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Former Collectors Advise What to Say When Medical Debt Collectors Call - YouTube
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- The other thing is, they
don't aways get the bills.
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So they can't really
talk to you about the--
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- [Trevor] What it's for.
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- about the actual itemized billing.
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- [Judy] They can't even tell you--
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- So, how are they going
to talk to you about a bill
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if you have a question?
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- [Judy] Right.
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- I've seen it happen
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where you don't even
get the original bills,
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for whatever reason, you
thought insurance covered it,
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you don't know, you didn't, I don't know,
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maybe you moved, maybe they
had your wrong address,
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you never get those original bills,
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and then all of a sudden,
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you get this nasty letter
from a collection agency
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that we're gonna garnish
your wages, we're gonna--
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- It happens a lot on
lab work, especially.
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- What are some things that people can do
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when they find themselves
in this situation,
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where, collectors are coming after them,
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they don't even know what it's for,
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it seems really high, how
do they negotiate that?
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- As a very former bill collector,
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who knows the ins and outs,
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the very first thing you
do is deny everything.
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Deny it all.
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I want proof.
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I want an itemized list,
I want every single dollar
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accounted for, and I'm disputing the bill,
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because you're given thirty days
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in which to dispute a bill,
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after that it's presumed to be justified.
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But you should also do,
once you dispute it,
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is stay in communication,
stay in conversation.
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Most people don't like to
talk to bill collectors--
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- [Craig] No.
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- Believe it or not,
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bill collectors don't like
to talk to bill collectors.
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So, if what you're able to do
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is get into a conversation
with that person,
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you'll find out that their job
is to correct misinformation,
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to do the things right,
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so that you can be in a position
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to complete your obligation.
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So these are not the bad guys,
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they're just doing the best that they can
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with what they've got too.
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- Every bill is negotiable.
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Every bill.
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What you should negotiate,
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if you're not going to a hospital,
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if you're going to a doctor,
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should negotiate before
he delivers the service.
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If you don't have insurance,
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and like 10% of the people
don't have insurance, right?
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You go to a doctor, you say,
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"What does your best
insurance company pay you?
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"I want to pay that."
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They're not gonna,
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why would they not do the
usual and customary charge
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for you, if you don't have insurance,
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and they'll even put a payment
plan in place, most likely.
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- Doctors are the most wonderful,
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they went into their
careers to make people well,
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not to cause further harm,
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so a doctor's office will work
with you very, very, hard,
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to make things happen for you.
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- [Travis] As opposed to
other people in healthcare--
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(all laughing)
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- [Travis] Is that what you're saying?
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- There are others, there are others.
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- What I love is you
are changing the game.
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- [Judy] Yeah.
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- And even in this conversation,
what I've learned is,
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if a hospital is willing to
sell a $1 debt for two cents,
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if you get them before they
sell that for two cents,
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you might be able to
get your slate cleared
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for five cents, on the dollar.
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Right?
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- [Judy] Right.
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- [Travis] There is a
negotiating power there.
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- It depends on your situation,
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like, I tell people, you
should take your gross income,
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and take two or three
percent of that gross income.
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That is all you should pay all year long
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for out-of-pocket medical expenses,
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or the debt that you owe.
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And that's it!
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- [Jerry] Ideally, yes.
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- Now they might keep coming after you,
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but you gotta tell them, I can't pay.
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I don't have any assets.
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15 million people just
used all of their assets,
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and they have no more assets,
so what are they gonna do?
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They gotta talk to the
doctor, talk to the hospital,
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and say, or the collector,
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say, "This is what I can pay."
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"I have five debts.
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"I'm gonna pay you equally,
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"and I'm only,"
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you got $50,000, you're talking
about $80, or something.
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- What we're learning here
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is that collectors want something.
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- [Judy] Right.
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- And if you work with
them and talk with them
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there's a chance you can
get your credit score
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and all of that fixed,
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by talking and paying
much lower than you owe,
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but when you don't, if
you're unable to communicate,
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the bills start coming in,
that's when you run into trouble.
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