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In the U.S. - it happens a lot. Here's an example of a medical bill for a complicated delivery - almost $1.2M.In fact, the sheer # of million dollar medical bills is on the rise. Here's the chart for just one area of one state - Northern California.The hospital tries to collect as much as it can from the patient - up to and including taking the patient to court - which they do a lot.Tort Reform Arrives to Healthcare - Sue the PatientPatients can’t pay - so the amount winds up as debt on their credit report. Medical debt in the U.S. remains a leading cause of personal bankruptcy. From the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [1] come these sobering statistics:Half of all overdue debt on credit reports is from medical debt: A staggering 52 percent of all debt on credit reports is from medical expenses. When a debt is past due, a collector may report the consumer’s account to a credit reporting agency. On the consumer’s report, this item would appear as an account in collections, resulting in a credit score drop.One out of five credit reports contains overdue medical debt: Today’s study found that one out of five credit reports contain medical debt in collections. This means that 43 million Americans have unpaid medical debt adversely affecting their credit report.15 million consumers have only medical debt on their credit reports: Seven percent of all consumers have medical debt and no other collection items on their reports. These 15 million consumers tend to be more reliable bill payers than consumers with other types of collections on their credit reports. They are much more likely to be consumers who normally meet their debt obligations.Average reported medical debt is $579: The average unpaid, non-medical collections item on a credit report is $1,000; the median is $366. Unpaid medical collections are smaller, with an average of $579 and a median of $207. These figures contrast with the much larger amounts that are due on credit cards or student loans that are seriously delinquent. Such accounts average several thousand dollars.From the hospital/provider point of view, the debt is moved into a category called "uncompensated care." That chart has been steadily rising for decades.Uncompensated care is then off-loaded to all of us as higher hospital rates - which in turn causes health insurance premiums to rise.In a word - it's a mess - but contrary to the belief of many - the system isn't broken.This slide was delivered to an audience at a healthcare conference - by a surgeon - in Washington, D.C. (November, 2014).[1] CFPB Spotlights Concerns with Medical Debt Collection and Reporting > Newsroom > Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Question: I received an eviction notice from an apartment I moved out of 6 months ago. What can I do?You need to:Call the apartment manager or leasing agent to find out what’s going on - They sent you a notice at your new location, so they have to know that you no longer live there. If they refuse to answer your calls or messages, then take the matter to whatever agency governs renter/landlord relations in your area and file a complaint.Check all three of your credit reports - Determine if someone is using your credit fraudulently and start the processes involved with cases of identity theft (File a police report, file fraud reports on your credit reports, file an FTC complaint, etc.)Check your charge accounts/bank accounts - Look for any suspicious transactions. File reports if you find any.IF your former landlord does get back to you - Have them send the paperwork over demonstrating that you finished your previous lease and that you have not signed a new one. If they do have a new lease that they are claiming that you “signed” make certain that they will provide a copy of it you. Demand (do not ask) that they postpone the eviction process if you are not the occupant of the property, nor did not sign the lease. Hint that you may have to involve an attorney.If the landlord is non responsive - Hire an attorney and explain the situation to him or her. Don’t lie or exaggerate. Ask them how you should proceed.Keep all copies of any documentation that you may obtain - Give out only copies; retain all of the originals for yourself.

Experian, TransUnion and Equifax also know as the big three and not the only three credit reporting agencies in The United States. They’re just the biggest according to consumer data industry association, an International Trade organization that represents credit reporting agencies says there are dozens of smaller regional and industry-specific credit bureaus that provide clients with credit reports and other risk management services. There are also many international credit reporting agencies that focus on one country or region. The big three get all the attention because they maintain the largest national databases of consumer credit information. Experian for example boasts that it maintains credit information on 215 million American Consumers; that’s over two-thirds of the total U.S population.The big three perform two basic services; Collecting and Reporting credit information. Here is how the big three: they collect information every month from lending institutions and other creditors, send updated consumer credit information to one or more of the big three credit report agencies. This information includes how much individual consumers are and whether they make their payments on time. Whenever you fill out an application for a credit card or a loan, all of that information like income figures is also sent to the credit reporting agencies. The big three also scallop public records for financial information such as court records from bankruptcies and foreclosures. The same lending institution that supply information to credit reporting agencies also request reports when a consumer applies for credit. individual consumers can request copies of their credit reports and credit scores as well.Here is how credit reporting agencies share information with consumers and creditors. Credit reporting agencies only shares credit reports and scores when there’s a request formally called an inquiry. There are two kinds of inquiries, hard and soft. Hard inquiries are requests made by institutional creditors like credit card companies and mortgage lenders and by rental applications to a landlord.Soft inquiries are made by the consumer himself by an employer. Negative events like bankruptcies and foreclosures stays on a credit report between seven and ten years while positive events like on time mortgage payments can stay on even longer. It’s important to remember that the big three credit reporting agencies are independent companies that each collect information in different ways therefore a credit report from Experian will contain slightly different information than a credit report from TransUnion which will differ slightly from Equifax. Not every creditor and lending institution reports to all three credit bureaus leading to further discrepancies.