Patient Billing. Resolved.

Paying a medical bill

Medical bill payment plans.

What your options actually are, what each one costs you, and the questions worth asking before you agree to anything. Written plainly, without assuming you know how medical billing works.

Three ways to spread a medical bill

They are not equivalent, and the cheapest one is usually the one nobody offers you unprompted. Start at the top of this list and work down.

An in-house plan with your provider

The provider agrees to let you pay the balance over time, usually with no interest. This is almost always the cheapest option, because there is no financing charge attached. Most practices will agree to one if you ask.

Usually no added cost

Financial assistance or charity care

Non-profit hospitals are required to offer financial assistance, and many practices have a policy even when they are not required to. Depending on income, part or all of a balance can be reduced. Ask before agreeing to a plan.

Can reduce the balance itself

A third-party medical credit card or loan

A finance company pays the provider and you repay the finance company. Introductory periods are often interest-free, but deferred interest can be charged retroactively on the full original balance if it is not cleared in time.

Read the deferred-interest terms

Before you agree to a plan

Five questions. They take a minute and they routinely change what the balance costs.

1Is this the provider’s own plan, or a third-party finance product? The answer changes whether interest and credit reporting apply.
2Is there interest, and is any of it deferred? Deferred interest can be applied retroactively to the whole original balance.
3Do I qualify for financial assistance? This reduces the balance rather than spreading it, and is worth asking before any plan is agreed.
4Is the bill itemised and correct? Ask for an itemised statement. Billing errors are common, and a corrected bill is cheaper than any plan.
5What happens if I miss a payment? Get the answer in writing along with the rest of the agreement.
For practices

Offering plans is cheaper than collections

A balance a patient cannot pay in one go has three possible endings: a plan, a write-off, or a collections referral that returns a fraction of the balance and costs you the relationship. The plan is usually the best of the three for both sides, and it is the one that requires the least persuasion.

Patriot Pay runs plans in-house rather than referring patients to a finance company. You set the terms, the patient carries no financing charge, and the arrangement stays between you and them. Plans are offered automatically when a balance is large enough to warrant one, tracked against the account, and posted back to your system as payments land.

How patient payment solutions work

Common questions

General information about how medical billing works, not financial or legal advice. Terms vary by provider and by state.