Just Rec'd Bill from ER Visit BEFORE Filing

[FakeName]

So just when I'm 30 days from discharge and enjoying the prospect of a debt-free life, I get a bill in the mail today for $1200 from an ER visit with my daughter on 4/30.

We had already paid a couple hundred bucks to the physician, etc. so I thought we were done with them. Apparently these are just the charges for the privilege of spending 5 hours in the ER.

As I didn't know I owed them money, I did not include them in my matrix when I filed because I didn't know I still owed them money.

The services are owed as a result of an April visit. My Chapter 7 was filed in July, and my 341 was in August.

Is this bill now mine to pay? It's money that was owed (but not billed) at the time of the BK.

I have to tell you that this is NOT the way I wanted to begin my "post-BK" life. With another debt.

[AngelinaCat]

No, the bill was from the visit BEFORE you filed, therefore it will be discharged. It takes medical billing months to get through the byzantine process of dealing with the various insurance companies, types of plans, co-pays, etc. When we filed, our attorney put a placeholder amount of $1.00 in each category. I had had a fall in which I broke an arm and fractured a knee, and 'Hub had had a Skilsaw accident in which he cut his abdomen, all before we filed, so we knew the bills would be large. This is NOT why we BK'd BTW. This had been in the works for almost a year.

Anyway, all you need to do is file a fee of $26.00 with the court to amend your schedules and add this creditor.

Once you are discharged, if these people keep coming after you, all you need do is send a copy of your discharge order along with a copy of their billing back to them. Send by registered mail at least so you can track whether they got it or not. Keep copies for your records.

[mom2three09]

Don't feel bad, we had the same thing happen to us You can still add it to your matrix since it is from before you even filed. That's what we ended up doing. Our attorney charged us $60 (which included the $26 filing fee that the court charges). Ended up that we actually added a few more items that we discovered we had forgotten about... still only cost us $60.

[FakeName]

Thanks for the info. Will that delay my discharge at all? My 60 days are up on October 23rd.

[AngelinaCat]

No, it should not. Just be aware that because of all the new BK filings, the courts are backed up, and discharge could come several days late.

[music12]

there was a docket sheet i saw once where a person amended to add a creditor after filing, and the court gave 60 days to that creditor from the date of the amendment. so it might delay the discharge. i am not sure.

[FakeName]

And another dumb question... If I discharge this debt can (or will) the hospital refuse to treat me or my family in the future? Or demand prepayment for services?

[lifelesson]

We had a hospital bill that we owed on before the filing of BK. I called them to try to work out a payment plan asked if they costs could be lowered and they said they do not work out anything on less then $500.00 as you guessed it I was short on that.

Good luck on including your in the BK. I hope it all works out for you.

[music12]

the hospital may refuse to treat you (except in an emergency), and they may demand prepayment. the only thing they can't do is demand payment from a discharged debt.

but i don't know whether they will refuse to treat you or not. some people on this forum have chosen to pay hospitals/doctors after discharge to avoid this problem. however, this really applies only if you have a specific doctor/hospital that you already have a relationship with and cannot (or do not wish to) replace them with another doctor/hospital.

[FakeName]

That's kind of where I'm at after stewing in this today. I'm going to call and see what they can do for me as far as reducing the debt and/or arranging a payment plan.

I suppose I COULD use another hospital, but this is our "right around the
corner" medical facility AND the place where all of our doctors have "rights."

I'll see what I can work out and go from there.

[AngelinaCat]

And another dumb question... If I discharge this debt can (or will) the hospital refuse to treat me or my family in the future? Or demand prepayment for services?

If they are a 'for profit' hospital or service, yes they can. As a result of the skilsaw accident and an earlier surgery for prostate cancer, 'Hub developed a hernia. Our regular doctor recommended a specialist and we duly went to see him to see about surgery. We had insurance but had not met our deductible. We had also filed BK 4 months prior to this and had not been discharged. We were honest about the BK and that we had no money and could not meet the doctor's co-pay or anything else at the time. We could pay bit by bit if they would work with us.

Not only did they refuse to see 'Hub, but we were summarily told that as the hospital this surgeon was affiliated with was a 'for profit' institution and that they, the doctor's business office' knew we could not begin to pay the hospital's co-pays, that 'Hub would not be seen. Also, his hernia was caused by surgery and would take an overnight stay in the hospital, wereas a 'normal' hernia can be repaired in office.

In short, we were told go home and get on the waiting list for the 'Indigent Hospital' over in a major University city in our state.

You cannot imagine--but maybe you can--how humiliated that made us feel.

When we told all of this to our primary doctor, he told 'Hub to get a truss and wear that and try to stick it out until he was able to get on Medicare, as then "they HAVE to take you."

Now if the hernia became twisted, it would be a medical emergency, and he would be taken under that basis. But as of now a hernia operation is considered 'elective'.

'Hub is on Medicare now, but for various reasons are putting off any surgery until absolutely necessary.

Just wait until Obama-care comes.

[AngelinaCatHub]

To add to the Mrs., I had an outstanding bill from the prostate surgery. I had a payment agreement with the provider and had been making regular payments until it got whittled down from around 2K to about $500.00. Then I got a nasty-gram from this agency that I had broken the agreement and the amount was being sent to Collections. I wrote back and said they had broken THEIR own agreement and that they could eat the rest of the $500.00 as I was going to file BK, and they could take their collections efforts and well, nevermind. You get the picture. 'Hub