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Can Medical Bills Go on Your Credit Report?

By Erica Block

Erica Block

Erica Block was an Editorial Fellow. She combines her interest in healthcare policy with her penchant for creating online content.

Updated on January 21st, 2021

Reviewed by Diane Omdahl

Diane Omdahl Expert Reviewer

Diane Omdahl has been helping people navigate the complexities of Medicare for more than three decades. She is a nationally recognized Medicare expert, a registered nurse, serial entrepreneur, and has served as a technical expert for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (the organization that runs the Medicare program). She is a frequent speaker on Medicare-related issues. She has been featured in many national publications, including the Washington Post, CBS MoneyWatch, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal Market Watch, Kiplinger, and many more. Her most recent startup, 65 Incorporated, helps people 65 and older get the clear, correct, complete, and credible information they need to make important Medicare decisions. She is also the architect behind the i65 Medicare optimization software suite. i65 enables financial advisors to help clients make smart Medicare decisions.

In this Article

How Do Medical Bills Get on Your Credit Report? When Will Medical Bills Show Up on Your Credit Report? Assessing Your Coverage Options

We want to help you make educated healthcare decisions. While this post may have links to lead generation forms, this won’t influence our writing. We adhere to strict editorial standards to provide the most accurate and unbiased information.

Yes. That’s right — unpaid medical bills go on your credit report and can potentially hurt your credit score. Medical expenses actually account for a significant percentage of bankruptcy filings in the United States.

While doctors and hospitals don’t report debts to consumer credit bureaus, it’s fairly common for healthcare providers to turn over an unpaid debt to third-party collection agencies who will share this information. When this happens, your failure to pay a bill will affect one of the most important factors in determining your credit score: your payment history.

How Do Medical Bills Get on Your Credit Report?

Let’s say you have yet to pay the bill from your most recent visit to the dermatologist. If the bill remains unpaid for long enough, your doctor may turn over your unpaid debt to a collections agency; in all likelihood, a collector will then contact you in an effort to get you to pay up. At this point, your credit report may indicate your unpaid bill as having gone to collections.

The extent to which medical debt can affect your credit score depends on the type of scoring model used by a potential creditor to check your creditworthiness. FICO 8, the scoring model which many lenders rely on, records all collections, regardless of whether the charges were eventually paid. That is to say, even if you eventually paid off your debt, your credit report may reflect that the bill you paid off went to collections. Collections accounts can take up to seven years to drop off your credit report, although the impact on your credit score will lessen over time. FICO 9, which is the newest scoring model, puts less weight upon medical debt but is not as widely used as FICO 8.

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When Will Medical Bills Show Up on Your Credit Report?

As of September 15, 2017, the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – must allow a 180-day waiting period to elapse adding unpaid medical debts to people’s credit reports. The waiting period affords patients/policyholders some time to resolve outstanding medical bills with their healthcare and insurance providers.

If you’re having a difficult time paying for medical bills, or if you find yourself underinsured, there are several free or discounted healthcare options that may be available to you.

Yes. That’s right — unpaid medical bills go on your credit report and can potentially hurt your credit score. Medical expenses account for 66.5% of all bankruptcies in the United States, researchers found.

While doctors and hospitals don’t report debts to consumer credit bureaus, it’s fairly common for healthcare providers to turn over an unpaid debt to third-party collection agencies that will share this information. When this happens, your failure to pay a bill will affect one of the most important factors in determining your credit score: your payment history.

Assessing Your Coverage Options

If you’re having a difficult time paying for medical bills, or if you find yourself underinsured, there are several free or discounted healthcare options that may be available to you.

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