O boy!
Just opened a bill that I had gotten over the weekend, sometimes just wait till Monday to open the mail. I"m omg....how do i pay this?!?!?!

$67,447.15 for the hospital stay for DH, of which $37,544.00 was room and board! After I pay off some back taxes, i wont have enuff money to even buy a place to live, and son and I will be living in the street. There is no way to get that kind of money from anywhere! The dates of service was BEFORE medicaid, and i'm sure Medicare will not pay that....

I guess theres nothing left to say , i just needed to tell someone.

Bankruptcy? It will protect your home and car and many personal possessions. I think you need to get a lawyer involved. :/

Definitely talk to a bankruptcy lawyer, if this is a bill for which you actually are responsible. They will typically give you a FREE consultation.

But ... you say you're "sure" Medicare will not pay. Does this mean the hospital didn't even submit the bill to Medicare first, before sending it to you? That doesn't sound right to me.

Call the people who billed you and tell them to submit it to Medicare, and THEN bill you for anything that isn't covered.

Also, contact your local Alzheimer's Assoc chapter, and tell them what happened. They may have good ideas on who you should contact, what the hospital can and cannot do, and what resources might be available to help you and your family.

he only has medicare part D , becuz our income we couldnt afford much more outgo each month.

in oregon ? everything that can happen, will happen, no i'm not sure and positive. but if it follows anything previously, nothing is ever coverd. I go to a dr for a 30 minute discussion and anti biotics and charged over 600! for that visit myself, i cannot even pay that !

this bill came directly to my husband, tho did say was sent to medicare first.

bankruptcy, ok , i'll contact my attorny. Theres no where and no one i know that can pay this out . i have no life ins, i have nothng but my home and a car, and owe some major taxes , tho in litigation with an attorny on an offer in compromise atm.

cant squeeze blood out of a turnip, but this turnip is concerned ! I have bad credit, cant even get a loan for 1000.00 to help pay off my medical clinic, and i'm facing surgery myself. i cant sell my car, i will get 8,000 and be stranded in sheep country ,hours away from a town with medical issues that require me to get into town often. plus a minor child. when it rains, it pours. In oregon it seems to keep raining alot!

Cheyena, I'm sending you positive thoughts...fat lot of good that will do...but I'm thinking about you.

And it's Monday, so remember the you-know-what, okay?

O ! i had forgotten , ty hun!
I contacted the attorny who did the income cap trust, and he suggested a bankruptcy attorny.

Maybe i should wait till i add my surgery onto that before declareing bankruptcy huh?

definetly something needs to be done, this stress is killing me quickly! its worse with him not here. everything is falling apart, so fast i cant keep up

Chey,

Also try and contact an elder care lawyer. He might have some insight. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Roger

I would ask a bankruptcy attorney about your alternatives, and whether you should wait for your surgery before filing. It might be a good idea, but under some circumstances, running up bills on purpose before filing might be considered fraud. You need an expert to help you decide what to do.

If you do end up filing, you should be able to get a discharge for all your bills, including the $1,000 for your medical clinic and whatever else you owe -- EXCEPT the taxes. You are typically responsible for those, except under certain circumstances. Find out from the attorney whether you meet the criteria to be discharged of those.

I think, with all the stress that you're under, that the sooner you talk with an attorney, the better. And asking for an initial (free) consultation with an eldercare attorney as well as a bankruptcy attorney might be a very good idea. You need people to help you figure out what to do.

I assume you know that creditors are not allowed to hassle you if you tell them not to? They can proceed with collection actions, after they've properly notified you in writing, but they can NOT call you all the time, or make threats, or anything like that.

And if you file for bankruptcy, then they cannot proceed with any collection actions, either, while your case is being decided.

Medicine. Have you looked into those programs that the pharmaceutical companies offer, to get medicines at a much lower cost? If you could get what you need that way, you might be able to afford some minimal health insurance for yourself rather than having to pay for the Medicare Part D.

i pay my own private medical ins. thru a self employed firm, tho i'm not employed. Mega Health. they only pay 22% of my medical. I do have an elderlaw attorny who did this income cap trust, he suggested bankruptcy and referred me.

I'm also working with antoher attorny regarding the IRS issues, in litigation now with an offer in compromise.

i'm not old enuff to get medicare, ws just my husband.

I was just now climbing back to regaining a good credit standing of my own here, doing my best to pull myself out of that heap of mess we got into yrs ago.

I have my own car/and loan, i have my own credit card, and taking well care of those items. I worry abt bankruptcy, tho it will take care of this big bill, but what will it do to me? when i want to purchase a home somewhere else, and wont be able to get a loan becuz i had to declare bankruptcy. i guess an attorny can help me with some of those questions.

Ive had to shell out attorny money for the past 3 mos to pay for this change in income cap trust, and have not been able to pay my property taxes for three months, so behind there too.

Medicine, i take asthma medication, and being a diabetic, but controleld, just use the testers, and then the antibiotics/and such to take, the asthma med is inhalers, and what works, isnt generic , so have to have what works. I'm on a 90 day maintencne of Trimethoprim so i'm infection free before my surgery. But u r right , not good to rack up a known bill then just declare bankruptcy.

As far as my creditors go, its only 2400. of my own , all medical bills, so its not enuff to declare bankruptcy from what i was told.

The bill came with just husbands name on it tho , but being wife, i opened it. Teach me to open someone elses mail huh?


Thanku all for feedback responses, i just didnt ahve anyone to talk to .

Cheyena,

I really don't have anything to add... as I see you have already received some very good advice. I just wanted to say how sorry I am and what an awful state our health insurance system is in. No one should find themselves in your postion in terms of health care.

Anyway, that said...you must be so stressed. I would have needed immediate CPR if I had opened such a bill as yours ;-( I hope you get some help and answers soon.

Sending hugs and comfort,

I feel like i want out of this nitemare. is that wrong? I know i have to be patient and take things one step at a time, but its sooo hard !!

Cheyena,
Many hospitals have "charity care" for people unable to pay, please contact them and at least find out if there is anything available.

Cheyena,
if it is determined that you DEFINATELY owe
this bill, then call the billing department of
whomever the $$ is owed to and tell them you can
pay $10 a month or whatever it is you CAN afford.
(I realize you may not be able to afford anything
at all) I recently received a hospital bill for
my daughter. I was willing to pay $50 a month,
but the woman on the phone suggested we break
it up into 12 monthly payments, so the amount
went down to about $12 a month. I realize it would
take 500 years to pay the bill off at that rate,
but as you said, they can't get blood from a turnip.
I'm not sure what Oregon laws are, but I'm pretty
sure here in NJ they have to take a monthly amount
that a person CAN afford. Sorry, this doesn't seem
helpful. Try not to stress about it; a bill in that
amount would be ridiculously out of reach for ALL of
us. It sounds like you're doing all you can by
speaking to the lawywers. Good luck with everything,
and try not to let that bill get you down. My sister
in law had an organ transplant two years ago, and
she gets bills for over $250,000. She couldn't pay
that in a million years unless she won the lottery
or something. Hang in there!!

baylee1, if I opened a bill like that, all the CPR in the world wouldn't be enough. You are too funny.

Cheyena, I found a web site associated with a TV ad I was thinking of, for getting help buying your medicines:

http://www.freemedicinefoundation.com/

Maybe there's something they can do for you.

Having looked at your posts, and thought about this some more ... maybe YOU don't have to file for bankruptcy, maybe your husband does. I'd forgotten that the wife's credit and obligations are not necessarily those of her husband. Maybe what you've been doing to straighten out your mess won't be hurt by this latest problem.

Is it wrong to want out of this nightmare? Good grief, NO!!! Of course you just want it to STOP. Anyone would.

I think you've been incredibly brave, and worked so hard, and been so strong. Surely, things will start to turn around for you, soon.

Retroactive!!!!!
Retroactive!!!!!

I have heard somewhere that it is possible to apply for Medicaid to pay retroactively. Check in to that before you check into bankruptcy.

Hospitals have Financial Counsellors. Between them and the Social worker they should point you in the right direction, and help you deal with Medicare(-cade). What is your husbands age? I woner, was he age eligible prior to actually getting on Medicare(-cade)?

Chey-
I am so sorry to hear about all this. Sending hugs your way. It's just terrible for you to have to deal with this on top of everything else.

I do remember reading that medicaid will go back 30 days, so taht takes care of 2/3 of it. Its a good idea Diana, i'll get a hold of that social worker before i contact an attorny.

DH is 65/will be 66 in July. Hes been on disability/medicare since 2003.