High medical bills? Use these tips to pay them off

Medical bills are not fun, even a small injury can lead to a huge bill which sometimes you have to bear alone or most of it. A lot of times our insurance policies don’t cover the entire hospital bill or they might cover nothing at all. That can be a huge problem because a medical care provider may hire a medical debt collection agency for recovering the debt from you.

Medical debt along with other loans or payments and medical bills can pose a serious burden for many people. If you are one of the people who is dealing with huge medical bills, here are some steps that you can take.

1. Ask questions

Unless you are going to an ER, you may or can have enough time to do proper research. Whether it is for a delivery or regular tests or so on, make sure you go and ask the prices, and the services a hospital offers, and so on before you finalize the hospital. Just like you research the doctor, you must research the hospital too. If the doctor or hospital is charging extra or doing tests that you don’t need, you can say something about it.

2. Cross-check the bills

Medical bills are confusing; there are tons of them, and most of the time, they overlap. So, if even a single entry seems out of place or is something that you are not able to understand, say something. Talk to the financial department and ask them to explain the bills. Most hospitals do that, but if they don’t, you have all the right to ask about it.

3. Cash rate

If you are paying half or full bill on your own and using cash for the same, you should ask for the cash rate. All hospitals provide a discount on cash payments, and you should not let that go.

4. Seek help

If you are unable to pay the huge bill at one go or so, you can talk to the hotel administration. You will need a patient representative, but if you have a reason for not paying your medical debt, they can help. Either they can renegotiate the payments or set up a payment plan.

5. Bankruptcy

Most people don’t have to file bankruptcy as medical providers are flexible with their bills. But if your medical bills have prompted you to take more loans or so on, and you have no cash, it may be best to file for bankruptcy. Talk to your lawyers regarding the same.

Lastly, don’t depend on banks or high interest charging credit cards unless you don’t have an option. It is always better to straighten things out with your healthcare provider and debt collectors from agencies like Cedar financial. Contrary to the popular belief, they tend to help collectors find ways to pay the debt off and also work within ethical guidelines.

Medical debt collection - an overview

Medical emergencies can happen anytime. A patient or their family might not have enough cash at the time of emergencies to pay the hefty medical bills. Moreover, the current demanding work lifestyles have further put people at health risks. This translates to more hospital visits which

How can healthcare industry help their patient with their medical debt?

Debt collection in healthcare is a hot topic right now. It is because when a patient is unable to pay their medical bills, they are in debt, which is not good for them. Also, the hospital loses a lot of money as their payment gets delayed, which affects the whole revenue cycle.

That is why most collection agencies and hospitals are working together to find a friendly approach to collect the pending bills which will benefit both of you. Your patients don’t want to owe you money, but the circumstances are making them. Learn about them and help them. No, I am not asking you to treat them for free, because that would mean a loss for your business, and in turn, decreasing the care you provide to your patients.

But you can make it easy for them, how? Let’s find out.

1.     The bills should be easy to understand

In a multi-specialty hospital, a patient has multiple bills if they are taking consult form many physicians. Even the bills for pharmacy and tests are different meaning a patient has to go through a bundle of bills to make sense of how much he/she has to pay. It can confuse the patient.
So, simplify your bills and try to provide one or two bills instead of a dozen ones.

2.       Offer various payment plans

Make it easy for your patients to pay their bills on time by offering various payment plans. Offer them some plans where they can pay the whole amount in installments. This way they won’t be in debt, and you will keep getting some amount per month, which is better than getting nothing at all.

3.       Help make your patient understand the payment option


Regardless of whether your employees are insured or not, you need employees that can help them understand how they can pay and how much they have to pay. Also, if there are patients with medical debt, help them understand how a collection agency will contact you if they are not able to pay on time and so on.

Have representatives who can help uninsured patients find insurance schemes or subsidy that can help them avoid going into debt.

4.       Provide them with more options that are affordable for them

You can have a better revenue cycle and a better relationship with your patient if you offer them affordable options. Like patients who are uninsured or whose insurance doesn’t cover an expert’s fee, offer them options like seeing a mid-level doctor or a nurse or talk with the doctor on the phone which is more affordable and cheaper.

5.       Let the patient pay using methods that are convenient to them

Help your patients pay their medical bills by providing them with multiple options to pay. Incorporate digital payment methods like wallets- PayPal or Google Pay. It can help a patient who has difficulty getting cash or card to pay an outstanding bill.

If you want to make sure you don’t spend most of your resources collecting debt, it is best to make it easy for the patient to pay. Also, tie-up with a collection agency that can give you tips on how to improve your revenue cycle.