Good for you, they don't want to work with you, let 'em eat the bill. Better yet send 'em 6k in Monopoly money, tell em that's what they get and that's it hehe. Yea, this world's suddelnly full of corrupt, greedy a-holes. They charged me 3K to wheel my wife from the ambulance to the ER only to tell me there's nothing they could do, the nerve. Got another bill from the EMS, 800 dollars, thought our taxes paid for that.

You made an honest attemp to pay 'em, but they have to squeeze you like that, screw 'em. You don't have a bad attitude, you have the right attitude, if more of us do it like you then maybe..........nah, it's only downhill from here no matter what we do, ugh.

You may not want to ignore that bill because depending on how aggressive their collections department is and what they do with "bad debt" they could get a judgment and attach your house. It depends on what state you live in as to how aggressive they can get.

I would do two things. Pay them $10 a month, so that you can say you are paying them best that you can if you do end up in court.

I would also call the billing department and the social services department to ask if they have Hill-Burton funds or other funds available for people who can't pay. You would be surprised about what funds are out there that the hospitals won't tell you about. You really have to dig.

Good luck!

Grace

Grace is right. The hospitals have special funds and connections with organizations that can help with this bill. They just don't want you to know about them. Also if you ask them to they should just charge you what they would settle for from an insurance company which is much lower than what they charge for patients with no insurance.
Good luck
Ralph

Hospitals do and will file lawsuits against people for not paying their bills. I see them in the local paper every week. And many times for less money that you owe.

I am sorry you now have this added bill.

I think we all know that hospitals cost. And it is people not paying bills that cause the expenses to go up as hospitals have to pay for their employees also and needed supplies. I would rather see you try to pay on this bill than to walk away from it.

I've heard of them putting a lien on your property for the bill.

first, I love Sal's response, and I thnk the very same same thing!!!!!!

That said though, they can and will put a lien on your new home. Now if you are neer going to sell that home? No worries. If you are, you would have to pay the lien before selling, and the credit hit could be pretty bad, if you are thinking down the line of re financing, or equity lines etc.

Depending on your financial situation you most DEFINITELY CAN apply to the hospital to have the bill 'written off" because of inability to pay. You can ALSO send them a nominal amount everymonth, and they CANNOT do anything at all to you. It's called attempt to pay, and there is nothing that can be done legally after that. Only catch is that you would have to pay them every month and nhever miss one. The ten dollar idea is a good one. My husband and I had no finances together, as we were not married legally that long. The hospitals here in Illinois will definitely want their money after probate is over, and I intend on payinjg them what I can after. I do ahve an attorney for probate, and have asked her what has to be done there already, as in Illinois no matter what it is considered a 'family expense law" issue.

Ibut I GOTTA SAY I LOVE the Monopoly money idea!!! ah1 in a perfect world!!!

HUGS and I hope things work out for you so you don't have too much headache over this.

Diane

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a lien on the house means that they get their money when the house is sold, they become just another creditor to be paid when the house sale closes, like the bank. What you need to worry about is if interest accrues on the debt, aside from any impact to the credit rating, which she indicated is not an issue for her. If she doesnt have the resources to pay the bill, and the hospital isn't going to work with her, then what is she supposed to do. Believe me, once they see they are not getting paid they will come around and give her a more appropriate payment schedule, they play hard ball until they see your balls are harder than theirs.

Actually sometimes a lien holder can force a sale to collect. When you own assets you are really playing with fire when you expose yourself to aggressive creditors. Whether they can force sale depends on the state in which you live and other factors which are too complicated to discuss in a forum such as this. The bottom line is that walking away may end up causing you more heartache in the long run.

I would push them on the Hill-Burton funds or negotiate a lower amount. Don't listen to the clerks in billing, they have no authority to settle or make payment arrangements. You need to go up the chain of command.

You may want to check out legal aid or if you don't qualify financially for that you may want to check out a local law school. Sometimes they run legal clinics that will take cases like this.

Again, good luck.

Grace

I face a lot of hospital bills from my girls cancer treatment. Its' been almost 6 months now and just last week I got another new bill. It is astounding. Her little over 2 weeks in the hospital ran about $150,000. She had pre-existing conditions from her youth that made it difficult to get any insurance on her at. When the economy turned south we lost our group coverage though for a mere $20,000 a year we could have continued it. Ergo with lack of full employment we opted for a far lesser plan, then last Nov. they told us that plan would not be available after Dec. With pre-existing conditions we grabbed a major medical. for about 300 a month for her. As the lord would have it, she did not die from any pre-existing condition but rather from a very aggressive small cell lung cancer. The hospital bill alone was but $108,000, The insurance paid $40,000, Balance $68,000. They gave me a charity discount and I only owe $18,000 for the hospital. The doctors bills have been as harsh and yet some of them wrote their bills off entirely or 1/2'd them or gave me a 15% discount to pay them off instead of the monthy payments I was trying to make. Sept and Oct were doubtful of haveing sufficient funds to make a $50 payment on 8 different bills. Only since my Step Mom passed and left some monies have I been able to see the light of day.
Do keep making an honest attempt to pay. Then talk with them or some of the staff at the hospital about what help they can provide. Many of them will go out of their way to provide what ever relief they can. Sorry but there are others who do not care. Hope you can find the right people to assist you. When I was at a the nader of not being able to see how to make the bills I was too proud to ask. When I finally had some means they were really quite helpful but I do find the medical bills to be severely excessive and hope for a more equitable health care that does not require pledding to bring the cost to a more realistic level.

Here's and update: I called my insurance company and was told that the bill was paid entirely. I don't owe the hospital at all. The hospital is in error. So my insurance company is calling the hospital tomorrow as they were closed at the time.

As for me, I'm living like a bird. I've had over 40 of them and they basically live and die--no long-term sickness with tons of hospital visits like humans and dogs. So, if I had the same symptoms, I will not run to the telephone and call 911. Instead, I'll pray and wait it out. It's a sad state of life we have here in the US, but that's the way it is for many until we get a better health care program.

Thanks for the comments. They made me feel like I wasn't alone.

This is going to sound wildly unpopular, but I saw my husband rack up over $100,000 in medical bills during his self-inflicted illness. ( I also saw my parents have huge hospital bills from months of horrible cancer they had without any contributing factors....) Fortunately we both had insurance through his job, and ended up paying only about $5,000. After he died, I had 12 months insurance covered, and then was told I could drop it, or pay out of pocket several hundred a month to continue. I chose to continue to pay, even if I go into savings each month to do so. I also chose to get healthy, so I did not have to go the way my husband did. I quit drinking, quit smoking and lost weight. This is not to save the insurance company money, but to make me live longer for my kids. My daughter is in nursing school and my father and father-in-law were in medicine, and they took a fair share of pro-bono work for those that just could not pay. They saw rotten teeth from not brushing and diabetes from poor diet but they just took care of the patient and gave advice.
Yes, our healthcare is a mess, but hospitals are not evil. They are just broke from charging so much to cover those who cannot afford to pay, and employers who are too cheap to provide insurance, and patients who live lifestyles prone to poor health. Yes, it's all a mess, and tragic for those without insurance, but we cannot just blame the insurance companies. We are all cupable.

I had to file bankpruptcy on hosp. bills. Most hospitals have a community liasion that will work with you to lower your bill. If you can prove that you can only pay like 100$ a mo. Then they can write off the rest after 1yr. I just had a 71,000$ surgury, I just got insurance, and they paid 28,000, leaving me with 43,000 to pay out of pocket. The hosp. wrote it off because they knew I had filed on old bills,there, and knew I wouldnt pay it. They don`t go so much on how much $ you get, but what your bills are. Good luck, and don`t pay them anything, until you can see about getting legal advice or social services G-

With medical bills there are some steps that I help people do. You have all the power and don't you forget it!!!!

1. Pay (each of them...each bill (write down the account number on each) $3.00-$10.00 per month if you can afford to and always always keep a recpt of each payment sent. Do not miss one month from the time you start. (This is very important).

2. Always pay it to the original hospital or doctor and never to a collection agency.

3. If they call you give them your address and tell them that you prefer to be contacted by mail ONLY...you will accept no phone calls.

4. If they call you or a collection agency calls once you have told them your address, (you have the power of the finger..use it to hang up on them immediately...every time).

5. If a collection agency sends you paperwork, send it back and say that it is not the correct amount and you only deal with the original creditor....write that you do not "deal" with collection agencies. Make sure you say it is not the correct amount. It will not be because you are making those monthly payments and they are not very fast in dealing with each other.

6. When you pay your payment each month the original creditor has to pay the collection agency their cut. They have to send it and it costs them money. They get mad. The collection agency gets mad and eventually sends the bill back to the original creditor as it is costing them money. If they take you to court, you have your proof that you paid EVERY month.

This has worked with every person who I have helped with this. I am not certain it works in every state, but I believe that as long as there is no interest on hospital and doctor bills in your state, it should work.

People feel so harrassed by the billing dept and collection agents that they do not realize that every phone call has two people making choices. Either party can choose not to have that conversation and there are no conversation police out there saying you have to be kind to people that you do not want to talk with on the phone.

I hope this helps people realize that they are somebody too and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

hugs....
-Diana

I just don't get it.

Everyone is grateful for hospitals and the care offered to us and our loved ones when ill.

But, heaven forbid the hospital need a payment! Then, they are the enemy.

Personally, I do not want to ruin my credit or have a lien placed or have my paycheck granished. If having to face those things is what one considers "having the power" then it is a poor power! You may need that credit score one day in the future.

And you may need to medical care again.

YES, we need a universal health care in this country. Frank was German and the health care policies in Europe are so that no one has to lose a home or go bancrupt over health care. But, getting people in this nation to want that for everyone seems to be impossible. Just not paying and blaming the hospital seems to be the asnwer for so many. People are not willing to vote for those who want this.

My financial advisor told me to call the hospital and claim a financial hardship because I am on a single salary, and ask what they can do for me. Often, in these cases, they shave money off the bill. In my case, they have already been paid by the insurance and what they are requesting from me is gravy.

I did this with another medical bill and they took off 20%, which was better than nothing.

Good luck, and you really don't need bad credit. Give it a second thought.