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Senior citizen makes payments to medical clinic for 7 years. What is the worst that would happen if they stop/?
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Question: This is an uninsured medical bill. The clinic has made no demands for payment to be made in full & continues to mail monthly statements. The senior has insufficient income other than to make small payments & this could possibly continue for another 4 years.
7 Comments
November 11th, 2009 at 4:10 am
You can make monthly payments of as little as 5 bucks a month and they have to be satisfied with that. Nothing they can do if you make little payments.
November 11th, 2009 at 4:31 am
the worst is they could continue to bill you, on the other hand they may just write it off. they often do,is this a hardship
November 11th, 2009 at 5:12 am
Contact the Billing Dept. & explain to them what your financial situation is, that being that you can’t pay the bill in full period. Depending on your monthly income, they may deem you as being at the poverty level or below & after paperwork is completed on both sides, you may become exempt from paying the bill in full. Give this debt immediate attention so as to let the hospital know your intentions before they turn it over to collections. They aren’t mind readers & may think you’re ignoring them for some reason.
November 11th, 2009 at 5:45 am
I’m not a lawyer, but they could put a lien against any real property owned. If none, then they would just go through collection procedures, and when all else fails, they would write it off as bad debt.
Personally, I would call them and say I am unable to continue to pay on the bill. Ask them if they would consider settling for the payments already made. They might if they know the payments are stopping.
Good luck!
November 11th, 2009 at 6:18 am
I am going through this with my 85 yr old mom that was sent home from the hospital with 3 bedsores 6 mos ago and is still on a wound vac as a result. She has been paying bills from the hospital, but now that I’m taking care of her finances, I don’t see any more payments from her or medicare for the neglect from them!!!
November 11th, 2009 at 6:31 am
It would just go to a collection agency, and be on the person’s credit report.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:53 am
WELL…. LETS SEE NOW….
As long as the clinic is willing to accept the small monthly
payments…. that would be the best way to handle it.
Problem is…. if the clinic folks want to be real as*-holes….
if the person who owes the debt should pass-away before
the debt is paid-in-full…. in the state where I live…. they can
put an “attachment” on the deceased person’s estate until
they receive their payment-in-full. This can cause a rather
lengthy delay in the disbursement of the estate to all the
beneficiaries. Don’t know if this is a law in all states.