Unpaid bills after BK

[dealingsdone]

Hi,

I went BK chap 7 in 2009. In late 2010, my wife gave birth and due to weird circumstances we wound up running up a hefty hospital bill of about 14k. It has already been about 8 months and we haven't paid it and will not be able to pay it either. I imagine I am pretty vulnerable if the hospital goes after me, although they haven't seemed to care.

I'm curious if others have been in this sort of position and if so what did you wind up doing?

[newbie2]

Instead of letting the no communication go on for so long, pick up the phone and call them. Most often they will knock the amount of the debt down and offer a reasonable payment plan for the reduced amount. Good luck.

[df04527]

I agree with newbie2 - if you are looking for any kind of credit in the future - having a negative appear on your credit report AFTER your BK is devastating. Head that problem off now by making contact with the hospital. Good Luck

[frogger]

I agree. Call them and see if you can make any type of payment arrangements, even if it nothing more than a token payment each month.

[dealingsdone]

Well I don't think I'm going to pay them. Let me give you some more facts. We had an agreement that we were going to pay them 2k cash after the baby was born. Well I had the 2k cash in hand but the hospital said no it will now be 3k because your wife came in at 11:31PM and that counts as an extra day. If we had waited until 12 midnight, it would have all been one day. Well, had I known that was going to count against us, we could have waited the 29 minutes because she wasn't ready to burst, all we did was walk around the ward for about an hour.

Anyway, after i told them I wasn't going to pay them 3k instead of 2k, they said that they were going to bill me the entire non-cash paying amount which is in the neighborhood of 14k.

I was prepared to pay the 2k but no more and they would not negotiate with me at all. Anyway, I'm not worried about my credit, I don't need it and won't for quite some time. My small concern is that the hospital attempts to come after a paycheck of mine. I am prepared to let this sit on my credit until it fall off in 7 years or however long it takes.

Thanks,
Dealingsdone

[newbie2]

Dealingsdone, the hospital can hire a collection agency to collect the debt or handle it themselves. The problem is, you are fresh out of bankruptcy, and will be collectible. (They know you can't file again.) If your state allows garnishments you are setting yourself up for paying much much more (interest, attorney fees, etc.) Call again, ask to speak to a supervisor, and see what you can get done.

[dealingsdone]

Dealingsdone, the hospital can hire a collection agency to collect the debt or handle it themselves. The problem is, you are fresh out of bankruptcy, and will be collectible. (They know you can't file again.) If your state allows garnishments you are setting yourself up for paying much much more (interest, attorney fees, etc.) Call again, ask to speak to a supervisor, and see what you can get done.

This is true, I'm vulnerable, but I think I'm going to make them find me. I already talked to the supervisor and I asked if there was ANYBODY else I could talk to and she said "NO, I"m that person". They took a real hard line. I'm not going to be easy to find though and it has already been over 8 months. There definitely is some risk involved though because currently I'm receiving a paycheck, but my job changes fairly often. If I only have to wait this out for 7 years or so, that I could do.

[Pandora]

uhm... you do file taxes right? Its not that hard to find you....

Why not just arrange payment and be done with it? If their policy is "extra day.." and you can get out of a $14K bill for $3K - then do it. In the interim you're risking alot by trying to "hide"; remember you will incur finance charges, legal fees, etc. They provided you a service to ensure your wife and baby were safe.... IMO - you should pay them and be done with it.

[IamOld]

dealingsisdone - the hospital offered you the rate that they have with most large insurers the "in-network rate" - I would love to go tell you to tell them to go "pound sand" but I think the other posters are right!!!

So...I would find the CEO's name, write them a nice polite to the point letter, enclose a money order (make copies of everything) and state that this is payment IN FULL pursuant to your conversation on such and such date, with such and such (if you remember). For the heck of it, CC it to your local newspaper (at least put it on your letter) - if you have the $2K to send them now...

I think then you'd have a better than 60% chance of them going away...drag them through the local press if you need to...

[sunshinepa]

Wow, you got 14K of services and could have paid them 3K/ Honestly, that sounds like a great deal to me. Ok, they did say 2K but really, that's so cheap for the services you received. Heck, I take a "treatment" for Crohns disease every 8 weeks, it's done in a treatment center, not a hospital......guess what, it's two hours and the bill is 12,800.00....and that is no joke.

So, I kinda agree with Pandora, you should just pay the 3K or make the payment arrangements.

[JackBondLove]

This situation really highlights the absolute banality of a supposedly wealthy nation not having a universal health care system. Had this child not been born until 2014, this would not be an issue at all. Why anyone with a brain votes for the party that doesn't support universal health care, I'll never know ...

[IamOld]

This situation really highlights the absolute banality of a supposedly wealthy nation not having a universal health care system. Had this child not been born until 2014, this would not be an issue at all. Why anyone with a brain votes for the party that doesn't support universal health care, I'll never know ...

Medicare for all. Period.

[df04527]

Not going to get in to this too much but we have very close friends from two different countries that have health care for all and that's awesome except their tax rates are 40 - 50% plus!

Think about that one - not to mention an appointment for a doctor is about a one to two month waiting period. There are pro's and con's to each side is all I'm saying.

[dealingsdone]

Thanks for all the replies! That was a good idea about sending the letter to the CEO, but I think I'm going to wait it out a little longer. There are several million births here in LA country that never get paid by illegal aliens, I think I'll just play dumb like all of them because I'm not paying a nickel over the 2k, we had originally agreed upon. If they find me, they find me, I guess I'll just have to be on the lam and work under the table for the next 6 years.

[nomoneyhoney]

call the hospital and ask them if they have any medical programs you can qualify for. if your income is low enough, they have programs that may help pay most of your hospital bills. good luck and congratulations on your baby!