Mar
13
Unpaid Medical Bills – Can It Affect Your Credit Report And Rating?
- POSTED BY Böröcz Bela IN Health
If you are planning to make an expansion in your power to make purchases as well as build credit, consider looking and applying for a credit card that will in the long run provide you more benefits. With technology and the internet, applying for a credit card is now easier provided you meet all the criteria needed to be pre-approved and approved.
For instance, if you have just recently been presented an offer to submit an application for a Capital One Card, you could immediately redeem your application that is pre-approved in only a few steps. Once you have received a reservation number, submitting an online application for a Capital One card is easy. Go to https://www.youreviewit.com/credit-cards/getmyoffer-capitalone-com-enter-reservation-number-to-apply to get started now.
The benefits of having a credit card are plenty. Besides credit cards being a very convenient payment method, they are also much safer to carry with you compared to cash. Most importantly, credit cards can aid in building your credit rating as long as you don’t fall behind with your payments. A positive credit rating will definitely be advantageous and useful when you decide to apply for a loan.
Can Unpaid Medical Debts Affect Your Credit Report?
Your credit rating and credit report are like snapshots of your finances which will represent you in the world of business. These can have an effect on how easily you could lease an apartment, get a mortgage, make big purchases, be approved for loans, as well as getting employed. Hence, it is important that you take care of your credit rating.
One of the major things that affect your credit rating is your payment history. Falling behind your payments, whether credit card payments, loan payments, or even your bills, will definitely affect your credit rating negatively. But what about unpaid medical bills, can this too affect credit report and rating?
Healthcare can be very expensive. Even if you have a health insurance, you could still acquire medical bills from various medical expenditures that weren’t covered by your insurance. And if you don’t make the necessary payments when the medical bills are due, they can be passed on to a collection agency. In the event this happens, this will most likely reflect on your credit report lowering your credit score.
How Medical Debts Can Affect Your Credit Rating
Yes, your unpaid medical bills could harm your credit report, however this doesn’t happen immediately. If you choose to disregard a bill you cannot afford to pay, this will show in your credit report. Typically, medical bills don’t show or reflect on your credit report not until they are directed to a collection agency to retrieve the payment as they can report this to credit bureaus. However, credit bureaus will have to wait up to 180 days prior to adding this to your credit report, which provides you time to create a payment plan or discuss the matter with your healthcare provider. If you fail to this within the given time, this goes in your credit report affecting your credit rating.
To keep medical bills out of your credit report, pay the medical debt if you could once you received the bill or invoice for your medical or healthcare service provider. If you can’t pay in full, talk to the billing department as they might permit you to negotiate for a lesser bill or perhaps set up installment payment plan. Bottom line is that you don’t wait too long or delay the payment so that your provider won’t hire a collector to recover your debt. If this happens, your credit rating and score will surely suffer.