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Determine what you can afford to pay each month and how long it will take to retire the debt, and gather documentation of your income and assets to illustrate your financial situation. You

want to work out a payment plan that is realistic and fits your needs. MEDICAL CREDIT CARDS Designed to pay for qualifying health care expenses, medical credit cards might be offered by a

hospital, doctor or other provider as a way of breaking down your bills into monthly payments. You can often get a promotional offer of zero percent interest for the first six months to two

years, or no interest on large expenditures, say, more than $200, if you pay them in full over a set period.  For patients facing medical debt for elective surgeries or hit with bills that,

while unexpected, are within their means, using a medical credit card can be a solid strategy, says Diane Pearson, a wealth adviser in Pittsburgh. “Rather than take a big chunk out of your

savings or investment account, you can pay over time out of monthly income without paying interest, leaving your nest egg intact to continue to grow,” she says. Still, some reasons to be

wary: • SURPRISE INTEREST. Be sure you can pay off the balance during the prescribed no-interest period. Most medical credit cards have what’s known as deferred interest: If you don’t pay

off the original balance in time, you are charged retroactive interest on that full amount, often at higher-than-usual interest rates. • HIGH LATE FEES. Be sure you can make the regular

payments on time. Late fees are stiff, and you might lose the zero percent interest rate. • NO FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. Medical credit card debt is still credit card debt. If you put your bill

on a medical credit card, you will no longer qualify for tools available for medical debt, like hospital financial assistance. Medical debt is also treated less severely than credit card

debt in credit scoring. CROWDFUNDING For years now, fundraising websites have been a go-to for people facing big medical bills. GoFundMe hosts more than 250,000 medical campaigns a year. A

NerdWallet survey of four other crowdfunding sites — FundRazr, GiveForward, Plumfund and Red Basket — found that 41 percent of their campaigns were related to health care costs. But success

can be elusive. In the NerdWallet study, only one in nine medical campaigns met their financial goal. On GoFundMe, the average medical fundraiser brings in 40 percent of the requested

dollars, according to a University of Washington study. Beneficiaries get to keep what they raise even if it falls short of the goal. The best way to meet a medical crowdfunding goal may be

having a close relative or friend sponsor the fundraising for you. “Those campaigns are often the most successful,” Plumfund cofounder Sara Margulis says. Also, be specific about what the

money is being used for. And be open about other ways you’ve tried to deal with the debt and why they didn’t work. “When you tell people that you’ve tried everything and now you’re appealing

to them, that can really motivate people to help,” Margulis says. TAPPING ASSETS Tapping your home equity or retirement accounts to pay off heavy medical debt can be tempting, but the

pitfalls can be serious. As with medical credit cards, you are giving up the protections that come with debt classified as medical. In addition, these forms of borrowing can be expensive and

risky.