Medical debt is the money that you owe to a health care provider because of an opted medical service. For your owed money, the creditor may ask a medical debt collection agency for help to recover the debt. Since you are in an emotional and financial stress after a long running medical treatment, it may make more trouble for you. Medical debts usually give long-term effects on families especially to the people with private insurance cover and mid-level income. Economic problems associated with medical debts are personal bankruptcy, home foreclosure and poor credit score. Even the debt burden may cause delayed post treatment for the patients and after care.

The Primary Causes of Medical Debts

• The medical debts have a connection with hospitals, policymakers, advocates and community organizations who try to make the hospital finance, bill collection better. Hospitals have their share on medical debts when they overcharge the patients irrespective of their insurance status – insured or uninsured. Hospitals may fail to inform the patients about public coverage programs or do aggressive practices for debt collection, fail to establish policies for financial assistance for the patients. You may look for strategic advice to make it easy for your medical debts.
• The federal policymakers should have clear policies to protect the customers from abuse. There must be initiatives to protect the family of a patient for supporting them in medical debts, improve transparency, billing and collection, financial assistance and more.
• There must be health care coverage for the people with mild to low income that is at the same time comprehensive and affordable. Almost 50 million of people in America do not have medical insurance. Majority of the patients say that they have insurance when they have taken the debt. The Affordable Care Act is there to make comprehensive and affordable policies for all.

Medical Debt Options

Though there is a preconceived notion that healthcare industry can make a patient financially down but there is still hope. There are still so many options open for the patients that can help them with the financial difficulties. You must be accustomed with the alternatives to pay off your medical debts. Here we are explaining some of them and as per your convenience you can choose any one.

Bill Waiver

You can ask your doctor for waiving off your medical bill or an amount of the entire bill. It will only happen if you ask the doctor and you have a good luck. You can officially ask your doctor for a waiver by writing a letter mentioning the amount and reason you are asking to do it.

You have a better chance to get a waiver if you have medical insurance and already have paid an amount of the total bill through it. You also have a chance if you can prove that medical debt is going to cause financial hardship to you.

Medical loans

There are personal loan options especially designed for medical costs and you can avail it from third-party money lenders. At the doctor’s office or on your own you can sign up for getting a medical loan. These are typically unsecured loan that means you do not need any collateral. It means against the loan you have no threat of losing your home or your car in case you have trouble to pay off the amount. You must try to find a loan with low or minimum interest. With high credit score, this is the best option you can have. For low credit card score you might have problems to face to get an affordable medical loan.

Payment Plans

You are not the first person to have problems to pay off medical bill. Keeping in mind, the complexity of illness and ever-rising medical treatment bills, there are lots of people in the same bracket. Therefore, you can ask at the doctor’s office for a payment plan. If the answer comes positive, you should ask for details. Here you may get a chance to pay off the bills in affordable monthly installment in low interest.

Medical credit cards

Another interesting option is availing a credit card and pay with that. But this is not just any old credit card, there are separate medical credit cards for hospital bill payment. The credit report of medical credit card does not affect the credit score until the payment is due for six months or more.

If you do nothing to pay off your medical debts, the creditors may hire a medical debt collection agency. It happens if they hear nothing from you. If you are a creditor and you owe money and has no information from the debtor, call Vital Solutions for the most comprehensive debt collection.