Former Collectors Advise What to Say When Medical Debt Collectors Call
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- Опубликовано: 8 июл 2020
- Are you in a confusing medical debt situation? Authors of “End Medical Debt,” and co-founders of the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt, Jerry Ashton and Craig Antico share what people can do to protect themselves from collectors. The Doctors weigh in on this confusing system.
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Sad whenever I go to the emergency room I’m more stressed out over how much I will be charged vs my emergency 😒. And this is someone with insurance
You can request for financial assistance self pay or balance after insurance.
I am very stressed, I need help with my medical bills.
Years ago there were Urgent Care facilities, small facilities independent of hospitals which took you within an hour or less, gave excellent care with a very fair, moderate bill. Apparently the hospitals wanted a piece of the action. All of those excellent small services went away and instead we have what the hospitals are calling "urgent care", it's a joke and a scam. You sit there for four and a half hours and are still never seen. People are falling off their chairs. The hospital "urgent care" (hah) has you pay right away, that way they don't have to wait to be reimbursed by insurance. Talk about a scam! I walked out and never got any care because I wasn't going to sit for 4 hours.
The real problem is the price of these procedures in the first place.
Not to mention the treatments that make things worse and the lack of progams that encourage healthy living.
I had a cat bite me, so I went in to get an antibiotic prescription. The pills were 13 dollars. They also gave me a tetanus shot. Total of 387 dollars. Wtf
It’s crazy how we pay inflated insurance rates every month and when we do go to the doctor you still get an insanely high bill afterwards!
But a service was still rendered.
Indeed. Most insurance plans aren’t even worth it with the deductible costs.
@@UrbanSipflya service was rendered without knowing the cost of the service. Many hospital can’t even give u cost estimate until after the service is performed
@@JustinatorxX
Exactly! So you can't compare costs.. why is medical care not transparent? They will not tell what a procedure costs.. how much your insurance pays, what you will have left to pay.. and then you will get slammed with an atrocious bill!
@@Jkaye13 Healthcare is the only one in the Service Industry that does this. Imagine you sleep at a hotel and then find out how much it costs after you check out
NEVER EVER PAY A DEBT COLLECTOR!!! Take it to court and they will dismiss!
Why take them to the court?
@@mejhon6592 Taking them to court will help your credit. Most debt collectors don't even show up in court. Then guess what ?? Your debt is dismissed and your credit score is no longer in jeopardy.
@@dave7701 really, why they do not show up in court? Actually they just call me but never send a letter. Well just one debt collector send me a letter, what should to send then to court? And what should I say?
I took it to court and the judge rejected my request they taking a large chunk from my paycheck
@@julietcapps4821 so what happen, do the judge told you to pay or no?
Literally yesterday I received an envelope with a gigantic bill of $1025 for a day I never went to visit a Doctor . As soon as I said “I never went to the doctor on that day and I never heard of those physicians”, the collector hung up right away
I’ve been doing collections for 25 years. My advise request for an itemize statement if you see a charge that’s is not right request account to be audited charges. Also if you don’t have insurance you can request for financial assistance.
@@yota4runner871 hello. Whom should we call to audit the false charges?
@@mzAlphaKappa125 call the collection agency let them know that you are disputing the bill. Write a dispute letter send it to the certified then follow up in a week.
As a debt collector I do that sometimes.. 😅
@@yota4runner871I got a collection notice for $50 lol for a doc office I’ve never heard of. What should i do??
My shit got sent to collections before i was able to recover from heart surgery and go back to work. They didn't care that i was sending $20 a month to each of the many bills that kept coming in and i had insurance. I was on workers comp and only making 60% of my salary just enough to keep the lights on and a roof over my head and pay for my meds. Fuck them i ain't paying them shit now!
If it was a non profit hospital, by law, they HAVE to offer financial assistance. Most of those financial assistance policies are based on the last year or 2 years of gross pre-tax income, and how close it is to the federal poverty level based on the number of people in the household. About 90% of people that are on disability, social security, or workers comp qualify, then u fill out a form or two, supply some income and tax docs, and poof! Your medical debt is paid in full by the hospital, ur credit isnt affected, and if approved at 100% theyll even pay u back what u already paid towards the balance most likely. You have to ask and fill out about 30 minutes to an hour's worth of paperwork though.
@@NateL1884 Can I still do this if the hospital already sent it to collections? I see my bill info online and see the instructions to apply for assistance.. I’m just embarrassed and scared to send them over I don’t want to talk to ppl on the phone who put you down. 😫 If the bill just got sent to collections the past week - can it be reversed so I don’t need to deal with them at all and just the creditor??
@@NateL1884 god damn everything is about money forreal
Sad to hear that 🥺
Don’t ever pay a collector let them take you to court because most times it’s dismissed and others it could be as low as five dollars and No more charges added to the bill
I have the hospital bill from when i was born. Full 7 days back then, labor room, delivery room, Dr's, nurses, food, supplies, medicine, etc. Total bill: $54 in 1948. Now you can see how bad it is. Government got into health care and insurance companies saw a gold mine. There was no health insurance back then. You didnt need it. I still remember Dr coming to our house when I would be sick. Those were the golden years of medicine.
Deny everything😀
Lol man that wasn’t me I never been to a hospital before
lol does that work?
This helped me a ton. I was getting really stressed out because of collectors and this gives me some hope.
I'm a debt collector and I'm so stressed out people getting so abusive 😅
Get a new job
I have a debt collector who is trying to get money from my brothers estate for a bill that was covered under indigent care at the hospital that he was in back in 2017. Thank goodness I kept all of that information when he died. I wrote to them with the bill and also the letter from the hospital stating that all of his medical care was covered at 100% for the time frame that they sent the bill for. I also told them that the estate wouldn't be paying the bill because he didn't owe it and because he had no assets when he died. He was disabled and didn't own anything. This is truly sad.
Don't ever pay withoug some sort of agreement in place. Ask for a "pay to delet" or "payed as agreed" agreement in place before you make a payment. If you settle you definitely want to have one of these two agreements. Make them give you something in writing that they will remove the collection completely. If dealing with the original creditor have them do the second agreement in writing.
Great advice 👍
The sad thing is, the best way to deal with collection agencies is to go through a licensed business attorney, but they know that most people in that predicament cannot afford one. 😣
Wish we had legal medical services to help us with these issues hands on. If you needed to go to the ER or have a medical survey you are already traumatized and drained in that 30 days trying to heal and recover
I did what the guy said before when I didn't have insurance. This was for a dental problem. I went to the dental place and asked, how much is the x-ray, cleaning, and tooth extraction. They gave me some amounts, I said "no, I agree with this and that, but not that...", the receptionist came back with new numbers and I agreed to it and no surprise billing.
You communicated BEFORE the treatment, even while in pain and discomfort, and agreed there on the spot. Good for you! I wish more people would do that, or do some fricking research/reviews on a Dr or a hospital or actually READ their insurance benefits policy or call an insurance rep ahead of time.
@@NateL1884 i did exactly that and got a surprise bill anyway. 587 more than estimate.
correct in asking for an itemized statement however if you decline it’s your bill some facilities require you to file a police report to prove its not you
Don't pay anything. Wait for them to send you court documents if they even intend on doing so. If and when that happens get an attorney in file chapter 7 bankruptcy. Your debt and your bad credit Will be wiped clean. It cost $500 to 1500 for an attorney to do so.
I thought anything that went to collections you couldn't file bankruptcy on?
LAB WORK! Omg it’s why I’m here! I don’t understand
Received a collection on my credit report while in the process of buying a home. I had never ever been to that doctor before and I disputed it with the credit agency and somehow loss. This is extremely disheartening. I went into the actually doctors office that hired the collection agency and they pulled up the records and could see that it was not me. I am still fighting to have this removed.
The old man is intentionally misleading. He's trying to convince you into giving up vital information that only aids the -extorter- debt collector. He's a former debt collector now trying to help other active debt collectors.
And the problem with that is what?
@@UrbanSipfly Were supposed to be removing parasites from society. Not enabling parasites.
I'm a debt collector bro..as much as people hate us I want to say that we are just doing our job like everyone .. sometimes people get real abusive and would threatened us..we are enduring all these things so that we get paid and support our families..
Exactly. He’s scum. Sick and filthy industry
@@hmingthangmawi9604 All y’all should Get a different job to make them go bankrupt instead of helping sleepy companies. We don’t sympathize with your decision to get that job in the first place shawty
Only a uniquely American problem
😂😂😂😂. Come to india and see the horrors of medical bills here.
Had a bill collector tell my freind. "Well, you should of thought about that before you decided to go too school.
He's right tho. Most people don't think about what it will cost and how they'll pay it back in the future
I was totally disgusted with the hospital in Springfield MO after my daughter had been there due to a car accident. As soon as she got home from the hospital they started harassing her multiple times a day for payment. They wanted her to enter into an agreement to pay it back with interest. I told her that they are taking you for enough as it is and don't agree to pay interest on top of it. But she did sign it and who knows how much she ended up paying. I am all for paying your bills but I would pay them what I can afford to pay them and no more. I would just turn the ringer off on my phone so they can't harass me. Thankfully, I am debt free at present and hope to remain that way but you are one medical crisis away from big trouble.
our local hospital will not accept reasonable payments and charges 18% interest per month
I asked the hospital for an itemized bill before checking my husband out of the hospital. The finance woman was aghast. She said it would take at least 3 weeks to make an itemized bill. So?? Bill my insurance first. I know for a fact certain things were not done.
The insurance and medical scam that’s been ravishing the nation for years!
Personally, I don’t have any owed medical bills. However, my brother does and he’s been throwing them away for the past 3 years and all it did was ruin his credit which he didn’t have anyway. A collection agency will collect your balance five times just to screw you over so if you are going to pay it, negotiate with the hospital before they sell your debt to collections. If you can’t afford it, just declare bankruptcy and hide your assets. The nurses and doctors are still going to get paid for showing up to work and you shouldn’t go without to line a wealthy arrogant CEO’s pockets.
How do u hide assets if they are already accounted for in the bank?
55.0
Deny everything because you have 30 days to dispute the bill before it's presumed to be in effect. So if you ask the bill collector for proof, and they say it will be in the mail, but then they don't send it to you, so then you are screwed !
You always ask for proof by certified letter or email ....
@
And what if they don't send it within the 30 days allotment???? What if they send it even 1 day after the 30 day allotment?You are screwed!
@@noelpadilla2694 no they have 30 days to send you the info. its the other way around. now since covid i think the have 60 days to send the itemizations and everything. and as soon as they do that you can send a counter sue letter because now they have obtained information that they should not have access too. they know this and usually they will drop the collection. they buy the debt for pennies on the dollar then try to recoup their loss by going after you.
@@jamiewilliams7795 what does the counter sue letter need to say?
@@reginaldwhite4761 hipaa violation
Yea i wish it was that easy. Im going to spend the rest of my life paying all my medical bills and I have insurance -_-
I'm going through the same thing.
Yepp.
Especially when u haven't had raise for 3 yrs and told when u go to doctor you have to have this surgery or ur going to die. I say I dont have the money. They don't worry about it.
Yep
Fly to Mexico and then walk back over the border and you get free healthcare. Over 20 million satisfied customers.
How Are you going to deny everything if you show identification at the hospital is not hard to prove you were there. And a lot of the debt collection people tell us that we have to have the whole amount or nothing so it goes ignored because of that. Then you have Lexington law that's going to help you they offer that same thing that they want you to pay why would I pay them to pay the other guy lol
An ER treated me, level 5 er visit. Refused to bill the VA, sent me bills after a few months. I contested, it went to collections, I contested each time. Now at bill collection agency number three or four. Each time I asked for proof that I owe the debt. Their answer finally, to the latest request, was to send an itemized copy of the treatment, drugs, procedures and all other medical information TO THE BILL COLLECTOR. Still no proof that I agreed to pay. What about giving my medical info to the frickin bill collector? Do you read these comments?
Many many years ago I served in the British Military in Germany. I don't speak German. My daughter was born premature and needed specialist care. She was immediately transfered to a German Hospital. A military Priest accompanied me who spoke fluent German. On arrival my daughter was taken away to a specialist ward and we were greeted by who I assumed was a Nursing Sister. Details were given and then she asked, " WHO IS GOING TO PAY ". Thankfully the Priest explained I was military but I wasn't best pleased as my daughters life was in danger and she was more interested in the bill. What If I couldn't pay upfront?
I paid a couple thousand for private insurance and now I have a $2000+ lab bill. This is such a scam.
Man I just got my check garnished n I sent in my info and put money into my account for them to take it and they never took it the week they said they was and now I’m getting garnished after I never received a bill because I no longer live with my parents and I have no clue what the expect
try having a diabetic stroke and getting billed $5000+ after being forced to lay in my own shit for hours on end when in the end I was told I needed to wait 5+ months. I told them I couldn't pay.
Man I just moved from Rhode island to florida I have insurance from rhode island , i got hit by a car in florida, hit n run , got picked up by an ambulance, I didnt wnat to go with them I wanted to go home they would not let me ,my insurance from Rhode island doesn't want to pay for it ,now I have a 14000 dllr medical debt , I dont know what to do any advice ? I should also state that i now live in Florida
What i need to know how to fight a bill you were wrongfully billed for. The medical practice didn't follow guidelines and procedures. They're apart of my in network providers. My insurance didn't honor the claim because they didn't do what they were suppose to do before treating me. Now I'm in collections. My insurance said I'm not liable to pay any of it but yet the medical practice or collections won't remove it from my credit.
@@mrgoethe thank you
My job closed, filed bankruptcy and now I’m being subpoenaed for a surgery that was approved by Aetna. I had already paid my full deductible early in the year; so when I checked
In there was no co pay. Now I have a bill
For 138k???
Any suggestions
@@JackSpaulding1984 my suggestion would be to get proof of your coverage dates from the previous insurance company along with a copy of any medical records from the medical provider. Find out what the medical codes are for the covered surgery and compare to any information that the insurance company had been approved. A lot of times there are added charges and unrelated billing code on medical bills that insurance companies agree to pay...I would definitely get with an attorney to assist you if you are being summoned for the bills in court.
This just happened to me I was on a payment plan why weren't you taking the money out
Its 15% in ky
Man i was born with something passed out and they put a 50,000 bill on my credit
What do you mean ?
Debt collectors always say their name first, who they work for, and then ask if you are "this person" never ever ever say your name, the debt collection agencies bought that debt for a fraction of the value, it's already paid and they're just trying to get that money from you but you owe them nothing. If you acknowledge you are who you are, they can keep calling and try to collect. Never say who you are.
Debt Collector: "Hello, I am so and so for this company am I talking to Mr Gabe kinney?" Me: "who is this"
Debt Collector: . . . "So and so from this financial agency"
*click*
Been in and out of the E.R many many times and never paid a Collector or even acknowledge I am anybody.
I had a surgery not to long ago. I kept asking how much is the total surgery. I kept being told i only had to pay 3k of my 5k deductible..and the rest will be billed to my insurance..i asked whats an estimate of the remaining balance..i just kept being told it depends on my insurance...fast forwad i see a claim pending on my insurance for 106k ...smh my student loan debt is not even that high!!!!
Thats the cost of the physicians fees and post op stay more than likely thats billed to your insurance, NOT what u have to pay. Deductible applied, then co-insurance til u hit your out of pocket max, then u owe $0 for the rest of your policy's calendar year.
@@NateL1884 so so sooooo not true in my case! I had to contact the local media outlet in the state whr i received the surgery..the office really charged me personally 90K as my balance .it was crazy! After months of calls and back and forth and an investigation..the balance was lowered 0..it took allot of help! I hope to never have surgery again! 🙏🏾🙏🏾😳😔
Yea doctors are here to help you right. BS they're in business to make money not care for people
I have this doctor who gave me a ridiculous bill back in May because IAIC/Loomis is absolute S#!T and this idiot doctor told me I wasn't alergic and did this bs allergy panel when I KNOW I'm allergic and have a LETTER from a hospital stating I have allergic rhinitis.
You look at his reviews and you see others stating the same thing as me.
I had a friend give me legal advice: NEGOTIATE. I'll pay x amount but I disagree with your conclusion and have this paper here that PROVES against your point.
She even added if it was refused, to report this guy to the board of medicine.
I got shot 10 times in June 2021 I’m 21 years old and did not have insurance I have hospital bills equaling over $ 280,000 . I tried to get on disability and was unable to work for about 6 months .. I wanted my life to go back to normal so I started back working .. and now I check my bank app and my credit score has dropped 86 points into the 500s and and the debt has been sent to collections . I do not know what to do honestly.
Damj sorry to hear that man. God bless you and guide you thru tough times
You got shot 10 times and you worry about a medical bill ???? I don't know what happened to you but I would get as far as possible from that life that got me shot 10 times. Good luck 🍀
declare bankruptcy. cost $500 but you can start your life over without that burden
Last year I have a ectopic surgery and they charge me 58k$ I was shocked with the surprise bill. I cannot pay of that amount
Sell drugs 🤷♂️
😳 what did you end up doing? That is astronomical!
Just don’t pay it, if it goes to collections, challenge it in court
@@JohnWickkkk Exactly. Do a Walter White.
The bill Collector Mafia giving advice haha, they sit on their butt making six-figure salaries off other people's misery and suffering
I just don’t pay em , screw it , what are they gona do , I love not having health insurance, doctors charged way too much ,
It’s the hospitals that charge a lot . Not the doctor
Arrested and fined for no insurance Social Security can stop if you don’t buy insurance or pay 600 year fine
@@johnf6687 they could try , I don’t pay taxes good luck catching me
@@johnf6687 wow, really? Because I haven't had insurance for about 10 years since my divorce and just pay out of pocket (always discounted when one doesn't have insurance). I've never been questioned about it whatsoever.
@@richardkamowski4656 can I ask how you get out of paying taxes? Our govt is so corrupt with our tax dollars (banking off us etc) .. so damn tired of it and have heard there are others who don't pay as well. I need every dollar I can get just to survive. Appreciate any advice you might have!
Guys.. you are close. I dont deny.. i state that i do not know of any debt in that amount. And ..in court.. the mean collector would not automatically provide proof ....
That dud is smart i want proof. dispute, ask for validation, ask for contact you signed and to original contract
Pay your bills people!
If police suspect you of drug use and want to do testing then that’s there bill 💵 return to sender address Unknow. Denied due process 4 th Amemedment
Y'all notice that black lady in the back falling asleep?
FACTS!
Its a shame that our country keeps sending billions of dollars to other countries and help illegal immigrants out with our tax money. Our country is in soo much debt but if we are late on a bill and cant pay a collections then we are taken to court to pay.
Tell the collector to cease and desist. By law, he cannot contact you again. Put it in writing. S/he probably bought the debt. You owe him nothing.
All debts are the obligations of the UNITED STATES 18 USC 8. And you never contracted with any of these collection agencies. "Where's the true bill?" If they have your ss#, they become the trustee of the ALL CAPS NAME cestui que vie trust and its their fiduciary responsibilities to do what's in the bvb est interest of the trust bcuz you are the beneficiary
The best thing I ever did was call an insurance broker. They exist, and they will help you find the best insurance for the lowest cost.
By the way people medical bills legally cannot effect your credit score
Not true.. I just loss 90 points because my hospital send a bill I was making minimum payments on to collections.. and they send it to the credit bureaus
It dropped my score an average of 70 points as soon as it appeared. I had perfect credit but not anymore because collections
@@staceymail are sure it was for collecrion?
@@mejhon6592 yes... I dispute it, and they remove it, I write all 3 bureau to reinstate my score of 90, I only got back 80.. but since then, my score been growing each month...
Yes they can. The ONLY law is that a medical debt cannot be reported to affect your credit score for 180 days. After that it's absolutely within the collector's right to affect your credit or garnish your wages with a court order. Talk to a local banker or credit repairment company.
Don't pay this should be free
Only in this country this happens. Go to Europe it is free. In Latin America as well or it's very affordable. Absolutely disgusting!
The point of debt collection is to get debtors into a program that reestablish their credit and salvages their peace of mind (makes one whole).
Ignoring and avoiding creditors does not make what is owed go away, only exacerbates it.
You're not a bad person for being in debt. You're a human being who simply made a decision that needs extra time ⏲️ to sort things out.
Got totally sidetracked by the cute blond in the audience O.O HELLOOOOOO gorgeous
Easy, fake name
Tell then you are Democrats living on EBT cards 💳 😂
I'm sorry but I didn't hear anything that was actually helpful and not common sense in this video! Can't get those minutes back in my life!
Paid actors...
Any debt collector calls me: I can’t make any payment, I have no money, sorry” click! The hospital already got their money and tons of it. The doctor got paid already. The credit can be fixed quicker other ways. Never pay a debt collector unless it ordered by judge in court!