 TITLE: How to Get Help Paying Medical Bills CONTENT: Monitor Your Credit for Medical Collections\n-------------------------------------------\nGenerally, medical bills don't get reported to the credit bureaus unless your account is sent to collections. But even then, medical collections are treated differently than other types of collections. The credit bureaus wait 180 days before allowing medical debts to appear on credit reports, giving you time to correct errors and sort out payments from your insurance provider.\nAdditionally, recent versions of common credit scoring models give less weight to unpaid medical collections than other types of collections. After all, unlike some other types of debt, you don't get to choose whether you get sick.\nStill, it can be important to monitor your credit reports for unexpected changes, and to check your score before applying for a new loan or credit score. Fortunately, you can get a free FICO® Score☉ from Experian, along with free Experian credit report monitoring. END