Medical Bills - Brookfield,IL

Call them, ask to set up a new payment plan.
Even if you are giving them money, you are fullfilling a contract,t hey have the right to send you to collections.
They might not, but they would be within thier rights to.

I suggest that you call and explain. They want to be paid, and you don't want your credit to suck. They'll work with you, but if you don't call and talk with them, they're going to assume that you're not honoring the payment agreement.

You need to call them. Your situation is not unique at all, but you do need to call them. They will work with you, but it is to your advantage to have it on the record. Otherwise they will have you down as an account that isn't being paid on time, and that doesn't look good.

Call them.

Usually as long as you are working on it and making some sort of payment, they are happy to be getting anything in.
You should talk to them about your situation so they know you're still paying as best you can.
It'll take as long as it takes.
If that means it takes a bit more than a year, well - you're doing the best you can.

I do not have any experience with this... however... I would not be as lenient or easy to work with if someone breached an agreement and just started paying what they chose to pay without first talking to me.

That said, IF someone approached me, communicated with me and let me know of their personal situation regarding what they owe me and what they can now afford, I would be MUCH more willing to compromise than someone who just short pays the agreement.

Of course they have their limits as to how much they can write off before they send to collections. I don't think most Dr.'s want to send someone to collections and would be most appreciative (and compromising) if someone were honest from the get go.

Best wishes.

If you don't want to be turned over to collections you have to call them and make new arrangements.

It depends really, but your best course is to call them. At least then they can note your account with what is going on, how long, whatever so if they are trying to reach a decision on whether to send you to collections they have all the information. Otherwise they are going to see you as avoiding them.

The depends, if you owe say 1,000 and were paying around 85 a month and drop to 50 it is a lot different than dropping to 5. The latter will get you tossed to collections unless you explain it will only be for a couple months or whatever your story is.

I work for very reasonable doctors but even they have their limits.

If you are embarressed to call them, write a letter explaining your situation. Keep a copy for yourself. I was in charge of our city owned water dept's delinquent bills. Yep, just me. I could usually tell when people were honest with me. A payment plan can be re-written so you can keep on task & feel better. Give them a chance to help you. Good luck.

As long as you send something, it should keep you out of collections. I would call to notify them.

It is always best to contact the billing department BEFORE sending in a lesser payment to explain your situation and work out a new official payment plan. Call them now and do that, because the route you went is the fast-track to collections.

I used to do billing for a large hospital group in Milwaukee, so I will share what their policies were. It likely is the same for most medical offices.

Doctors are there to provide health services. They are not a bank or loaning institution. Therefore, they want to be paid when they provide services. If you do not have insurance, or your insurance doesn't cover the full amount, they want to be paid by the patient.

Many places are willing to work out a payment plan. The group I worked for would allow 4 months & they would retain the balance "in-house" meaning it would not be sent to an agency & would not be reported to the credit bureau.

If a patient needed longer than that, a plan could be established for up to 12 months. This would be sent to an agency for collection & monitoring, & it would be reported to the credit bureaus as an account in good standing, in current repayment. (sorry I don't remember the specific term used for this)

For patients with balances that required longer to pay, it would be sent for collections (usually the same agency that handled monitored 12-month payments), and would be reported to the credit bureaus as an outstanding debt.

Health care is not always a choice, & depending on the type of care needed, is not always affordable. Depending on your financial situation, you may qualify for balance forgivness through a charitable write off. Not all medical groups offer this, & those that do have different criteria that must be met. It is along the lines of how much equity in your home, how much in savings, investments, bank account. What your annual earnings are, what the monthly expenses are (utilities & mortgage, not cable bills & eating out). Be prepared - if you have a source of equity, you will be expected to utilize it.

For example, if you have equity in your home, it will be viewed as a potential source of funding that you can draw from. You may CHOOSE not to take out a home equity loan in order to pay your doctor bills, but that is still your choice, & if you have equity, they may let you know that you do not qualify for any type of charity program they offer. The same applies for stocks, investments & savings.

Your doctor & their medical group are there to provide you a service. It is not their obligation to do so out of the goodness of their heart.

Bottom line, however, is that if you have a large balance, you need to do what you can to pay it. Be honest about where you are financially. If you say "I can't pay that much" because it means you would have to get rid of your cable & pricey smartphone data plan, then you are making the wrong priorities financially.

But if your mortgage/rent, utilities & modest grocery bill, other necessary bills are preventing you from having leftover funds to pay down your healthcare bills in 12 months, then making some payments is better than making none.

Definitely set up an appointment with their financial counselor or billing manager, & come prepared to discuss what your hardships are for meeting the monthly payment. Ask if they can do anything to alleviate the balance. If they need to turn it over to collections, ask if there is a way that the payments you make can be recorded so that it does not hurt your credit as badly as a delinquent outstanding debt with no activity.

Good luck. T.

FYI, looking @ some of the prior responses, I disagree that if you continue paying 'something' it will keep you out of collections. Most medical offices/hospitals have a billing cycle. When your bill ages to a certain point, it gets sent to collections, whatever the current balance is, regardless if you've been paying on it each month.

This is typically an automated system (they have hundreds or thousands of bills accumulate each month!) and unless you have worked out a payment plan with them, they will not be hand-holding your account through the system.

Because you set up a specific payment plan, if you are not going to have it paid on time, you do need to contact them, or you will go through the normal channels to collections for the balance still owed after 12 months.

You should call them.

I work for an attorney and at least 99% of our clients ask for a payment plan. And then only about 2% actually make payments according to the payment plan. I spend a LOT of time on the phone trying to figure out what's going on and when and if we are going to get paid. It is extremely frustrating! When people ask for a payment plan, as you did, I KNOW they intend to make the payments, but unfortunately life happens and most of the time they simply can't do what they said they were going to do. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it when a client picks up the phone and tells me 'hey, I can't make the payment. Is there something we can work out?' We ALWAYS work with them but the ones who don't bother to call, they get sent to collections.

Let them know. You may need them again.

I would talk to them again, explain the situation. Most are willing to work their patients, but I have heard of them suspending services until payments are made.

You need to call and talk to them.