07 Mar I don’t think this medical bill is mine. What can I do?

Q. I received a medical bill that I don’t think is mine, and I’ve been fighting with the company for six months. I don’t want it to hurt my credit. Should I just pay?
— Concerned

A. If you do not believe this is your debt, you should not pay it.

But you have some work to do.

First, let’s go over what’s changed with medical debt and your credit report.

As of July 2022, medical debt will no longer be reported on credit reports until it is at least 180 days past due, said Karina Lucid, a bankruptcy attorney with Lucid Law in Bridgewater.

She said the change is designed to give consumers more time to deal with medical bills and reduce the impact of medical debt on credit scores.

“Up until now, since it sounds like you are just now reaching that 180 day mark, it should not have been reported or affecting your credit,” she said.

In addition, if the debt is $500 or less, in the first half of 2023, those debts will be coming off everyone’s credit reports, Lucid said. So, if the debt is under $500 you may not have anything to worry about at all.

“If the creditor has not provided you with information sufficient to prove the debt, you can, and probably should, dispute it with the credit bureaus to ensure they do not continue to report it as a bad debt on your balance sheet,” she said.

To dispute the debt, you can do it online, but Lucid said you shouldn’t.

“It seems great because it’s so easy, but it’s almost a certainty your dispute will be denied,” she said.

Simple items can be disputed by phone, such as excess addresses, wrong names, excess phone numbers, and wrong employment histories, she said.

If you need to take further steps, the next thing to do is to write a letter to the credit bureaus to dispute the debt.

“Contrary to popular belief, you do not want these letters to sound lawyerly and be full of `legalese,’” she said. “They should be friendly and draw empathy/sympathy.”

She recommends your letter be handwritten — but legible — and preferably be written on cardstock – not copy paper.

“These letters actually get opened by, and responded to by, humans — at least as of the date of this writing,” she said. “So, you want to try and draw the understanding of the person reading your letter. Remember, if you dispute online, only a `bot’ will see your communication, and it will use a pre-set algorithm to decide your case.”

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This story was originally published on March 7, 2023.

NJMoneyHelp.com presents certain general financial planning principles and advice, but should never be viewed as a substitute for obtaining advice from a personal professional advisor who understands your unique individual circumstances.