How Long Can Medical Bills Stay on Your Credit Report?
Dealing with medical debt can be particularly frustrating. Receiving medical treatment often isn't optional, but the heavy bills that arrive after you receive that treatment can be financially devastating. You may also have to contend with medical debt due to misunderstandings with your insurance company or a problem with the provider.
DoNotPay can help you figure out the answers to how medical debt can impact your credit score, and how to alleviate that impact.
What is Medical Debt?
Medical expenses are staggering for many Americans, especially those that lack adequate insurance. Medical debt arises when you fail to make payments on your in a timely manner. You must either:
- Make payment arrangements with your healthcare provider; or
- Pay off your medical debt in a timely manner
It's also important for many Americans to carefully review any medical charges, since some medical care providers may inadvertently charge you incorrectly. Understanding your medical bill can help you avoid excessive payments.
How Long Can Medical Bills Stay On Your Credit?
Medical bills, like other unpaid bills, can for up to seven years after you default on the bill. However, there are some unique rules governing medical debt, including many recent regulations that have changed the way credit bureaus and medical care providers approach medical debt.
- Some credit score models give medical debt less weight than other types of unpaid bills, since medical debt is usually unexpected and can hit anyone, leaving them with little recourse.
- Medical debts under $500 will not appear on your credit report.
- Medical debt must be in collections for at least a year before it appears on your credit report.
- If you pay your medical debt, it will be removed from your credit report (unlike other types of debts that have gone to collections, which may remain on your credit report for up to seven years).
How Can You Remove Medical Debt from Your Credit Report?
Dealing with medical debt, especially unpaid medical bills, can prove devastating to your credit report. Fortunately, there are several strategies you can use to help reduce the burden of that medical debt. See them in the table below.
| Strategies to Reduce the Burden of Medical Debt |
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In some cases, particularly if your credit report has no other blemishes or challenges, simply addressing medical debt on your credit report can cause your credit score to increase by as much as 100 points.
DoNotPay Can Help Clean Up Your Credit Report
Do you have an unfairly-reported medical charge on your credit report? Do you need to take care of other potential problems with your credit report?
If you want to clean up your credit report but don't know where to start, DoNotPay has you covered in 3 easy steps:
- Search Clean Credit Report on DoNotPay.
- Prepare a recent copy of your credit report that you can use as reference.
- Let us guide you through the 4 potential options:
- If you've already paid off your debt, we'll help you file a Goodwill Removal Request to get it removed.
- If you notice any errors in your report (we have a list of common errors you can use!), we'll help you file a credit dispute to the creditor or major credit bureaus.
- If there are no errors, we'll check if you're still eligible to file a debt validation request. If they can't validate your debt, they're required to remove it from your report and they can't collect it!
- Lastly, if none of the above options work, we'll help you file a pay-to-delete negotiation letter. You can customize the amount you are willing to pay in exchange for getting the item removed.
You can also check out our other credit products, including Credit Limit Increase, Get My Credit Report, Keep Unused Cards Active, and more.
Do You Need Help with Other Credit-Related Tasks?
DoNotPay is here to help with many of your credit repair needs. With DoNotPay, you can:
- Dispute an inaccuracy on your credit report.
- Fix your credit score.
- Learn about credit dispute letters.
- Learn how to improve your credit score.
- Receive a debt validation letter.
- Remove collections from your credit report.
- Remove inquiries from your credit report.
- Remove late payments from your credit report.
- Manage many other credit-related tasks and challenges.
DoNotPay is fast, easy, and reliable. You have enough stress on your plate as you deal with the challenges of an inaccurate or low credit report. Let DoNotPay take on some of those challenges on your behalf.
Check Out Our Clean Credit Report Tool Today
If you need to remove an unjust medical bill from your credit report, DoNotPay is here to help. Check out our credit repair tools today to learn more about , how to clean up your credit report, and more.