I come from a broken home of having parents that are abusive and ignorant. They told me to not to pay any of my medical bills and that my health insurance would eventually pay for it and the debt will go away in several years. I believed them because they have college degrees and are in the medical field, but now I know better than to believe in my foolish parents. Now I have several agencies calling me and it's so stressful, I'm in my lower 20s and I have more on my plate than anyone I know because I can't rely on my parents for anything. I pay for my own car, my own roomshare/rent in a different home, etc. And I make less than 20k since I go to college while working.

My questions are
Does all this debt affect my credit? If it does will starting payments make my credit good again?
Can I pay $10-20 a month? I can't afford much
Will starting payments finally allow me to have a living expenses loan from school?

I really need a living expenses loan, but got denied and I'm pretty sure it's because of my credit from medical bills. Another ignorant lie my parents told me was that medical bills don't affect your credit. The only guidance I have in life is myself and most of the time I'm suffering from my illnesses