You may be feeling the pinch of the credit crunch.  Going to the doctor may be more of a burden than ever before.  What happens if you can’t pay your medical bills.  Believe it or not most medical providers will work with you on payment.  Once you go into collections you position to negotiate gets even better.  From the medical providers point of view, they are already faced with millions of dollars in uncollected medical payments.  They will most likely be willing to take something rather than nothing.  If you are in collections I would save up and see if they will take a lump sum payment.

Hire A Debt Negotiator

If you are uncomfortable with trying to settle your own collection accounts you can hire a debt negotiator.  A debt negotiator will work with the creditor to negotiator to reduce the amount of the debt that you have to pay back.  Often the fees of the debt negotiator will be included in the settlement.  Typically a good debt negotiator will save you 40-60 cents on the dollar.  Just be sure that you get a release for the amount of the debt that you are not going to pay back.

Make Sure To Get A Release From The Creditor

You do not want the creditor to come back later and say that you owe them more money.  The other precaution you could take would be to just put the terms of the settlement on the back of the check.  So when they endorse it and cash the check, the canceled check will serve as your release.  If you ever have a problem in the future with the creditor, your canceled check will service as proof of payment in full.