Credit Score: Medical Bill Dispute

Question:
有個醫院賬單，保險沒付對。我給醫院打過電話，他們說會去dispute。我也問過我的保險經紀，他也說保險做錯了，幫我去dispute。兩邊都沒給我回話，我就忘了這件事。昨天又收到醫院賬單，說我晚60天沒付賬。如果不付等結果，這對信用有影響嗎？

Answer:
In most cases, you should get no negative impact on your credit score.

1. Hospitals don't make report to credit bureau. In some cases, even if you are 90 or even 120 days later for your medical bill, as long as they do not send it to collection, you are fine.

2. As I mentioned early, medical billing is a mess. There is always delays in insurance payment and they can go back and forth for several months. So when dealing with insurance companies, even if it is a few months late, hospitals usually think it is kind of normal.

3. Even if this bill finally end up in your credit report, usually medical collections that are less than $200 will be ignore in credit score model.

Usually, it is a headache in dealing with medical bills. If you concern about your potential credit score impact, you can call the hospital to make sure they won't send it to collection and let them know that your insurance company is handling this payment. As long as the bill is still at hospital (and still as "account receivable", not "bad debt"), you are fine.