Hi, I'm a college student, recently I've been treated at emgercency room
twice because I had panic attack epsoids and my hearts beating like
crazy.  They did all sorts of tests and couldn't find any problem. 
Later on everything sums up I have to pay off $4000 dollars of bill,
my family's health insurance policy have a $5000 ductable, so I have
to pay all these bills off.  I don't have money to pay off this bill and
I'm wondering if it would be okay I just leave them unpaid?

Now I set up a monthly payment plan for a $3000 bill, and the
remaining $1000 I just can't do anything about them and am planning to
leave them unpaid.  I'm a foreiner and I don't know too much about
credit law in USA.  Will this makes me impossible to rent a house or
car?    Can I pay the $1000 dollars off at a later period and mark it
on my credit report says "paid off"?

Thank you for answering my question.

YOu would want to pay it as soon as possible. Paying the bill later
will show up on your credit report as a slow pay. And not paying it at
all will throw a big red flag your way. If you have payment arangments
with them then just keep paying and on time. This will defintely
effect your credit rating which some times landlords do check credit
reports. And in buying a car your credit rating will also be checked.

First off, hospitals have gotten a lot of bad press lately due to how
they charge/collect on uninsured patients. Even though you're
technically not uninsured, you still have a big bill that's your
responsiblity.

Since you're a college student, I would first check with your
college's student services department. They can likely provide you
with legal counseling, or possibly have you talk with someone
specializing in international students.

Once you've explored resources available to you through your college,
you can then contact the hospital. Generally, they will negotiate and
lower bills if you can commit to a payment plan. Especially if you
have a representative from your college with you while you talk to
them, I suspect the hospital would be willing to make a deal.

You DO NOT want to leave this unpaid. It will hurt your credit for a
long time to come. Make sure you keep records of your payments, so you
can apply those against your deductible if you have future health
problems.

Hi financeeco,

I think the hospital already turned the bill to the bill collector and
they had never called me, all they send to me is two letters said they
are going to write something on my credit report.

Thank you for you guys reply, I much appriciated them.

Li

Even if the bill has been turned over to a collection agency, I
believe the Hospital can still do something about it. I may be wrong
though. Either way, I strongly advise you talk to someone in Student
Services at your college.