What happens if I choose not to pay a $600 bill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you're 45 and not a toddler, why risk your credit for a measley $600?

+1

They can (and 100% will) send the bill to collections, which will damage your credit. While I understand the frustration, it simply is not worth damaging your credit over such a "small amount"

And I say this as someone who once fought a medical bill for over 2 years. It was when my kid was born. The hospital tacked on a $150 "admission charge" for when I had my kid. They way it's coded, it was definately not going to be covered by insurance (I was at a hospital in network for my health insurance). I argued that perhaps the 2 nights stay in the hospital where they charge me each night for the room/stay should include the "being admitted charge", and that this was just a way for them to get an extra $150 for each pregnant person admitted to the hospital (or any person really) because the hospital wants more than the rate they negotiated with insurance. They know you have no choice but to ultimately pay this (or ruin your credit) and they know insurance wont touch it, as it's billed as "admission charge" so the hospital can charge it and make you pay.

So I fought it for almost 2 years, thru every avenue I could. But once I was informed it was going to collections, I paid it. Because it's not worth ruining the credit (and quite frankly wasn't worth the effort to fight it either, but I'm stubborn and did so based on principle and others for whom $150 is a big deal).

[Anonymous]

You can fight the bill through the proper channels but you can’t just declare yourself right and not pay it.

[Anonymous]

It just depends how much you care about your credit score. The bank foreclosed on one of my houses and it didn't damage my credit as much as you would think. I also didn't really need credit for anything, so it wasn't really much of an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They could sue you and then at some other point you may have to disclose if there are any lawsuits against you. Also, they may sic their collection agency on you with disturbing phone calls.

Oh, so scary!

A lawsuit for $600

And I welcome calls from debt collectors. It's so much fun to harass them and ask all sorts of perverted questions about their mother, sister, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe that a medical facility is engaging in fraudulent charges but after many phone calls, I owe them $600. I can “afford” to pay them but don’t want considering they already got thousands from insurance for a service received. I already have a mortgage and excellent credit. I don’t want my credit to tank because of this but I’m 45 and have decades of great credit in my portfolio. If I let this bill linger and never pay, how much could this affect my finances?

Your credit score doesn't really matter.

[Anonymous]

What did your insurance company say? If you think you don’t owe it under the terms of your insurance, you deal with insurance. They will take it up with the facility. I have done this a lot with extra bills from covered facilities.

[Anonymous]

Trumpo supposedly made it where medical debt (legit or not) doesn't affect your credit score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They could sue you and then at some other point you may have to disclose if there are any lawsuits against you. Also, they may sic their collection agency on you with disturbing phone calls.

Oh, so scary!

A lawsuit for $600

And I welcome calls from debt collectors. It's so much fun to harass them and ask all sorts of perverted questions about their mother, sister, etc.

Genuinely curious why you would do that to some poor person trying to do their job. Just pay your bills and don’t ask weird sexually aggressive questions to the poor person on the phone.

[Anonymous]

OP, did you not receive all services billed? That is fraud tell your insurance.
Do you have an EOB explanation of benefits for the services? Look at it. If you don't understand ask insurance company. The portals are good or call
Do they say the provider can bill you $600? If not send them a copy of the bill and they can reach out to provider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could have the debt reported to the credit bureaus, which will likely lower your score.

https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2025/07/31/federal-court-reverses-federal-medical-debt-protections

I don't know how much it would push your score down, that information is seemingly impossible to find. It's possible they won't report it, and if it was lowered under $500, they can't report it.

A lower score possibly could affect your insurance rate, or ability to get a new car loan, for instance. But say a 20-30 point drop is unlikely to have a meaningful impact. Something over a 50 point drop could have those affects, but again not sure how much that unpaid debt would affect your score.

That’s right. Med debt under $500 or less than 1 year delinquent is not reported. So you can pay $100 if you want to avoid reporting. Or why not negotiate it down to $100?

No longer true. Thanks, Trump.

Trump administration has nothing to do with the $500 medical debt reporting. It is a voluntary choice of credit reporting agencies and not the cfpb rule that was struck down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They could sue you and then at some other point you may have to disclose if there are any lawsuits against you. Also, they may sic their collection agency on you with disturbing phone calls.

Oh, so scary!

A lawsuit for $600

And I welcome calls from debt collectors. It's so much fun to harass them and ask all sorts of perverted questions about their mother, sister, etc.

Genuinely curious why you would do that to some poor person trying to do their job. Just pay your bills and don’t ask weird sexually aggressive questions to the poor person on the phone.

Just pulling your chain. I don’t think op is real.

[Anonymous]

Advise the provider that you dispute the charges. They are obligated to tell any credit agency that the bill is in dispute. So, it won't affect your credit.

If you pay even one dollar, it means you believe the charges are valid.

[Anonymous]

This is the OP. Thank you for all the advice. I definitely wasn’t the poster who said they’d harass the bill collectors. Spreading negativity is the opposite of who I am. I think I will try calling insurance over it. This is just taking up so much time and while I have a job, I make $32 an hour so it’s not like I’m rich. Plus it makes me feel like I’ve been taken advantage of and I don’t like this feeling!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the OP. Thank you for all the advice. I definitely wasn’t the poster who said they’d harass the bill collectors. Spreading negativity is the opposite of who I am. I think I will try calling insurance over it. This is just taking up so much time and while I have a job, I make $32 an hour so it’s not like I’m rich. Plus it makes me feel like I’ve been taken advantage of and I don’t like this feeling!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe that a medical facility is engaging in fraudulent charges but after many phone calls, I owe them $600. I can “afford” to pay them but don’t want considering they already got thousands from insurance for a service received. I already have a mortgage and excellent credit. I don’t want my credit to tank because of this but I’m 45 and have decades of great credit in my portfolio. If I let this bill linger and never pay, how much could this affect my finances?

If you suspect fraud, you can report the facility.

But if you are just pissed off that they're getting so much money from all corners, not paying $600 and ruining your credit to prove a point is pretty much the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

If they get a court judgement about the debt, then they can seize some of your assets - with the sheriff assisting them.