Huge Medical Expense and Bankruptcy Questions

[KYgirl]

I just joined and in need of some serious help.

I lost my job after 30-years of service due to health problems (a knee replacement, etc.) in 2006. I am on disability, but - still waiting on the 2-year period for medicare.

My husband & I both do not have the health insurance. I'm 4 months shy of medical coverage with medicare and he is 3 years away from any benefits.

On November 24, 2008 - my husband had a heart attack along with pneumonia. He had extensive medical treatment, etc. and was discharged after 8 -days. After this, he has had after care, which consisted of lab work, weekly along with cardiologist appointments weekly. All of this along with his medications have wiped out what little savings that we had.

On January 8, 2009, he had to enter the hospital again due to another bout of pneumonia. Another 5 days spent in the hospital with no health care coverage.

He is still needing after-care and we are having a rough time covering it.

His medical expense for these two incidents have reached the $70,000.00 rage.

We live in East Tennessee and our TENNCARE is bankrupt and has no coverage for adults like my husband.

Now, he nor I are able to work. We live on my disability check along with his social security check. No other savings, etc.

So, now - all our other bills are piling up and I am afraid we will have to file for bankrupts, there is just No money to pay the bills and there will be no more in the future.

My main concern is my husband getting the health care that he needs to be able to live.

Can anyone point me to any threads, post that may help with a situation like the one that we are in?

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

[Intoodeep80]

Im thinking forget about medicare - your husband, you, or both should be on medicaid.

[anime-chicka]

TENNCARE pretty much is medicaid. If it's bust, then there isn't much more they can do in regards to that.

You might want to contact your local SS office to see if you can qualify for early SS benefits.

[Keebler]

I just joined and in need of some serious help.

I lost my job after 30-years of service due to health problems (a knee replacement, etc.) in 2006. I am on disability, but - still waiting on the 2-year period for medicare.

My husband & I both do not have the health insurance. I'm 4 months shy of medical coverage with medicare and he is 3 years away from any benefits.

On November 24, 2008 - my husband had a heart attack along with pneumonia. He had extensive medical treatment, etc. and was discharged after 8 -days. After this, he has had after care, which consisted of lab work, weekly along with cardiologist appointments weekly. All of this along with his medications have wiped out what little savings that we had.

On January 8, 2009, he had to enter the hospital again due to another bout of pneumonia. Another 5 days spent in the hospital with no health care coverage.

He is still needing after-care and we are having a rough time covering it.

His medical expense for these two incidents have reached the $70,000.00 rage.

We live in East Tennessee and our TENNCARE is bankrupt and has no coverage for adults like my husband.

Now, he nor I are able to work. We live on my disability check along with his social security check. No other savings, etc.

So, now - all our other bills are piling up and I am afraid we will have to file for bankrupts, there is just No money to pay the bills and there will be no more in the future.

My main concern is my husband getting the health care that he needs to be able to live.

Can anyone point me to any threads, post that may help with a situation like the one that we are in?

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

My wife and I had huge medical expenses that exceeded 20% of our gross income in 2007. We spent almost 1/3rd of our take home pay on medical expenses even WITH insurance. This amount wasn't the amount of our bills, it was the amount we actually spent out of pocket. On top of that was more than $10,000 in charges we weren't able to pay and were making payments on.

At two different times I was able to speak to the right person who was willing to let me apply for charity so they'd reduce the amount I owed. Nobody in the system likes to admit that they frequently hand out discounts but they will if you ask the right questions of the right people.

I was able to get my bill reduced to less than 25% of what I originally owed.

I still ended of filing bankruptcy because I funded all of these expenses by ignoring all of my unsecured creditors. By the time I did file, I only owed a few thousand dollars for medical expenses and it was all discharged.

One of the best things I was advised to do was to postpone bankruptcy until the bulk of the expenses were behind me. The credit card companies and everyone hates for you to be delinquent and they'll hound you to death. But bankruptcy is supposed to be a new start and it would do no good to start over and then get hit with another big expense. Once you have filed, you can't file again for years you you better make it stick the first time.

I'm sory to hear about your husband and I pray it'll all be better soon. Use the income you have to take care of what's important and let the creditors wait. After everyone's back to something like normal, file bankruptcy as a final step to clean up the mess and go on living your life.

As you can see in my signature it took me more than a year.

[KYgirl]

<At two different times I was able to speak to the right person who was willing to let me apply for charity so they'd reduce the amount I owed.>

Thanks to everyone that has replied. All of them are very helpful during this time.

The bill for the first hospital visit that my husband had was reduced by $22,000.00, due to our finacial hardship and no having insurance.

We are definitely going to have to file for bankruptcy, but hopefully we can put it off for a month or two. We need to wait, because at this time - more medical expenses are around the corner.

Question? - The hospital where my husband needs to go in an emergency- if we file bankruptcy on their charges (2 visits), will he be able to be treated there again if needed?

[Flamingo]

Contact Social Security regarding both your situations since you are disabled and it appears so will be your husband. Find out what is available to you. Call your State Aid office and see if you both qualify for anything with your situation. While I am sorry to hear of your situation, you need to be proactive and start researching what you can get to survive on due to your health situations. Bankruptcy will only cure what is happening at present as to your present financial situatoin but it will not solve anything afterwards as to cash flow if you are not working.

[Flamingo]

Question? - The hospital where my husband needs to go in an emergency- if we file bankruptcy on their charges (2 visits), will he be able to be treated there again if needed?[/B]

A hospital cannot refuse a true emergency (not talking about sore throat here). The state supplies funds to each hospital to treat those who do not have health insurance (i.e., illegal folks in this country - more of your tax dollars at work). If there is a true emergency requiring emergent care, go to the hospital and worry about the bill/charges later. In my previous posting I mentioned you needed to be proactive and you are posting questions on here - but you have to be moreso in calling SS and other agencies to find out what is available or what you may qualify for in your state.

[Mi Bankruptcy]

Keebler has the right idea. If the hospital has an emergency room they can not deny you service. If you notice, hospitals are starting to remove emergency rooms. Hit all the hospitals you can to get help. When you finally think you are somewhat on your feet file.. Just make sure you keep all your bills. The hospital I BK'd sent billing and labs to several different places they were associated with( I had health insurance).

Best wishes..

[KYgirl]

A hospital cannot refuse a true emergency (not talking about sore throat here). The state supplies funds to each hospital to treat those who do not have health insurance (i.e., illegal folks in this country - more of your tax dollars at work). If there is a true emergency requiring emergent care, go to the hospital and worry about the bill/charges later. In my previous posting I mentioned you needed to be proactive and you are posting questions on here - but you have to be moreso in calling SS and other agencies to find out what is available or what you may qualify for in your state.

I'm sorry to have asked this question, but it did involve bankruptcy. I wanted to know if others may have been in a similar situation after filing bankruptcy against a hospital bill. I have been in contact with SS and other state/county agencies concerning what benefits my husband could qualify for. So, I'll refrain from requesting information on anything involving medical and bankruptcy.

Thanks for your reply, it's greatly appreciated.

[Flamingo]

I'm sorry to have asked this question, but it did involve bankruptcy. I wanted to know if others may have been in a similar situation after filing bankruptcy against a hospital bill. I have been in contact with SS and other state/county agencies concerning what benefits my husband could qualify for. So, I'll refrain from requesting information on anything involving medical and bankruptcy.

Thanks for your reply, it's greatly appreciated.

I think you misinterpreted my posting - I stated you are being proactive "by posting on here" which is a great way to seek help/information. But when you reside in a certain state, that state has various different programs that can help their residents and you did not mention in prevoius postings that you contacted some of your state agencies so you beat me to the proactive punch! Also, since it is just your disability income, have you looked into any church or organizatoinal help in your area (do you belong to a church or club?) that can help you out in any way? Anything can help during bad times to get one through but you have to make the phone calls to find out - they just don't show up at your door. Also, do you have any friends or family that can possibly assist you at this time?

Most bankruptcies are the result of high medical bills as in your situation. However, in your situation, when the bankruptcy takes place, you will need to figure out what will occur after discharge since neither of you are working and there could be a cash flow problem and you or your hubby could have future medical issues.

We can only offer suggestions on here as some of us don't live in your state to know more. Best of luck to you and I wish your hubby a full and healthy recovery.

[KYgirl]

<We can only offer suggestions on here as some of us don't live in your state to know more. Best of luck to you and I wish your hubby a full and healthy recovery.>

Thanks for your reply. For the last two month, things have been very scary and I'm indeed nervous about all of this. I re-read your post and I offer an apology to you for not understanding what you meant until now.

I have had help with buying medications, some from family and friends. Pharmaceutical companies after being contacted have been a godsend.

I'm in the process now, after writing letters to our Governor and Senators to reply to a letter from Senator Corker. He has asked for some documentation on my husbands health, etc.

I'm sure when the time comes and we file for bankruptcy, the money will come from family/friends.

One of my next moves will be finding an attorney in our area. I've been reading a lot of threads here. It seems this forum is really helpful to everyone. So, as my journey into bankruptcy begins - I'm sure there will be a lot more questions posted and hopefully from others experiences, I'll know a lot more about what to expect.

In my first post, I did mention that my husband does draw social security (he took early retirement at 62). So, we are getting two checks - which helps with the basics.

[Flamingo]

You sound like you really have it together and are well organized. Your situation will be of benefit to others and I and others hope you continue to post your experiences on here as things progress. Your main priority is your hubby at the moment and his care. Count your blessings also that you have supportive friends and family - that means a lot.

[catleg]

I used to work at a hospital in the IT Dept.
There is a federal law called EMTALA that requires them to treat and stabilize you in the Emergency Room without regard to ability to pay.
Check out emtala.com for more information.
It stands for Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.
Here in NJ hospitals are constantly lobbying the state for charity care funds.
In fact the state transferred several billion dollars "surplus" from the unemployment trust fund to hospital charity care.
Now the unemployment trust fund is kinda broke temporarily.
Like, it's expected to run out in about 6 months so they're talking about raising the payroll tax on employers.

[KYgirl]

Thank you for that site. It has a lot of information that I really needed to know. It has a place for frequently asked questions, that will help me greatly.

[ssdsco]

One of the best things I was advised to do was to postpone bankruptcy until the bulk of the expenses were behind me. The credit card companies and everyone hates for you to be delinquent and they'll hound you to death. But bankruptcy is supposed to be a new start and it would do no good to start over and then get hit with another big expense. Once you have filed, you can't file again for years you you better make it stick the first time.

Very good advice. Get income, health insurance, cash budget all in place and all your medical expenses behind you before you file bankruptcy.

Retirement accounts are protected in bankruptcy. Don't spend that money.