Can a hospital charge you interest on an unpaid medical bill?

Answer

The short answer is, "Yes". The hospital or its biller (who likely bought your debt) for just under cost) may charge interest of certain percentage depending on the state, usually around eight percent (minimum), depending on credit scores and/or their whim as allowed by law. You should look this up in a search engine rather than asking a site like this here: search 'medical billing interest charges' or something like that in Google and you'll find plenty of hits. Each state has its own laws, though, and these are unfortunately hard to find.


The law and the courts see it thusly, that a provider could be investing, gaining interest, or in some way putting their money to use to their benefit, which their debtors are therefore depriving them of; the nice thing about hospitals, though, is they are often understanding, and far more willing to negotiate reasonably than other types of creditors are. Just paying some money is not enough, either, to prevent their passing-on of the debt to a collection agency: you can't pay five bucks a month on a thousand debt--as a judge would tell you; two hundred, on the other hand, they might go for, (probably a little more, though).