How to Deal with Medical Debt & Why It’s Different

iLona Anderson, Esq.
3 min readSep 21, 2023
Image Credit: Depositphotos

Medical debt is one of those problems which nearly anyone can encounter. As we know, accidents happen, and sometimes accidents can put us in the hospital and lead to a large medical bill. Other times, we may fall ill and need serious medical attention in order to recuperate from this illness. If you break your arm, either by playing sports, or in a car accident, or through some other means, you can easily rack up a medical bill in the high 5 figures if you lack insurance. The costs from the surgery, anesthesia, professional staff, and other items can quickly add up. Even if you have insurance, you may still incur a large bill just from the uncovered portion; or, you might be unlucky and require the assistance that isn’t covered by your insurance provider. If you happen to fall into medical debt for whatever reason, you may be left scratching your head as to how you’ll climb out. In this post, we’re going to talk about the various ways that you can go about dealing with medical debt, and how this debt differs from other debts.

Medical Debt is Unsecured Debt

One of the key things to be aware of is the fact that your medical debt is “unsecured.” This just means that there is no collateral backing the debt; in this way, medical debt is similar to credit card debt. When you incur medical debt, the debt is for services…

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iLona Anderson, Esq.

Trademark & Employment Attorney. Mom. Wife. Spiritual seeker. Book worm. Health nut. Vegan cooking enthusiast. TKD Black Belt. Avid meditator. Lifelong learner.