[keis1221]

I honestly don't want to deal with collections and would rather just make my payment directly to the hospital, can I do that ?

[RickJ]

Yes you can. If you're in the US, then all you need to do is give the agency a Cease and Desist letter and they have to stop contacting you.

Just write them a letter saying "cease and desist any any further attempts to contact me".

After receiving that letter, they are allowed only one more contact with you.

This is found in the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

[ScottGem]

I assume the bill has already gone to a collection agency. If so, you can do as Rick advises. If you want to pay in full, then just send a check to the hospital. Include the payment stub from the last bill you got directly from the hospital.

If you aren't going to pay in full, then you will need to contact the hospital billing dept and make a payment arrangement. It is possible, that they will tell you, because they turned it over to an agency, that you have to deal with the agency.

[Fr_Chuck]

But check with the hospital to be sure they did not sell the note.

In some cases the collection agency buys the note, in which case the hospital will no longer own the note to be paid.

Also normally if you have the money, you can make a deal for 1/2 to 3/4 of the full amount as payment in full with the hospital directly.