Okay first let me start by saying that i just turned 20 years old. I have noo previous experience with stuff like this. In school they never thought me how to approach a situation like this. I feel lost and scared D: so I went to the hospital and I ended up with a $2000 bill. But I ignored it. I thought I was able to pay in a few weeks. Then about 2 weeks later I receive a letter saying my bill was sent to a collection agency. They call me but I freak out and hang up. I just dont know what to do. So now what? Where do I pay the bill? Will I also owe money to the collection agency? When i research online it freaks me out because they say this is a horrible thing. Pleaseeeee help. The hospital is no help.

Btw I DO have the money to pay the bill. I

You can negotiate with the credit collection agency. First you have to be sure that they DO have the exact bill that the hospital sent you. If the hospital never sent you a bill it is a scam and don't be frightened.

If you are brave enough--start engaging the bill collector and seeing just what the threats they are leveling at you are. Ask dumb things like what were the dates? I forgot. or What is the name of the hospital? Or I thought I already paid that bill.

By law they can only call you one time a day and youcan just hang up or "play". Keep negotiating for a lower payout all the time.

A hospital bill does not get sent to collection in two weeks. You let it slide much longer than that. Ignoring the original bill was your big mistake. Go see the hospital's billing dept to see if there's any way they can pull it back from collection and set you up on a payment plan.

You can try going to the hospital and going to their payments office. You might be able to find someone there who will listen and let you pay your bill now. But you should have done that when you first got the bill and couldn't pay it right away. So it must have been a long time ago as they sent it to collections. Go talk with the hospital first, they may be able to help.

Worked in medical billing for a few years, no way does a hospital bill get sent to collections in two weeks. I think your whole story is bogus

Go to the hospital and pay the bill.

So, pay the bill. Payment instructions are most assuredly right on the damn thing, and the collection agency will also tell you how to resolve this. Pay it, the more you let this slide, the more your credit history is ******. It already is damaged due to your lack of attention to this detail.

Don't pay the collection agency since they purchase your bill on a chance you would pay them.

Either call the hospital and ask them, or hang onto the money and wait to hear from the collection agency.

You now have to pay the collection agency - who will have added their own fees to the amount you owe. The longer you put it off, the more it is going to cost you.,