How can I fight hospital bill for the uninsured?

Question

I had to take my mom to ER due to her chest pain and stayed 1 day at ICU and another 1 day at general room. Also she had to go thru some cardialogic procedures. Finally, I got a bill about $65000. However since my mom visited me from oversea, she didn't have any insurance to be covered. I explained this to the hospital, and fortunately they could lower the amount to $8800, which is still too much for me to pay.

Is there any place where I can contact and get some help?

Please hlep.

Answer 1

I am no expert, and you should research this but to the best of my knowledge (and I have heard this from ALOT of deadbeats).  Don't get me wrong I am not calling you a deadbeat.

First complete the paperwork that  makes the outstanding bill officially 8800.

Then

As long as you pay something each and every month, they cannot come after you for medical bills.  Pay what you can it will be perfectly legal for you to send $1 for the next 8800 months.  (Or for your ancestors to continue to pay if they feel like it)

And they can't hurt your credit rating while you are paying this $1 each and every month.  

Again, i am no expert, so you should research this more, I am sorry i don't know where to point you.

The whole medical/insurance system is so messed up anyway.  I went to the hospital and they gave me a bill for $3000 for being there a couple of hours.  My insurance company then said that the services were only worth $300, of which I had to pay $50.  They happilly took the $300.  I felt bad at first but then thought about how they would have tried to get $3000 out of me if I didn't have insurance.

In short, don't worry, no one will be knocking on your door to get that money any time soon.  It is an imaginary number.  If it wasn't how would they magically go from 65000 to 8800.  You can see by that how bad they were trying to rip off the insurance company for in the first place.  not that the insurance companies aren't rip off artists either

Answer 2

Contact the hospital and ask them how they came to the $8,800.  I don't deal with how hospitals work with socialized medicine, but I do work to resolve a lot of claims.

It isn't a scam, and the numbers aren't random.  Medicine is just really, really, honestly expensive.  Talk to the hospital, see if they are willing to work with you.  You can find out what the minimum allowable payment is, and shell that out to avoid them taking legal action against you.

They can set minimums on your monthly payments, but there may also be a way for the hospital to seek reimbursement from your mother's home country, if she has medical insurance there.  Talk to them, in my experience if you explain what's going on, and show that you are willing to work with them, they are going to be willing to work with you too.

I hope your mother is doing well now, and feeling all better.

Please remember, there are short term insurances overseas visitors can acquire for very low rates that may avoid this kind of bill in the future.

The bad news is that you will have to come out of pocket on this, and probably quite a bit.  As soon as you have finished speaking with their billing department, if they don't have a better offer than the $8800, TAKE IT.  It is 1/7th of the original bill, and is a much easier pill to swallow that the $65k.

Answer 3

The only way you can fight the bill is to prove that you DID NOT receive the services. Since services were rendered and care was recieved, you need to pay. $65000 is what they would bill the insurance company if there was one, and if they were lucky, they'd see AT MOST fifty to seventy-five cents on the dollar.  Since they were able to lower the cost so drastically - most places would only generally give a 25% discount at best - you should make a honest effort to pay. You can try asking at your religous place of worship if they can point you in the direction for assistance, but otherwise, send them $10 a month forever. It's not ideal, but as long as you send them the money like clockwork, it will keep you out of collections and keep your credit out of the toilet.

(I have a family friend who owes more than $1million in medical care that his insurance didn't pick up. He sends the hospital $25 a month, and they take it.)

Answer 4

If they are agreeing to take $8800 as payment in full, you are lucky.  Take the deal.