has anyone been to court for not paying for hospital bills?

Question

its not that i wanna pay its i dont have the money and they sent me a court notice and i dont want them to garnish my wages then i wont have enought to pay for rent is there anypossible way to fix this i have called them and they just told me the date to be there i never been to court and a lil scared of what they will do please help i also made a 50 dollor payment a month then i later couldnt pay it lost my job and the jobs i get doesnt pay much and im a diabetic and cant work im lost

Answer 1

You may be better off going to court. First of all, if they get a money judgment against you it doesn't mean they automatically get to garnish your wages. That's a whole separate lawsuit. There are also claims of exemption. In my state they cannot take your home, your car, your household goods and furnishings, your clothes or your jewelry (I know, that's an odd one). They also allow you to exempt up to $5000 in cash. If they garnish your wages for anything except child support, it's only permitted up to 25% after your deductions. These bills can also be bankrupted. Consumer Credit Counseling can also force them into a payment schedule. Ask them for a payment schedule and threaten bankruptcy if they don't accept it. Bankruptcy ruins your credit for a while, but your credit is probably already bad. The leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. is medical bills, not credit cards like most people think. If they get a judgment against you, you can still file the Claim of Exemptions. If you bankrupt them, they get nothing. If they garnish or put you on a payment plan, they get something every month. A previous answerer said they could take your home. That makes me believe that the exemptions are different from state to state and I know there are also federal exemptions. You can chose the federal or state exemptions based solely on which are most beneficial to you. Consulting a collections attorney or a consumer credit counseling agency is the best way to figure out how you can solve this problem, but it is solvable. Failure to pay is not an excuse to deny you medical treatment either. That's illegal if you have a chronic persistent ailment. Good luck to you, but call your state bar office and ask them to find an attorney to give you a free consultation. In my state, the state bar association will give you advice for free and they have a list of attorneys who provide free legal services. If you have any friends who regularly use an attorney, ask them to call their attorney and put in a good word for you.

Answer 2

You need to talk to an attorney to get legal advice. Usually, when a person is unable to pay due to a disability or loss of income, hospitals can either write it off, or set up a monthly payment that a person can manage, with a low income. Another possibility if you have no income and no available savings or other funds, you might qualify for Medicaid. There are also credit counseling firms that will charge you a manageable fee and possibly lower the balance that you owe the hospital, but you have to be careful, as some of these firms are not legitimate. So the best bet is to consult with an attorney through Legal Aid Society in your area. This provides legal counseling for those unable to pay attorney fees. There is a way out of this mess, but you need someone to represent your interests.

Answer 3

Do not worry my friend....if you do it will affect your diabetes. Being broke is not a crime. When you get to court simply tell the judge what you are telling us on this site "I am not neglecting the payment because I want too...I don't have the money." Usually in hardship cases as yours, the judge will default your payments until you can pay, or arrange a ridiculous monthly agreement such as 5 bucks a month or something like that. Other judges may mandate you to credit counseling...no prob. But do not worry, they will NOT force you to pay the entire amount. Good luck and I hope you feel better.

Answer 4

Consult a lawyer. Some have free consultations (it will say this in the yellow pages under lawyer). See what they might be able to do to help you. A lawyer might be cheaper than having wages garnished.

Alternatively, call the hospital and see if you can set up a payment plan.

Third option, go on state medical assistance (for instance, in California, you'd apply for MediCal). They pay your bills when you can't.

Answer 5

They will work with you on a payment plan, you might have to bring in proof of everything you just stated, talk to someone in the billing dept. and they should be able to help you.
I'm going through a divorce and I'm disabled and have a ton of bills to pay down, I had to go to court one one bill I went armed with all information I thought I needed, bottom line they do not care about anything except how much can you pay per month. I was sweating over this, one down five more to go, that's life,.....

Answer 6

You need to contact them and have them set you up on a payment plan. If you lost your job you should be getting some disability or unemployment or something. They will try to get their money.

Good Luck

Answer 7

They can take your home or car or bank accts so it is best to try and work out a plan on how to pay?

Answer 8

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