Medical Bills, and Credit cards. Oye Vey

[Startome]

So I just got the bill for my 3 MRIs, $1237.38. My total cash assets are 1076.04 plus about 140 dollars in my HSA. The problem is I still have bills to pay. lol. I have the two CCs in my signature. I may have to use some of each to cover this until I can pay it back. (The fun part is I haven't even got the second bill yet, though it is highly probable it will be significantly smaller). My interest rates are like, 22.99 and 24.99 though. What would you guys recommend? Neither of those rates are something I'd even remotely like to carry a balance on....

I could get a much better interest card with a signer obviously, but my only potential co-signer can't do it at the moment, for fear of jeopardizing a large business loan he's trying to take out.

[tcbofade]

Contact the medical service provider that sent you the bill.

Make a payment arrangement NOW.

Usually, zero percent interest for at least a year...sometimes longer...you don't HAVE to put this on your credit cards...

[mongstradamus]

---

@Startome wrote:

So I just got the bill for my 3 MRIs, $1237.38. My total cash assets are 1076.04 plus about 140 dollars in my HSA. The problem is I still have bills to pay. lol. I have the two CCs in my signature. I may have to use some of each to cover this until I can pay it back. (The fun part is I haven't even got the second bill yet, though it is highly probable it will be significantly smaller). My interest rates are like, 22.99 and 24.99 though. What would you guys recommend? Neither of those rates are something I'd even remotely like to carry a balance on....

I could get a much better interest card with a signer obviously, but my only potential co-signer can't do it at the moment, for fear of jeopardizing a large business loan he's trying to take out.

---

I am not expert on this but could you talk to hospital , and see if they could do an payment plan or something to that effect? 

[myjourney]

---

@Startome wrote:

So I just got the bill for my 3 MRIs, $1237.38. My total cash assets are 1076.04 plus about 140 dollars in my HSA. The problem is I still have bills to pay. lol. I have the two CCs in my signature. I may have to use some of each to cover this until I can pay it back. (The fun part is I haven't even got the second bill yet, though it is highly probable it will be significantly smaller). My interest rates are like, 22.99 and 24.99 though. What would you guys recommend? Neither of those rates are something I'd even remotely like to carry a balance on....

I could get a much better interest card with a signer obviously, but my only potential co-signer can't do it at the moment, for fear of jeopardizing a large business loan he's trying to take out.

---

Call and ask if they have a payment plan rather than place on your cards 

EDIT @tcbofade beat me 

[Startome]

Haha ok, sounds like a unanimous vote on the best course of action =)

[enharu]

Few ways you can go about doing this.

1. Apply for care credit. There's 0% promo offers, and they are fairly easy to qualify for.

2. Talk to the hospital about payment arrangement. Sometimes its interest free if you pay it within a period of time, and sometimes they won't even report to the CRAs as long as you are not delinquent on payments (hence somewhat like a hidden trade line and 0 effect on your utilization). They are usually pretty negotiable because they very much rather avoid you from defaulting on them, which happens a lot for medical bills.

3. Try to seek out personal loans and pay the hospital bill in cash. There will be interests, but it's usually lower than APR on credit cards, and hospitals are sometimes able to give out some form of discount if you pay in full in cash. Talk to your hospital first.

[daninbath]

I have had great success over the years just letting the hospital/dr. know I didn't have the funds to pay the entire bill and would like to set up a payment plan. They have usually suggested a "minimum" amount each month.  When I've told them I would be more comfortable with a smaller amount, they habe been good with that. 

I have never paid interest and always been good about insuring my payments were made. It's free financing and they know they're going to get their money. Just don't put it off and not contact them, as they WILL turn it over for collection.

[mongstradamus]

---

@daninbath wrote:

I have had great success over the years just letting the hospital/dr. know I didn't have the funds to pay the entire bill and would like to set up a payment plan. They have usually suggested a "minimum" amount each month.  When I've told them I would be more comfortable with a smaller amount, they habe been good with that. 

I have never paid interest and always been good about insuring my payments were made. It's free financing and they know they're going to get their money. Just don't put it off and not contact them, as they WILL turn it over for collection.

---

Good advice about not putting it off , i did that and it wasn't an pretty sight. I am sure hospital will be able to work with you on it they want to get paid also. 

[Startome]

They billed my insurance, here's what it looks like :

• Amount Billed $2,929.68

• Plan Discounts $1,092.78
• Your Plan Paid $563.52
• Your Responsibility $1,273.38

-----Deductible$1,210.77  +  Coinsurance$62.61

On the bright side, I WIPED OUT my deductible. lol

Oh and I use united healthcare, does anyone know if they're good about payments?

I also had someone in family tell me to apply for medical hardship too, as it can cover some of it.

[Startome]

Is there any chance of getting Care Credit with no credit score? I feel like it's very highly improbable.