Another serious question for the pros here - medical related

[Carl]

In spite of having health insurance, my recent hospital visits, surgeries, stays have left me with bills of about 20k. Too be honest I am afraid to open up some envelopes. Can anyone advise on a strategy to delay payment until I am at least able to go back to work. I work on 100% commission.

 

[L.T. Fan]

In spite of having health insurance, my recent hospital visits, surgeries, stays have left me with bills of about 20k. Too be honest I am afraid to open up some envelopes. Can anyone advise on a strategy to delay payment until I am at least able to go back to work. I work on 100% commission.

Can't advise on anything medical but regarding financial matters the best thing is to go to the business manager of each medical obligation and request an appoint for discussion of a repayment plan. Have your plan in mind before you go. Put everything out there as to what your circumstances are and what you are prepared to do. Most will work with you as long as it is a reasonable proposition.

 

[dallen]

If you can figure it out you let me know. We are going through the same thing

 

[Rev]

Just send the bills to Obama since its supposed to be affordable.

 

[boozeman]

In spite of having health insurance, my recent hospital visits, surgeries, stays have left me with bills of about 20k. Too be honest I am afraid to open up some envelopes. Can anyone advise on a strategy to delay payment until I am at least able to go back to work. I work on 100% commission.

Best bet is to work individually with the hospital or whatever. The other key to understand is that if you pay something, anything, it might help them be less likely to be predatory with it.

It will go into collections, someway, somehow. Just don't sweat it though. They can't do shit if you are paying something and showing the effort.

Probably will eff up your credit, but that is overrated anyways. It's almost unavoidable with the way that any type of extended medical care will ruin you.

I guess I don't have to tell you that our healthcare system is designed to be corrupt and is a bit of a pathetic joke.

 

[Smitty]

File bankruptcy.

 

[boozeman]

File bankruptcy.

As a last resort, but yes, it is an option and it is a relatively short period of time before you can get a big loan again.

It is not like it used to be in the old days where there was a stigma to it. It really is not that damaging and honestly forces you to live without credit for a while. If you are in a position where you don't think you will be making big ticket purchases like a house or vehicle, it can be an option.

I know lots of people, including my wife, who did it before we got married, and it is not nearly as horrific as it sounds.

 

[Smitty]

As a last resort, but yes, it is an option and it is a relatively short period of time before you can get a big loan again.

It is not like it used to be in the old days where there was a stigma to it. It really is not that damaging and honestly forces you to live without credit for a while. If you are in a position where you don't think you will be making big ticket purchases like a house or vehicle, it can be an option.

I know lots of people, including my wife, who did it before we got married, and it is not nearly as horrific as it sounds.

Basically the primary area of law I do.

 

[UncleMilti]

File bankruptcy over 20k in medical bills?

Jesus Schmitty....I'm glad you aren't my lawyer.

If you do in fact go that route...How many assets do you have? Chapter 7 will involve you liquifying any assets you have to pay off your debts. Chapter 13 will let you reorganize your debt to a manageable payment plan over 3-5 years, but also ties up all your disposable income..

If you had 200K in medical bills, you could possibly need to look at something like that. Not 20K.

Work out a payment plan...the new FICO 9 scoring methods now count unpaid or collection medical bills as less of a factor on your total credit score.

As long as you are paying something towards the debt, theres not much the Dr or hospitals can, or will do.

 

[Smitty]

Obviously I wasn't giving him the entire picture with my two word answer, Unk.

But depending on income level and assets it's absolutely worth it to consider filing bankruptcy for 20k.

He just said he's out of work, so that means he's likely not a chapter 13 and won't have to pay anything back. As long as his assets are under exemption limits (which obviously he should have an in person discussion with a lawyer in his jurisdiction to determine -- though for the most part he'll probably choose the federal exemptions), you can file and have no risk except to your credit.

Which as Booze pointed out, isn't really that bad these days.

 

[boozeman]

File bankruptcy over 20k in medical bills?

Jesus Schmitty....I'm glad you aren't my lawyer.

Well, he is trying to drum up business for his specialty.

If you do in fact go that route...How many assets do you have? Chapter 7 will involve you liquifying any assets you have to pay off your debts. Chapter 13 will let you reorganize your debt to a manageable payment plan over 3-5 years, but also ties up all your disposable income..

If you had 200K in medical bills, you could possibly need to look at something like that. Not 20K.

It really depends if the 20K is the tip of the iceberg and in a short period of time. If that is all, you are right. There are other options like taking out a loan, where you won't have collections on your ass in a heartbeat and can string up a structured payment plan. But if that 20K will grow several times in size in the next few months, it can snowball.

20K might not mean much to Mr. Money Bags like yourself, but to some folks, that is not a drop in the bucket.

Work out a payment plan...the new FICO 9 scoring methods now count unpaid or collection medical bills as less of a factor on your total credit score.

As long as you are paying something towards the debt, theres not much the Dr or hospitals can, or will do.

Pretty much. If you are willing to allow some damage to your credit, they can't do shit but blow up your phone and have grubby collections people sending you nasty letters.

 

[UncleMilti]

Obviously I wasn't giving him the entire picture with my two word answer, Unk.

But depending on income level and assets it's absolutely worth it to consider filing bankruptcy for 20k.

I can't say your wrong....I can only say that most attorneys I have talked to suggest that bankruptcy over medical bills is usually not a wise idea simply because its usually very easy to work out a payment plan with the providers-unless of course you simply have absolutely no way to pay for it, nor have any assets to your name. But in that situation, theres nothing they can get anyways, and at least you don't have a BR on your credit for 10 years.

I have several friend who are Dr's, and many of them have a program in place to allow patients to make payments. They give them a packet that explains how the program works if for some reason they run into an issue where they can't pay. Carl would fit perfectly in this program.

The program is great because the Dr isn't paying attorneys and debt collectors to go after these patients who all of a sudden skip out on the services. They even make 2-4% on the money..even if it takes them a few years to get the money, they still come out ahead.

 

[Clay_Allison]

poor people in Texas usually make token payments until the hospital writes off the debt.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Good grief folks. It's a financial responsibility. At least try to take care of it. As I initially said go to the ones who you are indebted to and discuss a plan whereby you can reasonably and honorably discharge your debt. There are no short cuts other than refusing to acknowledge your responsibility. In almost every instance you can agree on a program that everyone can live with. If you stay with the agreed on program it will not adversely affect your credit.

 

[Smitty]

Bankruptcy is in the constitution.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Bankruptcy is in the constitution.

I am not saying it isn't. It is a program of relief when there is no other reasonable alternative. It is not a substitute for responsibility.

 

[Smitty]

I am not saying it isn't. It is a program of relief when there is no other reasonable alternative. It is not a substitute for responsibility.

Yeah, but that last part is where you are wrong. There is nothing anywhere that dictates levels of responsibility. Anyone can file for any reason as long as they are prepared to live with the consequences of what happens to their assets and income beyond the exemption limits.

The bit about personal responsibility is simply a judgment on your part.

How about lenders acting responsibly? I came into this field at the height of complete financial irresponsibility undertaken by lenders and encouraged by the US Government. I have no problem giving them the finger because if they tightened their lending standards it would actually probably be better for the economy as a whole.

Hey, they lent money to someone who can't pay it back because they have no assets to liquidate.... maybe they should look into the mirror about being responsible. If they did so because they were motivated by making money off high interest rates, well, they knew the risks, don't expect me to feel bad. Should have checked your desire to make money off interest at the door before handing out free checks. I call that charity.

 

[Smitty]

I can't say your wrong....I can only say that most attorneys I have talked to suggest that bankruptcy over medical bills is usually not a wise idea simply because its usually very easy to work out a payment plan with the providers-unless of course you simply have absolutely no way to pay for it, nor have any assets to your name. But in that situation, theres nothing they can get anyways, and at least you don't have a BR on your credit for 10 years.

I have several friend who are Dr's, and many of them have a program in place to allow patients to make payments. They give them a packet that explains how the program works if for some reason they run into an issue where they can't pay. Carl would fit perfectly in this program.

The program is great because the Dr isn't paying attorneys and debt collectors to go after these patients who all of a sudden skip out on the services. They even make 2-4% on the money..even if it takes them a few years to get the money, they still come out ahead.

That is true, medical bills are usually the easiest to negotiate settlements for, or to come up with reasonable payment plans.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Yeah, but that last part is where you are wrong. There is nothing anywhere that dictates levels of responsibility. Anyone can file for any reason as long as they are prepared to live with the consequences of what happens to their assets and income beyond the exemption limits.

The bit about personal responsibility is simply a judgment on your part.

How about lenders acting responsibly? I came into this field at the height of complete financial irresponsibility undertaken by lenders and encouraged by the US Government. I have no problem giving them the finger because if they tightened their lending standards it would actually probably be better for the economy as a whole.

Hey, they lent money to someone who can't pay it back because they have no assets to liquidate.... maybe they should look into the mirror about being responsible. If they did so because they were motivated by making money off high interest rates, well, they knew the risks, don't expect me to feel bad. Should have checked your desire to make money off interest at the door before handing out free checks. I call that charity.

They are lenders not parents. They expect to be paid.

 

[dallen]

The thing with medical debt is that the costs are so insane that unless you are seriously rich, like 7 figure income, even with insurance there is no way any one could afford to pay for an ongoing medical condition.