<prompt> Human: This is an update to this topic: The hospital turned down my offer of 4,000. They want the full amount which went up another 2,500 from my previous post. I do not qualify for any of their assistance programs. Whats worse, I found out they are charging me 7,000 for MRIs that normally cost anyone else 1520. They refuse to give me the latter price. I genuinely want to pay my bill or a fair amount, rather. They say they will send to collections in 4 months. What are my options here? Can I just pay 100month for the next 20 years or whatever? If I do that, can they still send to collections? Im really trying to avoid getting the credit hit. If it does get sent to collections, how much do you think they would pay for a 12,500 bill? Could I offer them the 4,000?Ugh. Hospital is Wooster Community Hospital located in Wooster, Ohio, for anyone wondering.  <response>: I do not qualify for any of their assistance programs. This pretty much gives away the game. Theres really only two ways to negotiate down debt in general: saying that the other side is not entitled to that money and would burn through their money litigating that disputed debt, or saying that youre not able to afford it so they cant squeeze that much out of you anyway.If you have money which it sounds like you do, the providers know that you can afford to pay the bill. They also know that turning the bill over to collections can actually squeeze some hurt out of you, because it will damage your credit score after the debt is more than 6 months past due.So unless youre able to make a convincing argument that you dont actually owe that much, theyre not going to listen to your I cant afford it arguments. 