Do medical bills really affect my credit report?

I have a few medical bills on my credit report but I here they do affect your credit and some people say they don't. Does anyone know the answer or can direct me to the correct website to get an answer. I am trying to clean up my credit but I don't know what to do about these bills. Some of them I can't even find out who to pay because it doesn't have a collection agency address/number to contact. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.

Do medical bills really affect my credit report?
YES, they do but you are protected under the HIPPA act. This is a LAW that mandates the way the medical companies are billing you. Up until recently there was really no great way of storing medical data. So, I would consult with a credit repair firm to see what they can do. Or challange them yourself if you have time. www.waterfieldcredit.com
Reply:If there are medical bill collections on your report, this is hurting your credit. However, some creditors don't consider medical bills as harshly.





You can try to negotiate settlement for less and get a delete for payment. Send a letter offering 25% if over 3 years old; 50% if less. Request an authorized agent ofthe collection agency sign and return a copy of your letter, indicting acceptance of your settlement offer. Upon receipt of the sign off, send the payment. Don't give them direct access to your bank account.





If you have the name of the collection agency but no address, try googling them. Send a certified, return reciept letter requesting validation of the debt first to make sure that collection agency still owns the debt.





Make a settlement offer if they validate the debt. If they fail to validate within 30 days, dispute the debt with the credit bureau with a copy of your validation request, indicating that they failed to validate the debt. The credti bureau should remove the item.
Reply:Not as much as other collections do. I got a home equity loan and my lender said that I just had a few medical bills and it didn't really weigh that much. Every place knows that sometimes you have to have medical treatment and you don't have a choice, so medical bills are forgiven or looked past then other types of bills.
Reply:if they've gone to collections, then yes they do affect your credit.





the good news is that you can settle what you owe for less.





the bad news is that (like with other debt) it'll stay on your report for a while.





if you give out your social security number, it can affect your credit. period.
Reply:Yes it does affect your credit score. The best option would be contacting a debt consolidation company. They provide bills consolidation and they would contact the collection agency on your behalf. http://ezconsolidation.com is one of the reliable company for debt consolidation.
Reply:Here is the link you requested





http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/sear...
Reply:Here is a article to fix your problem.


http://www.creditscorequick.com/2008/01/...
Reply:Any negative entrys on your credit report will affect you. So try to figure out a way to get these off.
Reply:Yes It Does But Not As Bad As Other,
Reply:Big Time
Reply:yes,it does affect your score