Will paying on a bill in collections hurt me?

Long story short, I went through a rough patch and missed two monthly payments on my medical bill of $1900, so they sent it to collections. The collection agency refuses to set up a payment plan with me and told me that if it’s not paid off by the end of February it will be put into default status.

I’m a full time student with only a part time job and I simply can’t afford to pay off that bill right now. No one in my family is able to help me either. I’m not sure how collection agencies work, but I’m hearing so much different advice from so many people.

I was planning on letting them do whatever they have to with my bill (meaning put it on my credit, unfortunately) but still call and make consistent monthly payments using a pre-paid VISA. I read an article saying that paying a collection agency can actually HURT me.

I haven’t paid anything yet, but I just don’t know what to do. I really don’t want to be sued over this. There’s really nothing I can do to pay it right now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.