Is there somewhere, someplace, someone to help pay hospital bills for uninsured young adults.

Question

My son was in a major car accident and has $50,000 in bills, uninsured and his auto insurance only pay $5,000! Help

Answer 1

If your son is underage or still in school, you are responsible for him.  After that, it is up to him.  If parents want to help, that is the best resource.  Otherwise, he is going to have to work out a payment plan, use his savings, sell whatever he can and pay it off.

It would appear from your question that there was no other party at fault in the accident so that they and their insurance would be liable for your son's medical bills.  If your son was at fault, his insurance will pay to the policy limits for the other injured parties, but not for the driver at fault.

It would be wise to check your car insurance policy to see what your medical payments coverage is.  Typical is $5,000, but that is nowhere near enough these days.  Even $10,000 is not enough.

Answer 2

Contact your local Department of Job and Family Services, or whatever part of your state government helps people apply for Medicaid. If you don't qualify for Medicaid, you should STILL call the Job & Family Services, or if you have the 311 hotline in your area - they can direct you to social services like Catholic Charities or some other groups that may be able to help you with a one time donation. If that fails, unfortunately, you owe the hospital for services rendered, whether he qualifies as indigent or not, which sucks. Talk to the hospital's finance department to find out if they have payment schedules, or can offer a sliding fee scale based upon his income.

His auto insurance paid $5,000 - I'm very sorry to hear that. I hope that since then, you've re-evaluated your own policy limits as well. It's good practice. Good luck to you.

Answer 3

Well, normally it would be your parents, your family, and your church.  So I'd suggest you talk to your pastor.  

He should ALSO talk to the hospital, and ask them to reprice to a cash price.  It might cut the bill in half, or even more.  Then he can take a payment plan, and get it paid off in a few years.

And I hope he's since either bought health insurance, and/or increased the medical payments coverage on his policy.  And that you have done the same.

Answer 4

Most hospitals have a sliding-scale setup where someone with no insurance and low pay gets a reduced fee.   Sometimes, a local church can help, or if it gets news attention sometimes people will donate.  

Some folks have had success with something as straightforward as creating a website and saying "here's what happened, the bills are $x*x.  Please help."

Answer 5

Check with medicaid in his state and see what the financial and medical eligibility requirements are. They can go back 3 months from the date of application to cover bills. If it hasn't been too long, that may be the answer.

If he does not qualify, or it has been too long, contact the providers and see if they have any charity care or other financial assistance programs to help.