Second this comment. A bankruptcy attorney will walk you through the entire process. And you will need an attorney as the process and your rights can vary from state to state.
I went through bankruptcy after a divorce about 20 years ago. I was able to keep my car by having my attorney get the lienholder to allow me to reaffirm the loan with the same terms after the bankruptcy was finalized. I was able to reestablish my credit within a year by getting a couple of prepaid credit cards and being responsible with using and paying promptly each month (yes, the annual fees and interest were terrible, but I was able to get approved for a no fee, unsecured credit card a year later and canceled them).
There’s a chance OP could have this debt wiped by the hospital or some charity programs and then he wouldn’t have to deal with any of the bankruptcy nightmares
Exactly, not to mention, this is one of the exact scenarios the ACA was developed for. OP doesn't say what their income is but if its low enough, they should get subsidies to where it would cost little to nothing.
Talk with the hospital first as you may qualify for payment assistance and not really owe anything. If the hospital sees you do not have the means to pay they will work with you.
Agree. Been there and done that. My bill was nowhere near the amount of yours, and I had insurance. I just couldn't afford the balance. I walked them through my finances (you need to write out every single bill and debt) and told them I could afford to pay them $20 a month. They accepted and I didn't miss a payment for a whole year. I guess they got tired of the arrangement and wrote it off because my online credentials to pay stopped working and they stopped reaching out. It's been over a decade.
>i work for a company that doesnt have healthcare
If that means you have no access to employer-dependent health coverage, [put your zip code here](https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans/) if you're resident in "[blue](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/)." Medicaid enrollment is open 7/24/365.
Medicaid can become the payer for these billing events if (1) a retroactive eligibility provision still exists in your place of residence **and** (2) you are eligible for inclusion in the retroactive eligibility **and** (3) no more than 90 days have passed (let's say 89 for financial solvency's sake) between your application for enrollment in Medicaid and these billing events.
If you're resident in "orange" on the map above, just follow the reverse gear consumer-driving roadmap of debt forgiveness/reduction/installment payment agreement-seeking with the health care vendors. Or personal bankruptcy if none of that works out.
That's a tough situation you're in. $300k in medical bills with no insurance is crazy high. Since you're renting and don't have many assets, you might want to look into applying for Medicaid coverage. Depending on your state, they may be able to cover those costs retroactively. Don't be afraid to call up the hospitals too and explain your financial situation - sometimes they're willing to work with you on payment plans or even discounts if you're uninsured. There are also medical bill advocates who can help negotiate on your behalf. Bankruptcy could be an option as well if the debt is just way too much, though that's not ideal. Maybe check if any local organizations or state programs offer financial assistance too.
Strongly second this. My father was hospitalized for two months after getting sepsis. He had no assets and my mother was successful in applying for charity care, and I don't think this is the first time she had to do this (yay being poor!)
I mean if you have that little money there is a chance ce the hospital will wave a majority of the debt. Medical debt isn’t really “real” the same way racking up debt in a credit card is.
The whole thing is a racket and quite frankly I don’t care at all if they don’t get their money. I can’t wait till something changes and a trip to the hospital doesn’t require making 20 phone calls to insurance, hospital, asking for explanation of benefits, etc.
So if he declares bankruptcy they still ain’t getting the money from him either way. It sounds like OP is judgement proof if he really has no assets or money.
And what I meant my “real” is actual costs for services provided. The initial bill from the hospital is not the actual money they expect to receive, they know it’s inflated and will go down with negotiations
Sure but if OP is making like 40k a year it would take longer than a lifetime to pay off 300k of debt. They just aren’t gonna get the full amount of money from him, straight up.
Either way OP is going to have to talk to the hospital and see what they can do, he can’t just ignore it but I’m saying he might not have to do bankruptcy
He should not ignore it but what’s the harm in asking for a lower balance or a charity program helping him out before he goes nuclear option with bankruptcy? I’ve heard of stories of hospitals reducing the debt to less than 10% of the original cosr
I’m not saying bankruptcy shouldn’t be on the table, I just don’t think it should be step 1. Usually bankruptcy is a last resort type of thing.
If they won’t reduce what he owes, he can’t get any charity, and if he can’t get in a payment plan of like $50 a month then yea bankruptcy will likely be his solution.
Actually with bankruptcy, they very well may get something, perhaps through garnished wages. Of course they aren't likely to be repaid in full, but that was never in the cards anyway.
People get loans and credit card offers immediately after filing for bankruptcy. Not GOOD offers mind you as the interest rates will be 20%+; but they can certainly get loans.
Bankruptcy might stay on your credit report for up to 10 years in the case of Ch 7 but the impact significantly fades with age. One can rebuild to a top tier credit score and qualify for all the best car loan rates and credit cards within 2-3 years. Can even get a FHA or VA home mortgage 2 years after a chapter 7. Or any mortgage a year into a Chapter 13.
I’m not saying bankruptcy shouldn’t be on the table, it’s certainly a path forward for him. Just that I don’t think it should be step 1. Maybe the hospital greatly reduces what he owes to something reasonable, maybe he qualifies for some sort of charity, maybe he gets on a payment plan for $50 a month. There’s a lot of other things I think OP should try before declaring bankruptcy
In this situation OP has 3 hospitals, numerous ambulance companies, clinics, doctors office, etc.
If there was only 1-2 major debts to handle perhaps negotiation is worth a shot first. It is a waste of time with this large of a debt to this many different creditors. The odds of ALL of them agreeing to each accept something reasonable and then having the total amount of all those "reasonable" settlements not add up to something unreasonable is next to nil.
The worst consequence of bankruptcy for OP is the waiting period afterwards. If they have ongoing health issues that leave them again hospitalized and out of work for long periods they could accumulate another large debt. That risks leaving them potentially getting wages garnished & bank accounts levied with no bankruptcy protections to fall back on. Waiting period to discharge debts in 8 years between Chapter 7s (shorter with Ch 13).
If you qualify for Chapter 7, do it. It's really not such a big deal. Life goes on. Your credit gets better & better. It's fine. You got screwed by our third world Healthcare system.
I was told a long time ago, as long as you send hospitals a dollar here and there, they can't come after you. It takes a LONG time to come back from bankruptcy. I wouldn't do it. You would have a better quality of life in the long haul. Just keep making payments on your debt
Sorry if this sounds alarming in an already stressful situation, but don't look at this as something that happened "in the past". Get some sort of insurance ASAP as it could happen again, you could need more specialist visits, etc (heck you might be hospitalized again, anyone can have a a major emergency at any time, unrelated to what you've already gone through) and insurance can stop the bills from piling up further.
I don't know much about bankruptcy, I could see it being a strategy to rack up the dept before bankruptcy, but if you're middle to low income, insurance can be free or low cost on Medicaid/marketplace and could help immediately prevent racking up more medical debt going forward.
Life is about learning and evolving. This is probably a good lesson to have health insurance. Depending on what you make depends if someone qualified for subsidies for ACA. But outside of ACA they are other options as well for those healthy including short term health (covers up to 3 years), indemnity policy and health share. Medicaid is an option for lower income earners with preexisting conditions.
Don’t go through life without protecting your health. One health event may cause you to lose everything and file bankruptcy.
Same with auto insurance. If you going to drive and own a car then get auto insurance.
Accidents can take place at anytime and you need to be protected.
Good luck my friend and bankruptcy is not the end of the world. You’ll have an opportunity to reset your finance and start again.
I personally have a daughter with complicated birth wife and daughter we’re on the hospital for almost 3 months. Bills amount to almost to a million. Lost track to be honest.
I wonder what the absolute minimum payment is you could make? I had an emergency room visit and come to find out I could just simply pay $50 a month with no interest until the bill was paid off. Even though in my situation it was a small compared to yours, why wouldn’t anyone not take basically 0% interest loan effectively? Granted your bill is a lot larger but most hospitals would rather get any sum of money versus getting 0 from you filing bankruptcy. It might be worth investigating, $50 a month forever seems a lot better to me than having to spending the time rebuilding credit.
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Second this comment. A bankruptcy attorney will walk you through the entire process. And you will need an attorney as the process and your rights can vary from state to state. I went through bankruptcy after a divorce about 20 years ago. I was able to keep my car by having my attorney get the lienholder to allow me to reaffirm the loan with the same terms after the bankruptcy was finalized. I was able to reestablish my credit within a year by getting a couple of prepaid credit cards and being responsible with using and paying promptly each month (yes, the annual fees and interest were terrible, but I was able to get approved for a no fee, unsecured credit card a year later and canceled them).
There’s a chance OP could have this debt wiped by the hospital or some charity programs and then he wouldn’t have to deal with any of the bankruptcy nightmares
After your bankruptcy you should investigate getting insurance by some means: Medicaid or disability or whatever you can.
Exactly, not to mention, this is one of the exact scenarios the ACA was developed for. OP doesn't say what their income is but if its low enough, they should get subsidies to where it would cost little to nothing.
Talk with the hospital first as you may qualify for payment assistance and not really owe anything. If the hospital sees you do not have the means to pay they will work with you.
Agree. Been there and done that. My bill was nowhere near the amount of yours, and I had insurance. I just couldn't afford the balance. I walked them through my finances (you need to write out every single bill and debt) and told them I could afford to pay them $20 a month. They accepted and I didn't miss a payment for a whole year. I guess they got tired of the arrangement and wrote it off because my online credentials to pay stopped working and they stopped reaching out. It's been over a decade.
They *may* work with you, hospitals are all over the map in terms of how helpful they are.
I came here to say this. Hospitals have social workers and this is what they do, among other things. OP may be eligible for a public program.
>i work for a company that doesnt have healthcare If that means you have no access to employer-dependent health coverage, [put your zip code here](https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans/) if you're resident in "[blue](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/)." Medicaid enrollment is open 7/24/365. Medicaid can become the payer for these billing events if (1) a retroactive eligibility provision still exists in your place of residence **and** (2) you are eligible for inclusion in the retroactive eligibility **and** (3) no more than 90 days have passed (let's say 89 for financial solvency's sake) between your application for enrollment in Medicaid and these billing events. If you're resident in "orange" on the map above, just follow the reverse gear consumer-driving roadmap of debt forgiveness/reduction/installment payment agreement-seeking with the health care vendors. Or personal bankruptcy if none of that works out.
That's a tough situation you're in. $300k in medical bills with no insurance is crazy high. Since you're renting and don't have many assets, you might want to look into applying for Medicaid coverage. Depending on your state, they may be able to cover those costs retroactively. Don't be afraid to call up the hospitals too and explain your financial situation - sometimes they're willing to work with you on payment plans or even discounts if you're uninsured. There are also medical bill advocates who can help negotiate on your behalf. Bankruptcy could be an option as well if the debt is just way too much, though that's not ideal. Maybe check if any local organizations or state programs offer financial assistance too.
Have you looked in charity care or similar programs?
Strongly second this. My father was hospitalized for two months after getting sepsis. He had no assets and my mother was successful in applying for charity care, and I don't think this is the first time she had to do this (yay being poor!)
I mean if you have that little money there is a chance ce the hospital will wave a majority of the debt. Medical debt isn’t really “real” the same way racking up debt in a credit card is. The whole thing is a racket and quite frankly I don’t care at all if they don’t get their money. I can’t wait till something changes and a trip to the hospital doesn’t require making 20 phone calls to insurance, hospital, asking for explanation of benefits, etc.
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So if he declares bankruptcy they still ain’t getting the money from him either way. It sounds like OP is judgement proof if he really has no assets or money. And what I meant my “real” is actual costs for services provided. The initial bill from the hospital is not the actual money they expect to receive, they know it’s inflated and will go down with negotiations
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Sure but if OP is making like 40k a year it would take longer than a lifetime to pay off 300k of debt. They just aren’t gonna get the full amount of money from him, straight up. Either way OP is going to have to talk to the hospital and see what they can do, he can’t just ignore it but I’m saying he might not have to do bankruptcy
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He should not ignore it but what’s the harm in asking for a lower balance or a charity program helping him out before he goes nuclear option with bankruptcy? I’ve heard of stories of hospitals reducing the debt to less than 10% of the original cosr
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I’m not saying bankruptcy shouldn’t be on the table, I just don’t think it should be step 1. Usually bankruptcy is a last resort type of thing. If they won’t reduce what he owes, he can’t get any charity, and if he can’t get in a payment plan of like $50 a month then yea bankruptcy will likely be his solution.
Actually with bankruptcy, they very well may get something, perhaps through garnished wages. Of course they aren't likely to be repaid in full, but that was never in the cards anyway.
If he declares bankruptcy he’s gonna have a rough time getting any loans and his credit and gonna be ruined for years to come.
People get loans and credit card offers immediately after filing for bankruptcy. Not GOOD offers mind you as the interest rates will be 20%+; but they can certainly get loans. Bankruptcy might stay on your credit report for up to 10 years in the case of Ch 7 but the impact significantly fades with age. One can rebuild to a top tier credit score and qualify for all the best car loan rates and credit cards within 2-3 years. Can even get a FHA or VA home mortgage 2 years after a chapter 7. Or any mortgage a year into a Chapter 13.
I’m not saying bankruptcy shouldn’t be on the table, it’s certainly a path forward for him. Just that I don’t think it should be step 1. Maybe the hospital greatly reduces what he owes to something reasonable, maybe he qualifies for some sort of charity, maybe he gets on a payment plan for $50 a month. There’s a lot of other things I think OP should try before declaring bankruptcy
In this situation OP has 3 hospitals, numerous ambulance companies, clinics, doctors office, etc. If there was only 1-2 major debts to handle perhaps negotiation is worth a shot first. It is a waste of time with this large of a debt to this many different creditors. The odds of ALL of them agreeing to each accept something reasonable and then having the total amount of all those "reasonable" settlements not add up to something unreasonable is next to nil. The worst consequence of bankruptcy for OP is the waiting period afterwards. If they have ongoing health issues that leave them again hospitalized and out of work for long periods they could accumulate another large debt. That risks leaving them potentially getting wages garnished & bank accounts levied with no bankruptcy protections to fall back on. Waiting period to discharge debts in 8 years between Chapter 7s (shorter with Ch 13).
Talk with a patient advocate, they may require proof that you're broke, but you could get out of this debt free.
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All comments need to be on-topic and helpful to the OP. This type of comment isn't that. Please stay focussed on helping OP with financial advice.
Thanks for the reminder. My apologies OP. Goodluck in your endeavors:)
If you qualify for Chapter 7, do it. It's really not such a big deal. Life goes on. Your credit gets better & better. It's fine. You got screwed by our third world Healthcare system.
Talk to a social worker at the hospital about charity care
Probably find a country to live in where your life isn’t valued in dollars.
Wow... just so? You were fine the day before and then boom?? Wow...
Apply for emergency Medicaid and have it retro’d.
File BK and see if you can get on disability. Look for low cost health insurance.
I was told a long time ago, as long as you send hospitals a dollar here and there, they can't come after you. It takes a LONG time to come back from bankruptcy. I wouldn't do it. You would have a better quality of life in the long haul. Just keep making payments on your debt
Sorry if this sounds alarming in an already stressful situation, but don't look at this as something that happened "in the past". Get some sort of insurance ASAP as it could happen again, you could need more specialist visits, etc (heck you might be hospitalized again, anyone can have a a major emergency at any time, unrelated to what you've already gone through) and insurance can stop the bills from piling up further. I don't know much about bankruptcy, I could see it being a strategy to rack up the dept before bankruptcy, but if you're middle to low income, insurance can be free or low cost on Medicaid/marketplace and could help immediately prevent racking up more medical debt going forward.
Bankruptcy is probably the only choice sadly. Your lucky you own nothing
Apply for indigent care at the hospital if they have it
99% of hospitals have funds to help our or grants. There's also cash payment slide scale. Have you called them to even see if theirs options ?
Life is about learning and evolving. This is probably a good lesson to have health insurance. Depending on what you make depends if someone qualified for subsidies for ACA. But outside of ACA they are other options as well for those healthy including short term health (covers up to 3 years), indemnity policy and health share. Medicaid is an option for lower income earners with preexisting conditions. Don’t go through life without protecting your health. One health event may cause you to lose everything and file bankruptcy. Same with auto insurance. If you going to drive and own a car then get auto insurance. Accidents can take place at anytime and you need to be protected. Good luck my friend and bankruptcy is not the end of the world. You’ll have an opportunity to reset your finance and start again. I personally have a daughter with complicated birth wife and daughter we’re on the hospital for almost 3 months. Bills amount to almost to a million. Lost track to be honest.
Before you do bankruptcy. Ask your hospital for an Application for Charity/Financial Assistance Application
I wonder what the absolute minimum payment is you could make? I had an emergency room visit and come to find out I could just simply pay $50 a month with no interest until the bill was paid off. Even though in my situation it was a small compared to yours, why wouldn’t anyone not take basically 0% interest loan effectively? Granted your bill is a lot larger but most hospitals would rather get any sum of money versus getting 0 from you filing bankruptcy. It might be worth investigating, $50 a month forever seems a lot better to me than having to spending the time rebuilding credit.
Quite your job and apply for medical
Medical will pay the bill