here is what i found out

MinM

The hospital said the only discounts they are offering is 25% off, if you pay in full.

Also, I owe more than I thought I did. <- How this happened, I have NO idea. Very rarely are my estimates incorrect.

I could pay the balance off, in full, but it would be about half of our savings....but I would be debt free (aside from student loan debt, which will follow me around forever).

Decisions......decisions.......

pegasuskat

If they tell you they are giving a discount to pay in full you need to say I really wanted to pay if off but don't have that much. I owed about $6000 after my open heart surgery, and really didn't have enough in savings. They ended up getting mine down to about 2500 if I paid. Just make sure they send you the amount they will accept in full. If you hold out, they will keep coming down.

MinM

We'll see what kind of money we might get for xmas. What cheeses me, we are going to get things we don't need because my sister demands on gift giving, and we can't even return them for money and more....all you can get is store credit.

I told her to wrap up a check made out to the hospital.

TheDuckis

What is the interest rate on the hospital debt? If it's higher than the interest rate on your savings account, you're better off paying the debt.

GBCK

I thought they couldn't charge interest on medical debt...

 

TheDuckis

GBCK:

I thought they couldn't charge interest on medical debt...

 

Really? If that's the case, pay that baby off as slowly as possible. 

MinM

There isn't any interest, which is a good thing. However, it does result in an extra payment that I have to make every month. I would rather put that money into savings.

Butter Cookie

PK is right, don't immediately pay this off. They should come down. They're offering 25% but they will take less. You can get them down if you keep going up the ladder. Also, I would ask for an itemized bill.

TheDuckis

But if you pay it off all at once you're actually losing the interest from your savings account for the amount of time it takes to replenish the savings. If you can pay it off no interest, you're much better off paying a small amount monthly and continuing to collect interest on your money for as long as possible.

I know savings account interest is fairly negligible, but if you invested the money in bonds or an IRA it could be significant.