Last year, 1 in 5 adults — an estimated 41 million people — were contacted by a collection agency about medical bills, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a New York think tank.

Getting hit with a medical bill you thought your insurance would pay is an all-too-common situation. There are two ways to combat surprise medical bills, whether they come from an emergency situa ...

If you do not dispute the debt within 30 days of receiving the verification letter, the collection agency will assume the debt is valid. Make sure the money owed is listed as medical debt.

When an unpaid medical bill goes to a collection agency, it could cause your credit score to drop. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to bring it back up and consumer-friendly laws to help ...

New research: 100 million Americans face health care debt 02:29. When she was 19, writer Emily Maloney found herself facing about $50,000 in medical debt after hospital treatment for a mental ...

It is also expected that the credit reporting agencies will no longer include any medical debt under $500 on credit reports, beginning in the first half of 2023.

Medical bills are a common source of debt reported to the three national credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Medical bills accounted for 58% of debt collection on ...

On April 11, 2023, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion announced that any medical collection debt below $500 will no longer be included on credit reports, regardless of whether the debt has been paid.