Do hospitals have any mercy?

Question

I had surgery for cancer about a year ago. While my insurance paid half of everything I am still left with a sizeable debt. Not only do I owe the 3 hospitals but each contracted service as well (doctors etc.). I am paying about 13 different companies on time about $25 each/mo. It's the most I can do! Now one of the hospitals I was paying $50/month has sent me to collections because apparently they don't take payments. So now I have to pay them $1000 by the end of the week or they will report it to the credit bureu. Is there anything I can do. Is it legal to not accept a payment plan? Please Help!

Answer 1

life is about priorities. while having a good credit history is important, it pales in comparison to your health and well being. I suggest you dont over exert yourself. So what if your credit is ruined. Millions of Americans have poor credit and they live happily with it. I am not saying that you ruin your credit intentionally but there comes a point in time where you have to make a decision. Credit history is not that important when it comes to your own health and well being. Try working with the collections at $25 a month saying that is all you can afford. If they refuse f*** them! Again, your well being is more important than credit and fretting over this isnt going to help.

Good Luck to you! Mercy is something we dont have anymore, when it comes to money. That includes hospitals. If Jesus was alive, he would be ashamed of what we have become!

Answer 2

Unfortunately, creditors are not obligated to accept a payment plan.

There is no excuse for this...the wealthiest nation in the world  and there is no universal health care for all citizens.

Answer 3

Yes, it is legal for them to not accept a payment plan.  When they DO offer such payment plans, it is because they DO have a given amount of 'mercy'.

Answer 4

You need to contact a supervisor at that hospital and arrange a meeting face-to-face.  Take a list of those you pay monthly and explain this is all you can do.

They may not LIKE to take payments but they will when they see you are operating in good faith and doing your best.  You are just talking to the wrong person, who sounds like a collector.

Answer 5

Nope, they absolutely have no mercy.   And they don't have to accept payment plans.  In fact, most turn accounts to collection after 3 months -- 6 at the max.  Did you have any kind of written payment plan agreement?  Or were you just sending them $50.

Have you tried asking for some kind of discount with any of these medical providers?  Sometimes they will cut you a break if you don't have insurance coverage.

You may have to just let the collection agency report the debt to the credit bureau and let the debt go unpaid for now.   On down the road, when you have some relief in your finances, you can negotiate a delete for pay settlement for about half the debt.

Answer 6

More bankruptcies are caused by illness and charges.  Best thing to do is to contact the hospital to see if they will reduce the amount.  Tell them that your insurance paid only half and you have to pay the rest and you incurred many debts.  Tell them  you don't want to have to file bankruptcy but want to pay your bills. Tell them that  you were making payments and would have paid it off eventually. See if they won't take payments but you do have to pay on time if you expect them to do that.  If they do file on your credit, you should write to the credit report company and explain what happened completely.  Tell them that you were in the hospital with insurance paying only half and that you incurred many doctor and hospial bills. Tell them  you were making payments but the hospital refused to take payments and wanted in f ull payment but that you can only pay them in payments and that you are continuing to do so.  Tell them how many years  you had good credit.   You can put anything in  your credit report so others can see that.  Tht may help you in the future  You could tell them that if they file against  your credit then you would have more reason to pay other creditors first so they would not do the same to  you.  Ask them to please not do that and to allow you to continue making payments.  Then if they do file, I might well reduce my payments to them and pay others, but that is me.  It is not legal advice.  

I think I have a negative thing for $33 on my credit from a hospital that never let me know before they did it.  It is crazy.  And your answer is NO, THEY HAVE NO HEART - OR MANY DO NOT.  Hospitals are better than doctors though.  

I can't give you legal advice.  You can contact an attorney but I would suggest  you try to reason with them first and work out something to pay them but  you do have to pay every month.  If they file, continue to pay them something each month as you can state that in your rebuttal to the credit bureau - that  you are paying each month and they wanted their money immediately. Say you are contining to make monthly payments.

Good luck to  you.  Do you have a regular church where you might get some help in paying the bills or would allow you to pay them back?  Always check your church.  Do you have any family who might write you a loan that you could pay back the money over time?  

I am still trying to figure out some of my husband's bills.  We have insurance but sometimes I get checs form them and I have no idea who the doctor is.  It is crazy.  I made the mistake of procrastinating for awhile as I couldn't handle things with his illness, but now I am on top of it again, but still dealing with past things and insurance companies that changed rules in midstream as to who is primary and who is secondary  

Good luck to you.

Answer 7

Did you have any formal agreement with them?  Some hospitals make you sign a contract saying you will pay them $50/month for x amount of months until the bill is paid.  If there is no formal agreement, then I don't think you can do much.  But it is worth meeting with them in person.  If you actuall speak with someone and lay it out for them and show them that you have been paying $50/month every month on time, I would hope they would be accepting of that.  After all, they may not see any money if they send you to collections.

At some point you may have to decide if it is worth the trouble to save your credit score or not.  I know of people who have declared "medical bankruptcy".  I don't know how that works or if it is an option any longer, but  you may want to check into it.

A final option may be getting a credit card and possibly transferring your balances to that.  You might be able to pay the bills with one card and then transfer the balance to another card that has 0% interest.  

Oh, one more thing I thought of - I don't know how much you owe, but you may be able to get a discounted price from the hospitals.  Sometimes, if you have a lump sum you can offer them (e.g. you owe $5000, but can pay $3000 today), they may take it and write the rest off.  You will have to do some hard negotiating to make that happen.  You may be able to use this in conjunction with the credit card option by negotiating a lump sum payoff and then writing a check from your credit card account to pay it.  You'd still owe the lump sum, but you could pay on it via the credit card.

Good luck.