider or with collection agencies. Start by organizing a list of the entities you’ll need to contact.
From there, start making calls and documenting what happens. When you speak to these people, remain calm and polite even if you’re listening to rude language or threats. This is not uncommon with collection agencies in particular – although generally not so much with medical billing organizations – as these collection agencies are paid largely on the amount of debt they collect. Don’t take the bait, as it were, and simply explain your situation rationally.
If you’re unable to pay your medical debt, explain why. If you’re able to make a lump-sum payment that’s less than what you owe, offer it and then tell them that you’re really not in a position to negotiate and that that’s as much as you can offer. If you’re only able to make monthly payments until a certain amount is paid, go through that with the other party thoroughly.
Sometimes, you’ll get the response you’re looking for, and other times you may not. If you don’t, then you can always seek out professional help to negotiate things further. However, it’s always worth the time and effort to make this attempt before you start paying someone else to handle it for you, as that’s just more money out the door.
The Bottom Line With Medical Debt: Something Is Better Than Nothing
As hard a line as some holders of medical debt can draw, the true bottom line is that even they understand that something is better than nothing. What may be unspoken on both ends of the conversation is that if no alternative reveals itself, then you may be forced to file for bankruptcy protection, thereby eliminating the possibility that the holder of your medical debt will see any payment at all.
Sadly, medical debt has long been the leading cause of filing for consumer bankruptcy in the United States. That’s unfortunate, but it’s also reality. Your debt collectors understand that, so that’s why it’s always worth the attempt to negotiate some type of settlement.
You should also be reassured that as much as it may seem otherwise, there is a way out of this situation. If you read my book, you’ll begin to understand that one thing people who debt rarely lack is options. Get started today on putting this problem behind you.
