usa ladies...question about unpaid hospital bill

[Dolphinz4]

I dont know if anyone will be able to help me...when I had my son almost 3 years ago, our insurance covered most of my delivery, but there was a chunk of money they sidnt cover....I got the bills in the mail but back then we couldnt pay them....they went to collections...my question is, I plan on delivering this baby at that same hospital, can they deny me for those unpaid bills? Has this ever happened to anyone?

 

[Krissy485]

I personally have never heard of that happening here. I live in Michigan. I know my parents had unpaid hospital bills that went to collections then eventual bankruptcy but they have still gone to the same hospital. now they have had doctors refuse to let them come back because of outstanding bills. you cold always just call and ask it as a general question without giving your name and what not. hope that helps!

 

[cookette]

My understanding they cannot turn you away in an emergency room or labor situation.

 

[fifie123]

Thank god for the NHS

 

[Selaphyna]

I'm very sure they can not turn you away.

There is actually a notice posted at my hospital/doctor's office that says exactly that. That they will not turn anyone away due to racial, religion, or financial reasons.

I was kind of worried myself. I'm still paying on a bill from my out patient surgery I had back in September 2011. It went to collections and I'm now slowly paying it back.

Seeing this post reminded me I need to call the bill department tomorrow to set up payment plans lol though (i've started to receive bills).

 

[Luvspnk31]

First, NO they can't, but if it makes you feel better, once they send u to collections, it's out of their hands anyway. The collection company buys the debt from the hospital, so as far as the hospital is concerned, they got their money. Should be no issue. I would encourage you, that if ur in the same situation to meet with a financial counselor to set up payments. It will help save ur credit.

At least the hospital only sent u to collections. I live In Indiana and my DH had a procedure done where we couldn't pay the balance. The hospital actually sued us and was going to take us to court over it. Fortunately his mom loaned us the money. We had tried to set up payments, but the only thing they told us was to " go to a bank and get a loan" . they wanted their money up front. Needless to say we don't use that network if we can avoid it.

 

[BeautifulD]

Thank god for the NHS

^^^ This!

We moan about the nhs but threads like this make me realise how lucky we are!

 

[cookette]

Thank god for the NHS

^^^ This!

We moan about the nhs but threads like this make me realise how lucky we are!

lol, and Im still grateful we DONT have NHS!

 

[messica]

Thank god for the NHS

^^^ This!

We moan about the nhs but threads like this make me realise how lucky we are!

lol, and Im still grateful we DONT have NHS!

Well, we kind of do. It's called the VA and you see how that's working out for our veterans
What we know? People die from unnecessary waits associated with "socialized" care. I'm sorry, but I'll always be willing to pay out of pocket for care better than that for me and mine.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corn...sifying-reported-wait-times-charles-c-w-cooke
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...01ed3c-df71-11e3-810f-764fe508b82d_story.html



OP - no you won't be denied care. In the future though, don't be afraid to contact patient financial services to sort those things out. There were times I was paying just $5 a month on my accounts and most are just fine with that as long as you're paying something toward your balance. On the plus side, paying cash they'll often offer you deep discounts or forgive balances after a time entirely. There are charity services if money gets too tight that can help too!

 

[Kiwiberry]

Hey sweetie! They can not deny you, so its good you know that. How it works is once it goes to collections the bill basically doesn't exist anymore, well not for the Hospital at least. It then becomes the problem of the collection agency to collect on it instead of the "business".

 

[cookette]

Thank god for the NHS

^^^ This!

We moan about the nhs but threads like this make me realise how lucky we are!

lol, and Im still grateful we DONT have NHS!

Well, we kind of do. It's called the VA and you see how that's working out for our veterans
What we know? People die from unnecessary waits associated with "socialized" care. I'm sorry, but I'll always be willing to pay out of pocket for care better than that for me and mine.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corn...sifying-reported-wait-times-charles-c-w-cooke
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...01ed3c-df71-11e3-810f-764fe508b82d_story.html



OP - no you won't be denied care. In the future though, don't be afraid to contact patient financial services to sort those things out. There were times I was paying just $5 a month on my accounts and most are just fine with that as long as you're paying something toward your balance. On the plus side, paying cash they'll often offer you deep discounts or forgive balances after a time entirely. There are charity services if money gets too tight that can help too!

VERY true!! Gosh, that VA is a mess. And I suppose our taxes go to pay for Medicaid/Medicare/State progams....Ugh.

 

[Kiwiberry]

VERY true!! Gosh, that VA is a mess. And I suppose our taxes go to pay for Medicaid/Medicare/State progams....Ugh.

Where else would you expect it to come from? Those are services that a lot of people need.

 

[cookette]

VERY true!! Gosh, that VA is a mess. And I suppose our taxes go to pay for Medicaid/Medicare/State progams....Ugh.

Where else would you expect it to come from? Those are services that a lot of people need.

Honestly, I thought a magical fairy deposited money into the governments account every month and our taxes go to fund the roadside sno-cone huts in the summer.


No one was debating the need of those programs. Dont go looking for offense when there isnt any. I was agreeing with a poster over NHS, if you would like to warp that off into something else, you can do it with someone else.

 

[Kiwiberry]

All i was doing was asking a question. It is not like your statement was very clear on what you meant. No need to get so hostile.

 

[GonnaBaMama]

I can't contribute to this thread (live in Canada, but born and raised in USA!), but I just want to say that I'm sorry that in addition to some of the stresses that life brings that you also have to worry about whether or not a hospital will take you in.

 

[LinnieLou]

They can't turn you away in labor but your Dr can refuse to see you. Also, just because they sent you to collections doesn't mean they got paid by the collection agency. The hospital won't get paid until you pay the collection agency. The collection agency charges the hospital a percentage of what you owe but they don't get anything until you pay. I would call the patient financial services tho. At the clinic I work at we won't see patients that have a balance in collections. Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[Luvspnk31]

They can't turn you away in labor but your Dr can refuse to see you. Also, just because they sent you to collections doesn't mean they got paid by the collection agency. The hospital won't get paid until you pay the collection agency. The collection agency charges the hospital a percentage of what you owe but they don't get anything until you pay. I would call the patient financial services tho. At the clinic I work at we won't see patients that have a balance in collections. Hope this helps. Good luck!

It depends on what agency they use. Most just buy the debt out right at a discount. So, no the hospital won't get all their money, but they'll get most. What would be the point in paying a fee if you never get ur money? They might as well handle it internally.

 

[jzgrace]

A lot of people think that once debt goes to collections that it is out of the "creditors" hands. But this is not always the case. It depends on whether or not the debt is an "assigned" debt or not. With an assigned debt the account information is assigned to a collections agency and not sold, so if the assigned agency fails to collect the debt after usually 90 days, the debt is sent back to the creditor to be assigned to another collection agency. If this is the case with your debt they may bill you with your past due amounts concurrent with your newly acquired debt. This does not mean that the hospital will deny medical care. The laws in this country prohibit them from doing so. It is scary and nerve wrecking to deal with, but you will not be turned away, nor will the hospital let you or your baby go without life saving medical care. You may need to use a different ob clinic, if you are in a bigger city then I'm sure you will have no problem finding one. No worries love!!

 

[jzgrace]

All i was doing was asking a question. It is not like your statement was very clear on what you meant. No need to get so hostile.

Hi kiwi was wondering how to get the weeks marker thing at the bottom that everyone has?

 

[LinnieLou]

They can't turn you away in labor but your Dr can refuse to see you. Also, just because they sent you to collections doesn't mean they got paid by the collection agency. The hospital won't get paid until you pay the collection agency. The collection agency charges the hospital a percentage of what you owe but they don't get anything until you pay. I would call the patient financial services tho. At the clinic I work at we won't see patients that have a balance in collections. Hope this helps. Good luck!

It depends on what agency they use. Most just buy the debt out right at a discount. So, no the hospital won't get all their money, but they'll get most. What would be the point in paying a fee if you never get ur money? They might as well handle it internally.

At our clinic we don't actually pay the collection agency any fee until the money is collected. Then the agency just takes their fee out of the collected money and pays us. It saves us the headache of having to chase people down. But thats just how our clinic and the other hospitals around here handle it. I guess it could be different depending on where you are.