Medical bill from years ago just went to collections… what now

Discussion
1

I just got a letter from a collection agency about a medical bill under $1000. The weird part? It’s for a service from 2021, but I didn’t even get a bill from the hospital until early 2024.

To make it even sketchier, the statement includes charges from as far back as 2014, even though I was fully covered under two high-coverage insurance plans at the time.

Now my credit score has tanked by 140 points, and I know paying it might make it even worse by reactivating the account. I don’t have savings to cover this right now, but I also don’t want it sitting there wrecking my credit.

What’s the best way to handle this?

2

First thing—make them prove the debt. If they can’t, dispute it. Get everything in writing.

Second—tell the collection agency to contact you only by mail. That’ll stop the endless calls.

Third—call the hospital and ask for a full itemized bill. Sometimes they’ll reduce it or let you set up a payment plan.

Fourth—if the hospital still owns the debt, try paying them directly instead of dealing with the collection agency.

3

@Hari
Thanks for this. I have the bill from the hospital, but I didn’t get it until years after the service, which makes no sense. The collection agency’s info matches, so I know it’s legit, but it still feels off.

I was hoping to call the hospital to work something out, but since they already sold the debt, I’m not sure if they’ll even talk to me. How do I get them to actually prove the debt? The bill lists a bunch of old charges that don’t even seem related.

4

@Dar
Best move is to call the hospital’s billing department and see if they’ll still deal with you.

Since you never got a bill back when the service happened, there’s a chance the hospital doesn’t even have the right info. You might be able to get them to pull it back from collections.

I had a similar situation where they messed up my billing code, and it took 18 months of calls to fix it. If you’re willing to push, you might be able to get them to sort it out.

5

@Hari
Really appreciate this. I’d rather deal with the hospital than collections if possible. I’ll call them and see if they’ll work with me, especially since the bill looks all over the place.

6

Dar said:
@Hari
Really appreciate this. I’d rather deal with the hospital than collections if possible. I’ll call them and see if they’ll work with me, especially since the bill looks all over the place.

Good luck! Hope they sort it out quickly.

7

@Hari
I was in a similar situation. The hospital was happy to set up a payment plan with no interest. Definitely worth a shot.

8

@Hari
Dispute everything. They have to send you proof, and if they don’t respond in 30 days, you can request it be removed from your credit report.

9

Starting in 2025, medical debt can’t be added to your credit report anymore. If they put it on there, you can dispute it and get it removed.

10

Bay said:
Starting in 2025, medical debt can’t be added to your credit report anymore. If they put it on there, you can dispute it and get it removed.

Thanks for this. I just filed a complaint with the CFPB about it.

11

Check with your insurance company to see if they ever got this bill. Ask for an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) to see what was covered and what wasn’t.

12

Might be worth looking into the No Surprises Act. I had a hospital try something like this a year later, and when I pushed back with that law, they dropped the bill.

13

Ellis said:
Might be worth looking into the No Surprises Act. I had a hospital try something like this a year later, and when I pushed back with that law, they dropped the bill.

That’s interesting… how did you go about doing that? Did you have to get a lawyer involved?

14

If you have online access to your hospital’s billing system, check there. Even debts in collections still show up. Also, in some states, hospitals can take your state tax refund if you don’t pay. Not sure if that applies to you, but worth checking.

15

@Rex
I live in Wyoming, so no state tax. The hospital here doesn’t have an online portal either. I think my best bet is to try dealing with them directly instead of collections.

16

Look up your state’s statute of limitations on medical debt. If it’s expired, they can’t legally collect.

Even if it’s still active, ask for an itemized bill. A lot of times, collections agencies don’t have proper records, and if they can’t prove the debt, they have to drop it.

17

Just pay the bill. Running from it won’t make it go away.

18

Lyle said:
Just pay the bill. Running from it won’t make it go away.

If I had received the bill when I was supposed to, I would have. But three years later? And with random charges from a decade ago? I just want to make sure this is legit before paying something I might not even owe.