5 Ways to Get Out of Medical Bill Debt

With skyrocketing healthcare costs, spending less and working more is no longer a viable plan to reduce medical bill debt for many people. Patients often walk away from a major acute healthcare incident with a bill totaling tens of thousands of dollars after insurance coverage. 

A lot of patients also have disabilities or chronic or rare conditions that prevent them from making enough money to pay down their debts and/or create a cycle of ever-increasing debt. The following five solutions help make medical bill debt more manageable:

Review Itemized Bills

Medical billing staff often make mistakes and computer software can experience glitches. Always ask for itemized statements that clearly outline the services that you received and the associated costs and bring any errors that you find to the attention of billing agents. 

If you don’t currently look at itemized bills and you’re dealing with old debt, contact service providers, request itemized statements and then address errors with them or collection agencies.

Negotiate with Provider

Healthcare service providers reduce bills for a wide range of reasons. For example, you might be able to offer the provider a cash settlement that is a percentage less than the total due. 



Many providers also work with credit services that allow you to set up an interest-based installment plan. Some providers even reduce bills for business patients who agree to pay back what they owe through products and services.

Contact Charity Programs

Ask staff at your local healthcare system about “hardship” or “charity” care for low-income and disabled patients. These programs help reduce past and future costs associated with services not covered by insurance. 

Many community and national charities, including those associated with specific diseases, help patients with severe, rare and terminal conditions pay old bills, negotiate settlements and pay future co-pay and transportation costs.

File a Complaint

If your provider charged you more for a service than the regional average cost, especially during an incident when you were unconscious or too severely sick to compare prices and go elsewhere, contact the billing office and tell that you know that you were overcharged. 

If the manager refuses to hear your complaint, go over their head to the doctor or facility owner. If necessary, file complaints through the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Reports and your state’s Health Department.

Hire an Attorney

Anyone who has experienced an injury or delay in care that resulted in further injury because of an accident caused by another person or group of people, including an employer or healthcare professional, should speak with a personal injury lawyer from a firm like D Chadwick Calvert Law Office. 

When you’re the victim of these types of incidents, you shouldn’t have to pay for medical care. A personal injury lawyer can help you determine if you have a case and seek the compensation you need to pay your medical bills and cover lost wages and emotional trauma.

Whether you have an outrageously high bill or you’re not healthy or capable enough to work off your debt, you must think outside of the box and use every advantage possible to reduce it. 

Otherwise, medical bills can become an unending source of stress that makes your health even worse. Since the purpose of receiving medical care is to improve your physical state and overall life, why allow medical debt to consume your every thought? Improve your life and health with these five tips.

Recent Car Wreck? 3 Steps To Financial Stability

Car accidents are jarring and traumatic experiences. Even if you are able to walk away unscathed, you must deal with the car wreck aftermath, an undertaking that can take a serious toll on your bank account. 

These three tips can help you remain financially stable after you have been involved in a car accident.

Use Your Insurance

Some car owners make the mistake of not utilizing their car insurance coverage. They do not want their rates to go up. They also want to avoid paying the deductible for towing or repairs.

However, your insurance is there to save you money and hassle when dealing with the aftermath of a car wreck. The deductible will probably be less than the repairs made to your car or the vehicle of any other involved party. 

Rather than pay for these costs out-of-pocket, you can spare your budget by filing a claim with your insurer and allowing your policy to handle the expenses.

Cut Your Losses

You may love your car. However, when it has been totaled in a car wreck, it is no longer an asset to you or your bank account.

Most states will not allow you to insure or drive a totaled car. You can spare your budget and get a little bit of cash in return by scrapping or selling it for cash. When you sell it to a reputable Cash for Cars dealer, like City Auto Wreckers, you can save money on the tow and get some much needed post-wreck money to put down on a new car or pad your bank account.

Hire A Lawyer

When you are not the driver who caused the car wreck, you have several legal options available to help you recover both physically and financially. For example, if you are not able to go back to work right away after a car accident, you have the right to file a claim against the person who caused the incident.

A personal injury lawyer can make the claims process easier for you and handle the negotiations, settlement, and other court action on your behalf. Your lawyer can help you recoup lost wages, medical bills, and other money you have lost or spent because of the car wreck.

These simple tips can be important when you want to recover your finances quickly after a car wreck. They allow you to protect the cash you have on hand and also use legal means to recuperate expenses that you may not be obligated to pay out-of-pocket.

Auto Savings: How to Compare and Contrast Car Insurance Quotes

Today, it is easy to get a quick car insurance quote on an insurer's website or a collection of quotes from several different insurers on a comparison site. However, there are several important tips to remember when comparing auto coverage quotes.

Research the Company

If the company is offering an especially low rate, research it on third-party unbiased review sites. When you are researching a company that you never heard of, be wary of signing up for coverage. 

If there are more negative than positive reviews about the company's operating policies, it is worth your time and money to pay a little more to work with a reputable insurer. Damages and lost money from scams and fraud wind up costing all policyholders more money. 

According to the FBI, insurance fraud costs American families between $400 and $700 per year in higher premiums. Know what to look for to avoid scams.

Know the Deductible

When talking to an agent from one company and getting a lower price quote than another company, be sure that the deductible is the same. 

Some companies, like United Security Agency, know that you should ask how much the difference would be to switch to a lower deductible. With some companies, the price to choose the lower deductible is not much different than a higher one. 

However, this is not always true. Choosing a deductible is a matter of how much risk a person wants to take and can afford in the event of having to file a claim.

Research Discounts

Not all companies factor in every discount when they provide a quote. Some insurers offer telematics devices, which measure driving habits when people use their vehicles. 

If a person drives carefully at a safe speed and does not ride the brakes in a way that indicates frequent distractions, he or she can qualify for a premium discount after several months. Some companies also offer military, student, and other discounts.

Learn About Customer Service

Find out if the company has a good reputation for serving customers promptly and resolving issues. The company should be good at resolving issues such as emergency roadside assistance, general questions, and especially claims. 

If there are more complaints about the company not honoring legitimate claims, beware of the insurer.

Try to compare at least five to seven insurance companies before making a decision. There are hundreds of smaller and larger insurers to consider in the United States.

Bad Credit? What It Takes to Up Your Score

Having a poor credit score could make it harder to get low interest rates on loans or find a job. It may also make it harder to find an apartment or get approved for a cell phone plan. Let's look at some ways that you can improve your bad credit no matter how bad it is now.

Make Your Future Payments on Time

Depending on your current credit situation, it may not be wise to pay old late or missed payments. This is because creditors generally can't pursue them after a certain number of years. 

One exception is if you choose to pay the debt off or make a partial payment as that restarts the statute of limitations clock. Ideally, you should focus on making your future payments on time as the most recent information on your report gets more attention than older information.

Nothing Gets Reported Forever

Except for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, information on your credit report remains there for seven years after is first added. If you do file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, it will remain on your credit report for a decade. 

Therefore, simply making better decisions today and avoiding any future missed payments or black marks will necessarily lead to better credit.

Monitor Your Credit Report

If you were to ask credit repair professionals their top 10 ways to improve a credit score, credit monitoring may be on those lists. This is because an error on a credit report could reduce a person's score by dozens or hundreds of points. 

If a person is a victim of identity theft, it may be months or years until he or she realizes what has happened. By then, the problem may be much more difficult to solve.

Talk With Your Creditors

It may be possible for one or more creditors to agree to accept less than what you currently owe to settle a debt. If debt forgiveness is not an option, it may be possible to get a lower interest rate on future payments. 

This may help you reduce your debt balances, which could lower your debt-to-income ratio. Ultimately, reducing your debt can help improve your credit score.

If you have a bad credit score, there is no time like now to start improving it. In as little as a few months, you may notice that efforts to increase your score are starting to pay off. 

Over the course of 12-24 months, it may be possible to go from having subprime credit to being labeled as a responsible borrower.