| Author | Message | ||
     Paint_shaker |
Not trying to be a d!ck or anything, but if you would die to keep your bikes and know how expensive a hospital visit is, why did you go to the hospital in the first place?? As for what to do now? The decent thing to do would be to negotiate for a lower amount and a payment plan... or you could be like every other sh*tbag that KNOWINGLY got in over their head and either claim bankruptcy or find some other way to NOT have to pay... | ||
| Guell |
Not trying to be a d!ck or anything, but if you would die to keep your bikes and know how expensive a hospital visit is, why did you go to the hospital in the first place?? yea, its not like you had to use their medical facilities. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Sometimes Bankruptcy is the ONLY way to prevent your home from being foreclosed. Again, it should be a last resort. You aren't there yet. | ||
| Whistler |
Preybird1, It is very difficult and I hope I'm not being too familiar but please consider this. Negotiate the medical bills yourself. It has been my recent experience that many of the bills are inflated or double billed and the vendor will eliminate or drastically reduce the charge. Speak frankly and strongly with them about what you think a fair charge is for each procedure and item. Once you have a realistic dollar amount you may be able to set up a payment plan that works for both you and the vendor. Please consider every option before filing, for the money and especially for yourself, now and down the road. Wishing the very best. Rob | ||
| Reepicheep |
Off topic, but its ironic that the hospital has to gouge on your bill to cover people that stiff them, and the gouging in the justification for people to stiff the hospitals. | ||
| Xl1200r |
I wont sell the bikes because it took me years to get them and those are my favorite things in life. I would rather die or kill someone before i give them up so that is not an option Dude, sell your sh!t and pay your damned bills so that people like me and plenty of others who are financially responsible don't have to pay them for you. A $200/mo buffer means you're living beyond your means. | ||
| Court |
You need to go back and carefully read your first two posts. I think finances are the least of your problems. To exacerbate that nearly everything you have said about bankruptcy is patently inaccurate. You problems are small, the solutions simple. But until that bucket blinding you is removed from your head, you'll never see the solutions. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Send me copies of the bills, I battle these idiots daily. Half of them have their head up their azz, the others have a God superiority complex. as long as you werent involved in DUI for the accident - I can help. The charge - Bad Weather Discount. gratis No guarantees - but I have 10 years doing this for the insurance companies, and the last 2 years doing it on my own. Send me the info. PM the details. (seriously I know what it is to loose the job, the house, the bikes, the girl, the hope, and piled bills that suddenly are now insurmountable when before they were easily under control) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
(seriously I know what it is to loose the job, the house, the bikes, the girl, the hope, and piled bills that suddenly are now insurmountable when before they were easily under control) Yep. Know myself. Soul sucking. The OP isn't even close to that point yet. | ||
| Thumper74 |
I was laid off from my full time and part time job on the same day within 30 minutes of each other. In the morning, while my part time boss was laying me off, my full time job was calling my cell phone... I called the full time boss and he laid me off on the way home from the morning job! I know it can be frustrating, but I've paid down $40,000.00 (I know) in credit card debt to almost nothing now. I am better off for it and I've learned my lesson. It took some sacrifices and talking to a bankruptcy attorney, but it's almost all gone. Bankruptcy isn't as easy to come by and most people have to do the restructured payment anyway. | ||
| Jb2 |
I can't offer much help but I will tell you that Kim and I did not have insurance when our son was born. We had delivery bills and infant care bills and follow-up bills. Everyday a new bill came in the mail. We approached the hospital and the doctors and worked out a payment schedule. It took us nearly five years but they were nice enough to not charge us interest because we were proactive and started making arrangements from the first day. A year after we paid that debt our daughter came along when I was between jobs. Kim had just started a new job so we did not have insurance again. And, again, we approached the hospital and the doctors. There was no problem even though the bill was substantially more the second time around. It took us several years to pay it off. I sold two motorcycles to pay for Kim and I's wedding. I had worked long and hard to put another in my garage. I bought a '72 Sportster(basketcase) and was building it when Kim became pregnant for our daughter. I lost my job shortly afterwards and was starting a new job when she was born. I reluctantly sold the Sporty to help ease the payments to the hospital. It all worked out well. I've owned a ton of motorcycles since then including three Harleys and three Buells. While I was without a scooter Dad was known to come up from Texas on his Harley and borrow my car for a week while he was doing odd jobs for my Grandma. I'd scratch my riding Jones for a week or two every summer. I could have never faced him nor would the bike have ever been offered had we filed for bankruptcy. It was never an option. | ||
| Guell |
Man up, sell the bikes and deal with it. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to. That's life. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
though this is P & C (I have held that license as well) I think it is telling as to what goes on in Healthcare as well What I do is what Obama actually called for in his campaign rhetoric. I am a Healthcare Hitman - I bring the hammer to table. Usually for whomever pays me. I work all sides against the middle. If a hospital wants to collect - yep If a patient wants to negotiate a bill - yep If a vet wants to take to task the VA - yep (gratis) If a tribal member wants to take on the IHB - yep If a retiree wants to tangle with their supplemental Medicare - yep Working stiff wants to brandish against the company's HMO/PPO/EMO/ACO - yep A company wants to reduce insurance costs against their policy exposures - yep The state wants to track, record, persecute fraud perpetrators - DOUBLE HELL YEP. Medicaid wants anything - nope. (there is no market leverage in that line of policies - and as OBAMACARE IS MEDICAID - it doesn't bode well for that segment of health care - at all) Happy to advise here for free, and review the bill gratis, but if you want me to personally be making the calls, and taking people to task with their own rules and regulations - I do have to charge for that. | ||
| Court |
Any questions why . . . after all those years . . . i continue to stand in awe of all the Bantz's? The more of them you meet . . the better it gets/ I did the same thing with Son#1 (32 years ago). We were within 10 days of being eligible and ended up with a perfectly healthy kid let born smack dab on schedule. Life's funny. The hospital was more than willing to do about any deal we wanted. I've seen folks with $50,000 bills paying $100 per month. It's a matter of responsibility. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Growing up, I spent a week in the hospital. At the time, my folks were between jobs, and there was no such thing as HSAs or even individual coverage. We tried. As a result, I had a $10,000+ hospital bill racked up for the family. My mom paid $100/month. We paid on it for three years. The hospital called us in the third year and said that they were wiping the remainder out that we could quit sending them checks. Since we were willing to make the effort, the hospital helped us out. If we'd paid nothing, they likely would have turned it over to a collection agency for the whole amount and we'd still be fighting to pay it off. | ||
| Blake |
Sounds altruistic, but tell the rest of the story, how it was that the monthly checks were only painful reminders of the scourge of the FtBstrd. The nurses are still in psychotherapy. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I wasn't always Ft Bstrd. I was in high school. I weighed 152lbs and was in the hospital as a result of a blood infection resulting from cauliflower ear. Now my mom on the other hand........ | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
At 25 years old, I wouldn't weigh 152 lbs if I filled my pockets with lead. As for the bankruptcy, do the right thing. I haven't been in your exact shoes, but a few months ago I found out that my career in the Navy was coming to an unexpected end (thank you DoD budget cuts) I purchased my first home in the summer of 2009, and would be losing my job in the fall of 2011. I didn't make a foolish purchase, I chose a modest 3 bed 2 bath starter home priced under 6 figures, and was backed by my salary at the time of just north of $40k. Upon learning that I would be unemployed in the following months, I immediately talked to the bank and told them that I would continue to make mortgage payments as long as possible, but that we both needed to work diligently on a way for me to get out of the house. With only owning it for 2.5 years before putting it on the market, I was upside down on the note. The bank and I agreed that a short sale was the best course of action, and within a week the house was put on the market for less than 65% of what I paid. Now, the house still hasn't sold due to the fact that even at such an amazing price, potential buyers can't get financed (GOOD! It's about time someone started getting turned down for a home loan! - but that's another topic) Anyway, I said all of that to say this - I don't know how it's going to turn out. I don't know how I'm going to pay what I'm behind on with my mortgage, I don't know how much longer my credit rating will continue to nosedive while my house sits dormant on a miserable market. But I did the right thing, and I have no problem going to sleep at night. Almost forgot, I even put about $1000 and countless hours of work into remodeling a bathroom in that house in the weeks before packing up and moving out. With a short sale, I have no hope of pocketing anything - raising the value of the home provides no benefit to me whatsoever, but the only other option in my eyes was to leave everything behind and turn the house over to the bank with a demolished bathroom. That's not the right thing to do. Sell your bikes, pay your bills, save for other bikes. Do they have names? If you keep them no matter what, and skip out on your medical bills, you might as well name them Dishonesty, Greed, and Entitlement. | ||
| Reindog |
These testimonies remind me why Badweb is filled with really great, kind, smart people with moral compasses. | ||
| Rich |
I've been paying on a hospital bill for almost nine years. Not too long to go, now. | ||
| Court |
We get to keep the cane, right?  | ||
| Ratbuell |
If it comes down to toys, or responsibility...get more toys later. What this comes down to is, you are RESPONSIBLE for the debt. Don't make a peep about how unfair it may be and how downtrodden you are etc. etc. You are out of the hospital. You are ABLE to make the choice. Make the right one. Hey Court - I have a couple walkers and an armload of crutches if you want them. They never let me have a cane after they met me - too easy to swing one around | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I remember your bathroom project Phillip. Looked good! | ||
| Harleyelf |
You rich guys crack me up. You only take home 2 grand a month so you have no choice but to renege on your debts? I worked a total of eight weeks last year and am making small payments on $30K in debt. If I get injured I'll go to the VA. Haven't seen my physician in three years or my dentist in two. And do you have any idea of the consequences of killing someone? Inmates don't ever ride. | ||
| Preybird1 |
Well i talked to the hospital and they won't budge. They want $21,000.00 now in full to settle or make $850.00 payments for 4 yrs. I don't make that kind of money so i sold 1 bike so far and am going to have to sell the truck and buy a cheap 1k ride to get around or file bankruptcy. The X1 is only worth $2500.00 and i have $16,000.00 invested into it over the last 4 yrs so they wont be getting that bike no matter what. The hospital finance supervisor is a F'in bitch and would not work with me at all....I tried to get them to take $500.00 a month and they refused it. And they said they would send me a final notice as soon as i try and pay a $500 payment. So so much for trying to to do the right thing and pay the bill. the medicine i have to take now because of hospital procedure is $260.00 a month to keep myself alive.....If i miss even 2 doses of the meds i could have a heart attack (again). Now im even more in trouble than before the hospital bill. The meds i am taking are now causing reactions and swelling in my trachea and i have to take 2 more prescription to fight the swelling. Now these 2 meds are tapping me out financially. If i can sell the truck reasonably quick than i can pay the hospital bill. If not then i will bankrupt as a last resort. I talked to the lawyer about selling the bikes before i file and they told me i would have to wait to file the bankruptcy for a couple months to give me enough time to spend the money "reasonably" I was told i should get some tax advise on getting back my taxes throughout the year so they can't take the tax refund also. So all i can say is i tried to solve this to no avail. | ||
| Preybird1 |
Well i talked to the hospital and they won't budge. They want $21,000.00 now in full to settle or make $850.00 payments for 4 yrs. I don't make that kind of money so i sold 1 bike so far and am going to have to sell the truck and buy a cheap 1k ride to get around or file bankruptcy. The X1 is only worth $2500.00 and i have $16,000.00 invested into it over the last 4 yrs so they wont be getting that bike no matter what. The hospital finance supervisor is a F'in bitch and would not work with me at all....I tried to get them to take $500.00 a month and they refused it. And they said they would send me a final notice as soon as i try and pay a $500 payment. So so much for trying to to do the right thing and pay the bill. the medicine i have to take now because of hospital procedure is $260.00 a month to keep myself alive.....If i miss even 2 doses of the meds i could have a heart attack (again). Now im even more in trouble than before the hospital bill. The meds i am taking are now causing reactions and swelling in my trachea and i have to take 2 more prescription to fight the swelling. Now these 2 meds are tapping me out financially. If i can sell the truck reasonably quick than i can pay the hospital bill. If not then i will bankrupt as a last resort. I talked to the lawyer about selling the bikes before i file and they told me i would have to wait to file the bankruptcy for a couple months to give me enough time to spend the money "reasonably" I was told i should get some tax advise on getting back my taxes throughout the year so they can't take the tax refund also. So all i can say is i tried to solve this to no avail. | ||
| 86129squids |
Sounds like it's time to talk turkey with City, work out a stragedy... Hospitals SUCK. It's truly amazing to see how they do their evil- outside of actually physically healing people, they cripple or destroy the same folks with debt and worry. Pharma is the same... | ||
| Moxnix |
Well, all those medical bills are deductible. If they sic' the dogs on you (bill collectors) do what a friend did. Tell them you have NO money and ask them what they would like you to do. Now, debt collection agencies should be able to negotiate down even if the hospital won't. Yes, we are responsible for our debts. However, we live in strange economic times. The federal government is heavily in debt, can't pay it off, and keeps rolling forward toward a cliff. They are leading by example. Please note that congress changed bankruptcy laws about 11 years ago to stick the little guy, and protect creditors. Anyway, sorry for your situation that caused the medical bills. Best of luck. Yes, check in with City. You're in a battle with the hospital and need an advisor with the right experience. Ciao. (Message edited by moxnix on February 04, 2012) (Message edited by moxnix on February 04, 2012) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The X1 is only worth $2500.00 and i have $16,000.00 invested into it over the last 4 yrs $16,000/4 = $4,000/yr. Cost of healthcare plan for you at Age 32 (four years ago) in Utah from BCBS ranges from $49.33-$213.68/month. http://www.regence.com/listPlans.do?plancode=non-a suris&zip=84101&r0=s&a0=32&g0=m&plantype=individua l Was probably cheaper 4 years ago. The MOST you'd be on the hook for a $40,000 bill would be about $19,000. With the most expensive option, you'd be looking at no more than a $2,500 exposure and your medication would most likely be pretty cheap as well. The sad part is that if the hospital is willing to take $21,000 to settle, that means they are willing to "write off" $19,000 of your bill. When I say "write off", they will declare it a loss and recoup about 35% of the $19,000 in taxes and the rest will be added to the reimbursements of everyone else who either pays their bill or has insurance. It sucks, but it is a tough lesson learned. Sell what you have to, pay off the debt. Once your health is restored and you are out from under your bill with the hospital, can I recommend you check into a low cost high deductible health plan? | ||
| Harleyelf |
My sincere condolences for your situation, Prey. By all means, talk with City and explore all your options; the hospital won't tell you what can or can't be done. After the debt has gone to the collectors, they (the collectors) will be far more reasonable than the non-negotiator who works for the hospital. $500 a month will be fine with them if my experiences are any guide. Without the truck, the X1 will be your primary vehicle and not eligible for attachment. Perhaps your brother will take that $1000 beater under his ownership to let you keep your vehicle ownership down to one. In my state, the house can be homesteaded and insulated from collection proceedings. As the payroll guy at your shop, you will have no choice but to cooperate with garnishment of up to a third of your wages but it's not the end of the world. Stress can cause another heart attack as quickly as skipping your meds; you must get a plan together that you can live with or you may die of worry, which would make us all sad. Hang tough. A single debt of less than a year's income is not reason enough to file BK. |
