Many turning to social platforms for help with medical debt

With over a third of 2015 crowdfunding campaigns focused on medical debt, some Florida residents have certainly had to turn to this social platform in a desperate attempt to deal with health care costs. A NerdWallet study looked at this phenomenon and found that only one in ten of the campaigns started actually reached their goal and gained funding.

The study looked at five popular crowdfunding sites to find that the average request for medical debt funding was $15,721. These campaigns made up 41 percent of all campaigns in 2015. Though donations to campaigns may be delivered in part, only 10 percent were seen to reach their goals.

Those who are unable to pay their health care bills have a choice of entering delinquency, negotiating a repayment plan directly with creditors or filing for bankruptcy. An official with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling stated that negotiation is the best first step for anyone facing a bill they cannot pay. If this fails, Chapter 13 bankruptcy is considered as a superior alternative to allowing medical debt to be sent to a collection agency. Filing for bankruptcy does hurt credit, but the dip in the credit score is less and clears faster than long-term delinquency.

Many Florida residents find unpaid bills to be psychologically intimidating even without creditor harassment. The intimidation can lead away from solutions, such as establishing realistic repayment plans, to the absolute worst option, which is ignoring bills altogether. a lawyer with experience with experience in bankruptcy and other forms of debt relief may be able to guide those with medical debt through the available alternatives.