Help with hospital bills?

Question

My mom recently went to the hospital. Now she has about 32000.00 in bills from them. She wants to set up payment as she lives on a fixed income. The hospital is trying to tell her that they will take my house that I live in and will be passed on to me and my kids when she passes away and it was my grandmas before then. It is still in her name but they are trying to force her to sell to get all the money now which means I and my kids will be out of a house a family heirloom. Can the hospital force her to sell or take over her house ? I told her as long as she pays at least 100.00 a month they can't do anything other than try to report her to credit agencies. Also I told her we should go ahead and make the title switch to me so we can ensure nothing will happen.Can anyone give me advice?What can we do legally and what can the hospital do?

Answer 1

There are several charity funds and programs that can help which she would probably qualify for seeings as she is on a fixed income. They may not be able to help in full, but usually they hospitals will back down a little if they get a large down payment and she pays them regularly. I'm not positive, but most hospitals are usually willing to work with you on payment arrangements and wont report her to credit agencies unless she has lapsed on 2-3 months or more of payments in her specific payment arrangement. Do be careful though if your mother is elderly and in failing health. I don't mean to sound cold about it.... but they are slightly less lenient with they elderly and those who are in poor health because they can potentially loose money if they pass on. If you or she is affiliated with a church or religion you may look those are usually very good sources to find some quick charity if needed.
Also make sure you or she keeps a record of all payments made and all bills sent to the hospital in case there are any mistakes or mishaps with the billing.

Answer 2

They can sue her. If they win, they could try to garnish wages or put a lein on the house, but no - they can't force her to sell. In most cases, her homestead is protected and they won't be able to get anything from it anyway.

Did she not have insurance? Or Medicaid or Medicare?

If that was the cash price they charged her, you need to bargain them down A LOT! Insurance only pays a small percentage of the RETAIL price and hospitals know it. They should not be expecting the full retail payment from her.

FYI - $100 a month is not a plan to take care of this. That would take her 26 years if there are no interest or penalties. You should probably come up with a better plan!

Have you thought about paying some of it for her? You are going to get her house, why not make some payments on it now?

Answer 3

To supplement Rick B's answer, you can also contact that Area Agency on Aging. You can see what they do here:
http://www.n4a.org/aboutaaas.cfm

The house was never yours. Your mother can't be forced to sell it. However, if this is not resolved and she dies, her estate is responsible for any debts, which could mean that you will need to sell the house.

You state she's on a fixed income, which leaves one with the question: what's her medical insurance? If she's on Medicare, that amount sounds unlikely to be her responsibility as there is a 20% co-pay on Medicare and on the prices ALLOWED by Medicare. Some things are NOT covered by Medicare and the patient is considered responsible.

Switching the title to you is NOT going to work--the debt came first.
The $100 a month is an old wives tale.

Someone else said to seek legal advice and that's good. Probably the AAA can provide that for a reasonable charge or set you up with someone who can. You can't just ignore or assume about hospital billing. They're getting extremely aggressive about collections throughout the US.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Well, the house in question is NOT yours, as of yet. It is your mother's, since she apparently holds title to the property. Your advice to Mother is false. While a hospital MAY agree to $100.00 per month, it is under no obligation to agree to that. Chances are that they won't agree to that, since the charges would take over twenty five years to be paid off, and that's with no interest added.

If you attempt to change ownership of the property to your name because of this situation, the courts may well view the ownership change as an attempt to avoid assets being taken to avoid a debt payment.

In this situation, you are advised to engage the services of a qualified attorney to guide you through your options, which are quite varied.

Do so as soon as possible. If the hospital files a lis pendens against your mother's property, it's a GUARANTEE that the courts will view your title switch as debt avoidance.

Answer 5

Rick B is right on. I'd contact the admin. at the hospital because all billing does is treat you like a number. The front office, after they know your intent to pay, may well work with you. The billing dept. just wants $$$. And then there's the bankrupt option which isn't a great choice but it may be available in this case.

Answer 6

my hospital tried sueing me, just call them and set up a payment plan its not worth all the trouble they bring