Can the hospital radiology group legally sue me for non payment of my bill?

Question

I thought the debt would go to a collection agency. From my understanding a collection agency can't sue anybody. They just use treats to sue to get people to pay. Anyway I got a letter from a law firm today stating for me to pay my bill or a judgement will be held against me. I don't have a problem paying my bill. I just don't have the money. I don't have health insurance. It is very hard to get blood out of a turnip. Do they have any legal standing? I am just curious.

Answer 1

Yes, they can sue you and get a Judgment against you. If you have any real estate the Judgment can be attached to the real estate and they can also garnish your wages. The same would hold true if they would assign or sell their interest to a collection agency; a collection agency can file suit and get a Judgment if they choose to pursue that avenue and do when higher dollar amounts are involved; with smaller dollar amounts it is just more cost effective to pursue the matter without involving the Courts.

A better solution would be to contact their Billing arrangments, come up with a monthly amount that you can afford to pay (they are likely to ask you to fill out detailed papers about your financial situation in order to determine what amount per their formula is that you can pay montly vs. what you feel you can pay monthly) and then stick with it.

Answer 2

If I understand this correctly, you just bought the car, and the bill just went to collections, right? It takes a while before a hospital sends a bill to collections - typically at least six months of billing you directly before they do that. This means you had the bill before you bought the car; so, you knew you owed the money, but you went out and spent it on a car instead, and now you're overextended. I don't like collection agencies - they're vicious and unethical and devious, as a rule - but in this case I don't blame the agency for not cutting you any slack. They can see your credit report and they know you got that car loan with the hospital bill still unpaid. So from where they sit, it looks like you either never intended to pay that bill, or else you have plenty of money to pay for both a car and the bill. In either case they have no incentive to cut you a break, because either way you're just taking advantage. And it doesn't make it any better that your reason for a new car rather than a nice used car was because you are "tired of used cars." Your financial obligations take legal precedence over that. You also seem to be upset at the hospital for the amount of the bill, and the answer to that is, you shouldn't go to the emergency room for routine treatment. That's why it's called the "emergency" room - it's for emergencies, and it charges for urgent care. If it's not urgent - and this clearly wasn't - you should have gone to your regular pediatrician, unless you didn't care what the bill was going to be - which also probably makes the agency think you never intended to pay it. So yes, they can sue you. However, if you CAN make SOME payment, even if it is not as much as they want, send it to them. Keep records of the payments. If they do sue you, it will go much better on you if you can show the court you are trying.

Answer 3

Yes the creditor or their appointed agent can take whatever legal measures they deem necessary in order to recover their funds.

That means that the hospital can sue you and if they turn the account over to a collection agency then the agency can sue you.

You say you don't have a problem paying the bill. You just don't have the money. That would seem to be a big problem, wouldn't you say?

Answer 4

Yes, I believe they can pursue legal action against you. You probably signed an agreement holding you liable for any fee not paid by insurance. Your best bet would probably be talking straight with them about your situation and offer a good faith effort to settle the debt by negotiating a payment plan.