Credit score Q&A: “Do medical bills affect credit score?”
This is a pretty common question, as medical billing always seems to get messy.
More often than not, a medical bill pops up seemingly out of nowhere, despite the fact that you paid it months or even years ago.
The problem is that medical billing is often processed by different companies, and doctors/hospitals have their charges, while a lab or another service provider may have their own.
Got a Medical Collection?
Enter the erroneous medical collection on your credit report, which pushes your good credit score into average credit score territory.
The worst part is you probably had no idea about it’s existence until you went to apply for a credit card or another type of loan, only to find out that your perfect credit score isn’t so.
This is a typical scenario, and one you should watch out for, especially if you’ve knowingly had a lot of medical billing in the past.
Not knowing what’s on your credit report could come back to haunt you when it comes time to apply for a mortgage or an auto loan.
All the more reason why you should know all 3 credit scores long before applying for a loan, assuming you need to dispute the medical bills in question.
In closing, medical bills typically aren’t reported to the credit reporting agencies unless they’re late or in collection, or worse, charge-off status.
At that point, your credit score will be in great danger.
So stay on top of all your medical bills, get payment confirmations in writing, and save all your paperwork in a safe location.
It may be needed if a credit report dispute is necessary down the line.