We received a great question from Paul in Dallas this week about medical bills and credit reports:

My wife submitted health claims to an insurance company that no longer covered our medical bills.  Those bills are now in the collection status and I have great concern about their impact on my credit report.  This happened at a time that I was in-between jobs and no longer had the proper coverage.  The collection notices we received are addressed to her with a C/O to me.  She did give them my name and Social Security number since I was (when the policy was effective) the main policy holder.  We have negotiated with some of the doctors to pay in installments. Others want the full amount. Can they report the status of the collection accounts against my credit report?

The easiest solution is for Paul to check his credit reports online and see if the medical collections are actually appearing on his report. He can order all three of his credit reports in just a few minutes online without causing any damage to his credit scores.

The tricky part is figuring out if the collection account should be on his credit reports. Since Paul was the primary insurance policy holder, the ultimate responsibility for the debt would have fallen to him. But since he wasn&39;t actually insured at the time, I don&39;t think this applies.

However, Texas is a community property state and that means that Paul and his wife share financial responsibility for medical bills. This would suggest that the collectors could come after him for the medical debt. You can read more about consumer debt collection rights in this article.

If the collection account is appearing on his credit report, there is not much he can do. Collection records remain on credit files for 7 years from the date of the last 180-day late payment on the original account. Paying the account does not cause the collection to be removed from credit reports.

If Paul&39;s health care providers have not yet sold the accounts to collections, I highly recommend that he find a way to pay the bill before they do sell it off and it destroys his credit. When it comes to medical bills, it is often a good idea to pay first and ask questions later.

Do you have some advice for Paul? Or a question about credit? Share your feedback in the comments section below!