How to Get Rid of Medical Bills
- 1). Pay your medical bills in full. Hospitals lost more than $34 billion in unpaid medical bills in 2007. If you were to offer to pay your bill upfront, you might be offered a discount for doing so. The problem with this method is it requires you to have the money upfront, which may be too much depending on the size of your bill.
- 2). Negotiate a lower rate. Sometimes hospitals will negotiate, but it's usually the insurance company they will negotiate with. It becomes difficult, because depending upon your health issue, many people are involved who may not all work for the same company. For example, you may have surgery in one hospital and rehab in another. You could try to negotiate with both, but that could become a hassle.
- 3). Pay with your credit card. The benefit of paying with your credit card is you are no longer in debt with the hospital. The negative is: Depending on your credit card interest rate and how much you pay monthly, you could be stuck with this credit card bill for a long time.
- 4). File for bankruptcy. If the medical bills become entirely too much to handle, filing for bankruptcy may be the best route to take. It will eliminate or at least significantly reduce any debts that you have from all labs, doctors and hospitals. It also protects you from any wage garnishments, lawsuits and harassing phone calls from creditors. There are two bankruptcy chapters you can file for your medical bills--Chapters 7 and 13.
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