How to handle medical bills

According to the Department of Statistics, only 17 in 100 South Africans have medical aid. They also noted that 7 in every 10 households use public healthcare facilities as their first option if a family member is ill. This points to the fact that healthcare is a huge expense to consumers in the country.

The cost of medical aid 

Medical aid is complicated, because you always want your family to get the best medical care, but with the cost of private medicine in South Africa, this can leave many with large debts over their heads. Even if you have medical aid, a brief stay in hospital or an illness or accident that requires outpatient tests and extended treatment can leave you with a mountain of medical debt to pay.

The Risks of Not Paying Your Medical Bills

If you have no health coverage, your medical bills can far exceed what you can ever afford to pay.

Making matters worse, a growing number of doctors and hospitals responding to their own economic pressures are getting tough on patients who don't or can't pay their medical bills.

Private health institutions often outsource a debt collector, who may get quite aggressive about collecting from you by using the legal process and summonses.

What happens if you do not repay your medical debt?

Defaulting on your medical bills can result in some serious consequences.

It is likely that, at first, the healthcare facility or practitioner will send a debt collector your way. This can be a very scary and intimidating experience, if you are not a debt counselling professional.

If they still do not receive their payment, their actions will become harsher. For example, these practitioners have the ability to request permission from a court to take your property as a payment. They can also have your bank accounts frozen, take your assets, or have a garnishee order put on you.

Another consequence of not paying your medical debt is that the practitioner may refuse treatment to you and your family members. Many, seeing your record as your family’s, will insist on upfront payment before any treatment or consultation.

Luckily, it is not possible to be jailed due to lack of medical debt payment. The law states that you cannot be jailed for civil debts.

What you should do if you have medical bills you cannot pay

It is not uncommon to be faced with the fact that you cannot pay your medical bills. In fact, it is a situation that many South Africans have found themselves in.

If you find that you are unable to pay the full amount owing on the statement, contact the doctors and try and make a payment arrangement and stick to that. Most doctors would prefer to have a small payment rather than nothing at all.

Should your debt be consuming you, however, you will need to take further steps. For example, you could consider Debt Counselling, where a debt expert will assist you in setting up a repayment structure with lower interest rates and better terms. To find out more about this, fill in our contact form for a free call-back and debt assessment. .

Action steps you can take to reduce your medical bills

Here are a few steps you can take to reduce the strain that your medical bills are putting on you.

1. Be sure that the bills are all accurate

When you find errors, get them corrected and get your bills adjusted.

Billing mistakes are likely to be accidental, however be aware of deliberate billing errors. For example, the doctor may use one code to describe the treatment he provided to you but use a different code to charge more for his services.

Studies show that the incidence of hospital fraud is rising. Protect yourself by reviewing every medical bill you receive line by line. Look for overcharges, double billings and charges for care and services you didn't get. If you do not understand your medical bills, call the medical providers billing office and have them explain it to you. Get errors corrected immediately!

2. Make your insurance company pay for everything it should

Find out if any of your bills could be covered by prescribed minimum benefits or anything similar.

If your bills are the result of an accident that someone else caused, get that person's insurance company to pay as many of the bills as possible. If you have medical aid and they refuse to pay one of your medical claims or do not pay as much as you think they should, read your policy to see if you can find the reason for the company's decision.

3. Pursue other options for reducing your debt:

Depending on your income and the total value of your assets, you may have other options for reducing the amount you owe to medical providers.

If your medical bills are the result of a car accident that was not your fault, make sure that the insurance company of the other driver pays as much as possible on the bills. Some hospitals will let you whittle down your debt by doing volunteer work. If this option interests you, speak to a hospital advisor.

4. Negotiate with doctors upfront for discounts

Most doctors get into the profession because they want to help people. As such, many of them will be open to negotiating payment plans, discounts, and other ways to help you get the medical care you need.

While some may reject you, you will never know if you don’t try. Just ask and see what happens.

5. Get Gap Cover

Some medical aids offer Gap Cover which will cover most or all or any amount not covered by your medical aid. Gap cover is designed to give you additional financial protection if you already have medical aid. It is a great way to ensure that you don’t get caught off guard with unexpected fees and debts.

How you can get help with medical bills

If you’re considering taking out a loan to fund your medical bill repayments, we suggest you stop in your tracks. That will only get you further into a spiral of debt.

Get help with medical debt 

Instead, you can approach a debt expert to assist you. For example, when you approach DebtBusters, we will assess your debt. Once we have found that you are in need of help, we will set you up with a new budget and financial plan. Included in this will be a renegotiation of all your debts, their interest rates, and their payback terms. From there, your medical bills will be much easier to pay off.

For further advice on medical debts please contact DebtBusters on 0869 99 06 06!