Medical debt is damaging the credit of around 30 million people, according to the latest figures I've seen. You would expect damaged credit from medical bills to be a problem for the uninsured. But the untold story here is that people with insurance get their credit trashed both because of billing mix-ups and high debt-to-income ratios.
If bad medical debt is harming you, consider the following options:
1. Know what bad marks are in your credit file
You can't talk about medical debt without first knowing what's in your credit report. You can learn what's contained in your file for free by going to AnnualCreditReport.com.
Errors on credit reports are common. Maybe your credit file is "married" to somebody else's who has a same or similar name, or maybe there's a false lien supposedly filed against you. It could be anything; those are just two of the most common examples.
When there's something wrong on your credit file, you need to file a dispute with both the credit issuer and the credit bureau simultaneously. Send all of your documents by certified mail, return receipt requested, which means you have to use the manual form, not the automated system.
If the problem is not fixed, re-dispute it with the bureau. If that fails, you must sue both the credit issuer and the credit bureau in small claims court. Most of the time, both parties will cave before the court date and remove the black mark from your report.
Should all of this fail to get the job done, there's a new cop on the beat overseeing the credit reporting industry. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is now accepting complaints if you've been put on ignore by Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion over errors on your credit report. Make a visit to ConsumerFinance.gov/Complaint your last resort; you want to give the bureaus a chance to mend their ways first!
2. Consider small claims court if all else fails
If challenging an error on your credit report doesn't work, you might have to consider small claims court. File a suit in the county where the adversary lives or does business. Call the clerk of court in the county where you'll be filing to learn that court's procedure. You'll pay a filing fee of generally less than $100 that is recoverable if you win.
Small claims court is really best used as a tactic to call the errant party's bluff and get them to remove the bad mark on your credit. That's what you really want. But if you don't get your desired result once the medical provider is served notice of the suit, you want to show up well organized with strong documentation that shows how you've been harmed, why the person or company is responsible, and how much you're seeking in damages.
3. Find the right buttons to push
I recently heard from a caller to my show who was involved in a fee dispute with a dentist over the cost of services that had been rendered. She resolved her beef by appealing to the state insurance department.
There's a teaching lesson here for everyone. You've got to push as many buttons as you can until you find the right one. The insurance commissioner's office in her state had no real jurisdiction over the dentist, but they use moral suasion to make things right for this consumer.
If you have a fee dispute with a medical provider, you have options. If it's a dentist, the local chapter of the American Dental Association (ADA) usually will have some form of panel where you can file a fee dispute administratively just as the caller did with state insurance department. For a doctor, check with the local affiliate of the American Medical Association for the same procedure. Visit ADA.org and AMA-ASSN.org, respectively, for more info.
BONUS: Never give up hope!
Many of us face health difficulties in our life. But I want to quote Winston Churchill here: "If you're going through hell, keep going."
For more money-saving tips, visit ClarkHoward.com. Money in Your Pocket. Advice You Can Trust.