I have a medical bill that I have been making payments on each month. I have not missed a month, but I have been only making $10 a month payments - as this all I can afford.

I get a letter in the mail, and it tells me that they are going to send my account to collections if payment in full is not received within 5 days.

I called them today, and explained that I have been making payments each month, and she said she would note my account, but that they do not accept anything lower than $25 a month. I explained that I can not afford anymore, other wise I would be sending more. Anyway, she said she would note my account of what I said, and to continue making my payments.

She calls back 5 minutes later, and says that her supervisor told her that unless I make the required minimum payment of $25 they can and will send me to collections. That is their policy. She is sending me an application for their low income thing, but with my income they will only approve me for $25 a month.

I seriously can not afford any more than $10 a month.

I thought that if you are making payments of some sort, regardless of the policy of the hospital, they cant legally send you to collections??

I live in Michigan, and that is where the hospital is, if that makes any difference.

Thanks!!

Was this $10.00 you were paying something that was agreed upon in a written agreement,verbal or something you decided to pay based on what you could afford?

I would be more inclined to talk to the supervisor or someone above her especially if that is ALL you can afford to pay because if you agree to $25.00 and you can't pay it then they will most definitelybe sent it to collections. It's definitely worth a shot IMO.

Would it be possible to cancel internet service and pay the extra 15 dollars they are asking for, or if you have cable, could you cancel that?

Would it be possible to donate plasma twice a week, I used to in college, I would get 25 bucks a pop after the first time you go...That takes care of your payment right there, and you can get up to 50 bucks a week.

If you are living on such a tight budget that you do not have $15 dollars extra to contribute to a medical bill you owe, you should start looking into these suggestions and finding a way to reduce spending and increase income.

If it were me, I 'd let supervisor know that I can only afford $10 per month and if they want to give a collector 30% of what I pay each month, they can. It won't get paid any faster. Seems like a no brainer to me as a manager of a medical clinic. I'd rather take your $10 each month than give a collection agency 30% of whatever amount you are paying.

well they probably don't think they are going to get paid on the debt because someone is paying below minimum even by low income standards, them getting $10 bucks a month over how many years because the OP hasnt said how big the debt was, or whether there was interest being charged is not worth it to them, pay the 30% to the collector and have them take care of it.

If I was the OP I would take my suggestions...To say that you have exactly enough every week and can't free up 15 extra dollars to fix the headache is not much of an excuse.

Sorry but you don't know the OP's situation personally, nor do I. What I do know from the perspective of the CREDITOR is that I'd rather take 100% of something than less than 70%. Either way, I will be waiting for my money.

If OP states that they can only afford $10 until their situation changes, then that is what they can afford. Who are you to say otherwise? Perhaps they are posting from local library because they don't have internet, perhaps they have a blood disease which prevents them from donating blood. At least they are attempting to pay and as the MANAGER of a medical office, that would carry some weight with me.

I am sorry you don't feel the same however, being that I am in the position of the CREDITOR each and every day I go to work, I would again advise the OP to let the supervisor know that it will get paid eventually. The supervisor can then choose to either work with the OP or let the collection agency take their third. Either way, it gets paid when it gets paid.

Obviously you have never had the experience of having less than enough to cover your bills and put food on the table. Good for you, but that does not mean that what you would do is what another would. Your advise although well meaning (I think) is probably not helpful in this situation. I stand by my original post and I do so from the experience of being on both sides of this situation.

I don't think a response like that was warranted from you. I gave the OP some viable options for paying her $25 a month as to avoid having this go to collections. The OP stated that she had already tried to work out a plan and that the lowest they could accept would be $25.

So maybe all those options dont apply to her, but maybe some of them do.... I stand by my original post as well...

I also gave viable options to the poster based upon what I know in my position as the creditor. There is no harm in the OP contacting the OC to suggest that working with one another might actually benefit them both. As an OC on many occasions, I am more inclined to work at keeping the money in house but that's just me. Perhaps the OC didn't realize that collector or not, they were still going to be getting $10 from the OP. Ruining the OP's credit would not change that.

I merely suggested OP point that out to them. So long as OP consistently made payments, I would have no problem accepting the lower amount until such time as the OP could send more. As I said before, I'd rather work with the debtor and keep 100% of my money.

To suggest that a poster sell their blood in order to come up with money is a bit over the top and I took offense at your tone that yours was the only option the OP should follow. Re-read your second post.

However, you are entitled to your opinion as I am mine. Go Bears....time to hit the train.

A lot of people donate Plasma--different than blood, because its a quick 50 bucks every week...like I said, years back all the kids in college did it to get money...with that said..

Go Bears...

Thank you Motlah, for your suggestion of speaking with a supervisor. I will do that.

I can only afford what I can afford - which is $10 a month to that bill - I have many other medical bills, that I am currently paying $10 a month as well - which is close to 10 different bills. I had a surgery back in September. I can start paying the hospital $25 a month, but then I wont be able to pay the other medical offices that I owe to as well - and I obviously do not want to do that.

My question still remains - Can they send me to collections even though I am paying something to them every month? I would really appreciate an answer to that question, rather than being judged from someone who does not know my situation.

Thank you.

Oh, and BTW, the nearest plasma donation place is an hour away from me - not worth the gas $$.

From experiences from the past of Not having insurance, and now, working for a large insurance company...

Hospitals will work with you and normally will bend over backwards, as a lot of creditors out there will do. As long as you follow through with what you say you will do/pay. Hospitals will also work with you on cutting the "bottom line" price of what you owe if you talk with them, and you do not present yourself as a risk to them, only if you do NOT have insurance, having insurance pretty much keeps you in the amount you owe, by deductible or what ever your insurance did not cover, they look at it is you the member should be fully aware of what your portion will be to pay.

When we did not have insurance, of course we had a life threatening emergency. When they admitted the family member, they flagged his account with no insurance, which most of them do as well.

When the bill came in, the very same day, we made a call to discuss the bill and basically wheel and deal with a price. They cut the bill in half and we paid it on the spot without any financial paperwork having to be completed for them to not reduce the price. Now, I know this does not work in all cases, depending on the procedures and claims you incurred. And normally it has to be done when the first bill arrives, not months later after you have ignored it.

Dr's offices and small clinics are a different ball game. You still need to follow closely to doing what you say you will do/pay. But more times they are likely to only knock a few dollars off their pricing, because of the thinking that you should know what you can and can not afford to pay them with or without insurance.

I am thinking that Yes, they can require you to start paying more monthly if you never had it all in writing, especially if you do not have insurance and continue to frequent the Hospital, clinic or Dr. They probably see you spreading yourself too thin with all the bills.

Good luck with this.

OP, I have a bill for therapy and before I started I knew I would have a huge deductible and then a portion of each visit afterwards. I simply wrote a letter addressed to "Billing Dept" and laid out my situation. I asked them to accept $10 per month and not send it to collections. They sent me a letter agreeing that as long as I paid $10 per month they would not send me to collections. One good thing for you is that in MA they prohibit CA from reporting unless they have some kind of paperwork, but don't recall exactly how it works.


As for the suggestion of a poster above to donate plasma, not everyone is able to donate plasma or blood products of any kind. After becoming diabetic, my dad was no longer able to donate blood or blood products because of meds he took for the diabetes. I used to donate plasma but now I am banned. I have a chronic medical condition and take medicine daily for it. Without taking my meds, I can't function so stopping them is not an option. Once I started the meds, I was fine to continue donating, the meds themselves are not a disqualifying factor. However, my reaction to the process has changed drastically since I am taking these meds. I was fine during the donation process itself, right up until the final cycle going back in. I became violently ill and almost passed out. My husband was called to come get me, I had walked down because it was only 1 block away. After getting home I began to have chills followed by sweating spells. My husband called back to the center and was told if I wasn't better in a hr to take me to the ER. I felt fine so we went grocery shopping @ Walmart. Just from the simple act of walking inside ( maybe 10 feet total) after being dropped at the front door, I again almost passed out. My daughter came inside with me and she got the greeter who called security to locate my husband. I ended up in one of their wheelchairs with my daughter pushing because I refused to leave because we had to get groceries and I can't do the shopping unless he is with me, I'm just not physically capable. I stayed messed up for about 3 days, having sudden dizzy spells, fainting and chills followed by cold sweats. My PCP stated I basically had a reaction to the saline solution that is used to replace the volume from the plasma taken. And that based on my reactions, if I tried to donate again it could result in seizures. So even if you live next door to a plasma center, not everyone is capable of donating. Just because "lots of kids did it in college" doesn't mean everyone can do it.