How much influence do you think medical debt has on credit score?

[saver17]

Bills don't go to collections after one missed payment. I'm sure you got multiple notices and warnings that you chose to ignore.

Bottom line is you owe this money. Or you need to get it corrected if it turns out it was a mistake.

Or you can just keep making excuses and rationalizations.

I didn't attempt to make a payment because I had to get moving money together. So once July get here and I'm at $0 with Discover,. then I can attack that $1000 balance

[disneysteve]

I didn't attempt to make a payment because I had to get moving money together. So once July get here and I'm at $0 with Discover,. then I can attack that $1000 balance

So the plan is to continue to ignore a $1,000 collections account for 3-4 more months. The likely result of that will be endless calls and notices from the agency and them adding late fees to your account so that by the time you get around to dealing with it, the balance will be a few hundred dollars higher.

How's that $300 trip to NYC looking now?

[saver17]

So the plan is to continue to ignore a $1,000 collections account for 3-4 more months. The likely result of that will be endless calls and notices from the agency and them adding late fees to your account so that by the time you get around to dealing with it, the balance will be a few hundred dollars higher.

How's that $300 trip to NYC looking now?

I may not even spend $300 but it's just good to have as a financial cushion since I will be out if town. That balance is still the same as it was this time last year

[bjl584]

OP. Why are you even posting here? Multiple people have given you advice and opinions, but you aren't even attempting to listen. It would seem that you are just justifying and rationalizing the decisions that you've already made. If you're just looking for cheerleaders for what you've already done, then you've come to the wrong place. Unless you're just trolling I don't see a point to you posting all these questions if you aren't going to listen to any of the advice that's being given.

[saver17]

OP. Why are you even posting here? Multiple people have given you advice and opinions, but you aren't even attempting to listen. It would seem that you are just justifying and rationalizing the decisions that you've already made. If you're just looking for cheerleaders for what you've already done, then you've come to the wrong place. Unless you're just trolling I don't see a point to you posting all these questions if you aren't going to listen to any of the advice that's being given.

I was looking for a answer to my question in regards to medical debt. I never said I was looking for advice in this thread

[bjl584]

I was looking for a answer to my question in regards to medical debt. I never said I was looking for advice in this thread

Yes. And so far we've learned that you've ignored and didn't bother looking into the medical debt for a number of reasons, and now you don't want to pay it because health insurance companies have billions of dollars. We've also learned that you are switching from one credit card to another for reasons that make no sense. Also, you have $3000 in debt due to being unemployed and an unwillingness to find work as low paying jobs are beneath you. Finally, you're taking a trip to New York city, but with all your debt you really can't afford to go, but you've justified the trip up and down despite people advising against it. Did I leave anything out? Do you have the ability to take a step back and look rationally and objectively at the picture I just painted and say to yourself that you need to start thinking about and dealing with finances differently?

[saver17]

Yes. And so far we've learned that you've ignored and didn't bother looking into the medical debt for a number of reasons, and now you don't want to pay it because health insurance companies have billions of dollars. We've also learned that you are switching from one credit card to another for reasons that make no sense. Also, you have $3000 in debt due to being unemployed and an unwillingness to find work as low paying jobs are beneath you. Finally, you're taking a trip to New York city, but with all your debt you really can't afford to go, but you've justified the trip up and down despite people advising against it. Did I leave anything out? Do you have the ability to take a step back and look rationally and objectively at the picture I just painted and say to yourself that you need to start thinking about and dealing with finances differently?

I been suggesting to my family about going to NYC for 7 years and now that it's actually happening there is no way I am going to pass up this trip. The original plan was to send Discover $400 in April because 8 weeks ago this trip was not planned yet. So now I will just send Discover more money in May and June since it will only be a small payment in April.

[disneysteve]

I been suggesting to my family about going to NYC for 7 years and now that it's actually happening there is no way I am going to pass up this trip. The original plan was to send Discover $400 in April because 8 weeks ago this trip was not planned yet. So now I will just send Discover more money in May and June since it will only be a small payment in April.

Why did you come to this site? It very clearly wasn't to get financial advice.

[saver17]

Why did you come to this site? It very clearly wasn't to get financial advice.

To have discussions about saving money and receive advice on being frugal

[disneysteve]

To have discussions about saving money and receive advice on being frugal

That literally made me laugh out loud.

Let us know when you're actually ready to do that.

[annibe11e]

To have discussions about saving money and receive advice on being frugal

Well there are a lot of smart folks on here. Hopefully you pick up some tips and start changing the way you think about money.

[saver17]

Well there are a lot of smart folks on here. Hopefully you pick up some tips and start changing the way you think about money.

I probably can save lots of money if I didn't date. lol

[phantom]

I probably can save lots of money if I didn't date. lol

Be very careful about "I could do X if not Y" reasoning. You will always be able to find a new Y. "If I didn't date" could easily turn to "if I wasn't married" and then to "if I didn't have kids." If you want to save, you will have to find ways to date less expensively or find other places to cut. When one expense goes away or when more money comes in, it's always easier to find a new way to spend than it is to suddenly start saving. So, it's better to find ways to start doing it now than to put the burden of saving on some future version of yourself who would have no practice with saving.

[msomnipotent]

To answer your questions directly, it is possible that the collection agency didn't report this to the credit bureaus yet. They will, though. It also depends on what credit scoring model your creditors use, and even which version. FICO 9 doesn't put as much emphasis on medical debt as the rest, and it is possible that Amex is using that model. Did you pull your credit report to make sure it isn't on your record? The credit scores you posted along with the credit limits your cards are giving you lead me to think that your credit is just marginally good and on the way down. Sorting out the medical bill will probably go a long way in improving your credit rating.

Did you find out if you even owe the money? If you have had lab work before and never paid more than a copay, it would seem to me that either the lab wasn't given your insurance information or there was a billing error that can be fixed. It happens a lot. That should be your first step. The sooner, the better.

[saver17]

To answer your questions directly, it is possible that the collection agency didn't report this to the credit bureaus yet. They will, though. It also depends on what credit scoring model your creditors use, and even which version. FICO 9 doesn't put as much emphasis on medical debt as the rest, and it is possible that Amex is using that model. Did you pull your credit report to make sure it isn't on your record? The credit scores you posted along with the credit limits your cards are giving you lead me to think that your credit is just marginally good and on the way down. Sorting out the medical bill will probably go a long way in improving your credit rating.

Did you find out if you even owe the money? If you have had lab work before and never paid more than a copay, it would seem to me that either the lab wasn't given your insurance information or there was a billing error that can be fixed. It happens a lot. That should be your first step. The sooner, the better.

My credit score is in the 730's