How Can a Medical Loan Help You Avoid Collection Agencies?
Medical bills come to us very often all of a sudden. And it is difficult to call it a joyful event. Of course, those whose insurance fully covers medical care are less afraid of bills. But insurance rarely covers all expenses, so from time to time, each of us has to puzzle over a medical bill.
It's good if you have enough savings, but if not, one more headache can be added to undermine health.
If you've ever thought of just not paying your medical bill, shove it away. You will not like the consequences of such a decision.
What is a Medical Bill?
A medical bill is a form of payment for services received at a hospital.
Frankly speaking, medicine in the USA can hardly be called cheap. Often the prices for medical services are very high compared to the average income of an American. Therefore, cases, when people cannot pay for medical services immediately are not uncommon.
You Can't Pay Your Medical Bill: What's Next?
As with any other bill, the medical bill must be paid. You can't take groceries from the supermarket and not pay for them; otherwise, it's theft. At the same time, hospitals still give some time to deal with financial matters.
Moreover, if you are in a difficult situation, you can contact the financial department of the medical institution that issued your bill. Sometimes they are ready to meet halfway and wait with payments for a while. But, unfortunately, not all and not always.
Each medical institution may approach debt collection differently. But there is a certain scheme by which they are likely to act.
The first thing that awaits you is interest and late fees that will be added to your existing debt. Therefore, the amount you need to pay will increase.
Most often, if you do not contact the financial department of the medical institution and continue not to pay the bill for 90 days, then your data will be transferred to the collection agency.
A collection agency will start by making persistent and regular calls to you, your family, your friends, and anyone they can reach. But, of course, you will get the most calls. In addition, they will pass information about non-payment of bills to credit bureaus. This will significantly lower your credit score, making it harder to get loans in the future.
In case of refusal to pay funds to a collection agency, they have the right to sue you. This action will allow them to seize your accounts, seize your wages, and take money from them.
What if You Don't Have Money to Pay Medical Bills?
You likely don't want to communicate with collectors and simply get into debt. But medical bills can indeed be so large that they don't even fit into the "emergency" budget you might have.
Of course, the first thing we will most likely turn to is family, friends, and relatives. However, their savings may be insufficient, or they have no savings. In this case, it is better to take a loan but still pay the bills.
So which loans are suitable for paying medical bills?
Payday Loan
A payday loan is suitable if you are short up to $500 and you are sure you will be able to repay it soon. Or for those cases when the medical bill is not huge, but you do not have savings.
A payday loan is a short-term unsecured loan. You can borrow up to $500, in rare cases up to $1,000, but you will need to repay this money, plus interest and fees, after 14 days or 30 days.
The advantage of such loans is that they are fast - you can get money the next day and apply for it online in a few minutes. In addition, they are available for people with bad credit.
Personal Loan
A personal loan will help cover almost any size of the medical bill. It does not matter what the procedure was, how much you paid for it, and how much you need to repay - a personal loan can do it.
A personal loan is often an unsecured loan product that you can borrow for a long period.
Usually, the amount you can borrow is up to $50,000, in some cases, even up to $100,000. At the same time, the terms of such a loan are from 12 months to 72 months, but they can vary and be more or less.
The weak side of personal loans is that it takes more time to receive them than for a loan before the salary. And people with a bad credit history are unlikely to be able to get such a loan easily.