Obviously from my last post you guys can tell i’m unemployed looking for work and i’m young with no money.
About 2 months ago i went to the ER because my testicle was upside down. It wasn’t immense pain but definitely not comfortable. It ended up resolving itself in the ER room and i told them i didn’t need an ultrasound and they gave me it anyways. They charged me 500$ for it after my insurance supposedly “paid” (doesn’t make sense to me)
I found out 2 weeks ago my total for going in there and having nothing but an ultrasound done AFTER insurance was about 1000$.
I don’t have that. In fact, i have no money. My mom is already financing another hospital visit i had a year ago and almost paid that off. So, she can’t afford payments on this one.
That means it will be sent off to a collection agency to my understanding. They will harass me and depending on the amount will sue. It will negatively affect my credit but i read online that there were new laws enacted fairly recently about “medical debt” causing them to affect credit scores less.
Since i’m literally unable to make payments it’ll go to collections. My question is, will i be sued for that amount?
I talked to a lawyer and he said it wasn’t too likely because there are so many people that have much much higher unpaid medical debts. He stated that there are probably people right there at that hospital with 150k medical bills that are old that haven’t paid anything. Those will be the ones sued. He said it would cost the company thousands just to hire an individual lawyer to pursue me.
Now i know some people are gunna post stories of how their friend billy was sued for 200$ but i’m talking in a VAGUE “generally speaking” situation.
What do you guys think? Do any of you have any sort of experience in this type of debt collection or medical experience understanding this? Will i end up being sued? Or was the lawyer correct…? Will it just go to some collection agency and be a minor blemish on my credit report?
Tip for the future, hospitals or doctors can’t “force” you to have any procedure done, if it resolved itself already you can not consent to ultrasound period.
Second they would not sue you, based on what you have posted you’re basically untouchable since you have no assets a judgement would allow a lien to be attached to. You’re judgement proof.
Oh also you can call or go in to the billing department at the hospital and explain your situation, they may reduce the bill or work out a doable payment plan.
I agree it’s worth talking to the billing department. I know the Franciscan system has a program to help people who can’t afford their bills. I’d guess other places do, too.
My trip to the ER was surreal - a patient with real insurance!!
No less than than 3 real, live MD’s managed to get a bill in.
Not nurses, real MD’s with lab coats and stethoscopes and everything.
The bill came to $2800. The insurance decided to run it all up as “Deductible”.
After a brief chat (“we were wondering why the insurance didn’t pay, figured it was the deductible”) she cut the $2800 to $600. Right then and there over the phone.
There will be a phone number on the bill to call. Call them and simply explain that you gave no income, no assets and no way to pay - not that you simply won’t.
Hospitals are closing ER’s because they routinely are forced to write off huge bills.
And please learn about the “Urgent Care” businesses - AKA “Doc in a Box” - a real MD in a small building, office hours. Much faster and cheaper than an ER and just as good at determining if the situation needs to be escalated.
Many years ago, medical bills were not reported to the credit agencies. Then the ER’s started to bleed millions of dollars and get shut down.
They had to collect when they could or go out of business - too many were aware of the medical bill exemption and, when choosing which bill to pay, the Doc always came up last.
You won’t get sued, your paychecks won’t get garnished, you won’t have the sheriff knocking on your door etc. If you ultimately can’t pay hospitals just write it off. What you will get is a blotch on your credit report and collection agencies calling you for the next few years (they’ll buy the debt from the hospital for pennies on the dollar). Similar to unpaid credit card bills.
Mind you, this isn’t without some downsides. The biggest being it will hurt you credit rating which will make buying a house, car etc. more difficult.
My next question is if they won’t sue me for this what amount “generally speaking” would it need to be at LEAST for them to consider sueing me for a ER bill i have made no payments on?
Public hospitals often write off the bills for people who are unable to pay them. It’s called ‘charity care’. I believe, but don’t know for sure, that public hospitals are required to participate in ‘charity care’ in exchange for tax breaks.
I don’t know if there is a specific amount above which they’ll sue you, but the best way to prevent them from doing so is to talk to them about this. Explain what your finances are. As others said, they can adjust the bill or perhaps put you on a very long-term payment plan (say ten bucks a month). Pretty much the worst thing you could do is to ignore the bill.
They have to spend money to sue. Before the attorneys who would be responsible for suing you file a case, they may in fact check if you have any assets. If you don’t have any money to take, they are not going to bother to file the suit - the court charges *them *money to file the lawsuit. Sure, if they win *and *you have money they can take, they’ll get that back…but you can’t squeeze blood from a stone.
Call the billing office.
They will work with you, part of the bill may get written off.
I’ve known people to have payments as low as $5 or $10 a month.
About 10 years ago I had a heart attack and no insurance. The bill was well over $30,000.
I saw the bills and damn near had a second heart attack, I was sick to my stomach.
The hospital assigned a social worker and together we worked it out. Medicare (Or Medicade I forget which) picked up part of the bill. The state paid part of the bill. The hospital wrote off part of the bill and they have a fund for people who can’t pay which picked up part of the bill. I still had to pay part of it, based on my income, and we worked out a payment plan I could handle.
The social worker did all the calculations, filled out all the forms and was so very nice.
I doubt they are going to do all that for your small bill, however
some of the bills went to the wrong address and I never got them.
Since I never got the bills I never submitted them for payment and I never paid on them. It was only years later (why you should check your credit report) when I wanted to buy a house that I found out about them.
There was one judgement in there for a $500 charge to one of the doctors. So yes, you can get sued for $500.
At that time I had no assets.
I’m a legal assistant for a collection law office. Most of our clients are hospitals and doctors. (I can hear the booing from here!).
Depending on what the individual client wants, we have filed suit on hospital/doctor bills as small as $200. Also some collection agencies will list a few different accounts (electric company, hospital, cable company for example) and have us file all those together listed as separate counts in the suit.
Even if you don’t have assets now, if a Judgment is obtained it is usually “good” or “active” for number of years and then will be renewed with the court before it expires. (Or in some states a garnishment will automatically renew a Judgment). Even if you don’t have assets now, your bank could be garnished or a wage garnishment could be issued much later. In our states (we are on the border of two states), a Judgment usually includes prejudgment interest and post Judgment interest accrues until the Judgment is satisfied.
Even if you can only pay small, small amount each month I would. If it does reach legal status still see if you can make payments on the Judgment balance to avoid garnishment. Or if you come into a bit of money, see if you can work out a settlement offer with them. Good luck!
I question everything about medical care and turn down what I do not want.
Last year I saved thousands of dollars by questioning the use of an ambulance to transport me from one hospital to another for a cardiac catheterization. The hospital wanted to use an ambulance idling in their lot, which my insurance wouldn’t have paid for. Instead, I requested an ambulance from my home area, 55 miles away; which although it must have been far less cost efficient, was 100% covered.
The worst thing you can do is ignore it. Talk to the billing office or social worker. If you make a payment agreement, keep to it. If you can’t tlk to someone. I work at a large clinic. We understand people have financial hardships. Bills are not sent to collections unless they are in arrears. If you keep in touch with the billing dept and keep the promised payments, they don’t go to collections. As long as your monthly agreement is up to date, we will continue to see you for medical needs.
It is also generally less expensive to go to a primary doctor in their office than it is to got to Urgent Care or the ER. The downside is you may have to wait a day or two for an appointment. In your case, waiting wasn’t feasible or reasonable. But Urgent Care could have handled your issue.
In some states if you meet the criteria you can be declare indigent and you will not have to pay. If that does not work then contact the billing department and set up a payment schedule.
Are you underage and was your mom listed as the responsible party on the ER forms? If so, I’d guess that she’s the person who will have to deal with the hospital and with any hit to her credit.
Regarding the suggestion to refuse care (not have the scan) - if you refuse care you may be asked to sign an AMA (Against Medical Advice) form. The purpose of the form is to cover their asses in case something goes wrong later and you end up suing them. I’m assuming that was the purpose of the scan, too. Signing the form will not affect your future care, so there’s no down side to signing it.
Whatever you do, don’t pull any funny stuff WRT to the bill. Your best course of action is to talk to someone in the billing office, and set up a payment plan. They’ve dealt with this many times, and that’s one thing they are there for.