advice on paying a debt

[rigz]

It shouldn't affect your medical insurance/care.

A collection account will not be emmediately forgiven or forgotten regarding your credit history. I believe collection accounts will stay on your credit report for 7 years from the date the account fist became past due.

according to the letter the collection agency sent me (as well as verifying it over the phone with their rep) if I pay in full within 30 days of the notice, they will not report it to my credit score.

however, reading reviews online i dont think i can trust these guys.

[Eagle]

according to the letter the collection agency sent me (as well as verifying it over the phone with their rep) if I pay in full within 30 days of the notice, they will not report it to my credit score.

however, reading reviews online i dont think i can trust these guys.

I would pay the bill in full if possible within the 30 day period. I would get it in writting that they will not report it to the 3 credit Bureaus:

•Equifax
•Experian
•TransUnion

Also check out this post: How to deal with debt collectors

Hope it all works out.

[doingitallwrong]

It wouldn't hurt to call the original creditor (medical biller) just to verify whether they've sold the debt or are using an in-house collection service. It's generally easier to get an account out of collections if the debt hasn't been sold.

Either way, before you pay I would request they send you the terms of the agreement in writing. Tell them you're willing and able to pay within 30 days of receiving the written agreement, which should include their name, your name, the account number, the balance due to pay the account in full, and the date by which, if payment is received, the account will not be reported to the credit bureaus.

[UDRogue]

This has happened to me a few times. I never pay the collection agency. Upon getting such a letter, I immediately call the original medical provider and settle the bill with them directly. Then I write a letter to the collection agency telling them the bill has been paid, I no longer owe anyone anything and they are not to contact me again. That's always been the end of it.

This should have no affect on your ability to get insurance and probably will also have no effect on you getting treatment from your doctor. If you have insurance then the unpaid bill is deductible or copay, and only a portion of the whole that your doctor is paid. Doctors want patients with good insurance and as long as you do eventually pay those late bills, they're happy with you. You having insurance is what they really care more about.

Once I got such a letter about a medical bill of my husband's. My husband had never been to the hospital in question, had never even been in that city. Possibly it was a legitimate bill for someone with my husband's name, or maybe there are scams where they just shotgun those letters out and a few will stick. Some people might just pay them without thinking, not remembering where or how many doctors or hospital visits they've had. For old sick people I can see this happening.

[YolandoAmaya]

No, till now I have not faced such situation, but I think there is no need to worry because maybe there is any expanded time limit to pay money, you should check for this.