medical bills

[sunnylady303]

Does anyone have any experience with hugely high medical bills and how to work with hospitals on them? My youngest daughter has been in the hospital every 6 weeks for the last nine months. We're pastors and moved into a parsonage last August (1 year + ago) and it turned out to have a severe mold problem that damaged my daughter's lungs. That manifests itself, so the doctors tell me, as asthma. Our insurance dropped us because they say that it's a preexisting condition. It infuriates me but it seems within their legal rights. We have health insurance but my daughter is uninsurable for asthma. SO we are in the hospital for 2 to 3 week stays every 6 weeks. We now owe over $75000. I am in a panic. And we just keep going to the doctors and hospitals. We can't get on any kind of public insurance because you cannot uninsure a child who has health insurance to put them on public insurance, nevermind that insurance is doing us zero good at the moment. I don't know what to do. We keep trying to dig ourselves out of these holes (some of you may remember our IRS issues) and it seems that we just can't. And my daughter is sick again and I am just praying she stays out of the hospital this time. Anyway. I would be grateful for any advice anyone might have. Thanks.

[inkedmamajama]

have you talked to the public aid office regarding healthcare for your daughter? because your debt may qualify you for public aid for her.

otherwise all i can say is make tiny payments-but at least pay something.

[lmonter]

Have you talked to your hospital's billing department? We filled out some forms (so to speak) over the phone for financial hardship at a hospital one time when the billing stuff was nuts. Also maybe start asking for a patient advocate or someone like that to help you out and to help navigate the hospital/billing better.

That just seems fishy/goofy to me that the insurance company is saying an asthmatic child is uninsurable - I've had asthma since 7-8yo, and I'm 29 now. I was on my mom's for the longest time, then had insurance through my work, and now hubby's work. Although I just needed the yearly doc visit for the inhaler prescription - no hospital visits. But still. Only "problem" I've really had was I have a higher life insurance rate than hubby because of the darn asthma.

I'm also curious what the church has done about the parsonage that's caused your girl's issues... That just doesn't seem right to have that happen.

[sunnylady303]

I will check again with the public aid folks but as I understand it from talking to them before, there is no way to take my child off insurance in order to put her on public aid. But I will check again.
I don't know as asthamtic children are uninsurable, but at this stage, my asthmatic child seems to be. I guess it's because of all her hospitalizations. And asthma isn't exactly the real problem. The real problem is that her lungs were so damaged by the mold.
Our church has been helpful. As soon as it became evident that there was a potential problem, they moved us to a church members house. That was last February. We lived there until June while the church evaluated and decided what to do. They brought in experts, blah, blah, blah. There was a LOT of bad mold - we lost almost everything - couch, appliances, stuffed animals, books, mattresses. The church decided to tear down the parsonage and gave us a housing allowance instead and we bought a little 5 acre farm. They have helped a little bit financially in replacing some of the things we lost but they can't do much - they are a small church and this has been hard on them. It's been a frustrating situation and a difficult year.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by sunnylady303

I will check again with the public aid folks but as I understand it from talking to them before, there is no way to take my child off insurance in order to put her on public aid. But I will check again.
I don't know as asthamtic children are uninsurable, but at this stage, my asthmatic child seems to be. I guess it's because of all her hospitalizations. And asthma isn't exactly the real problem. The real problem is that her lungs were so damaged by the mold.
Our church has been helpful. As soon as it became evident that there was a potential problem, they moved us to a church members house. That was last February. We lived there until June while the church evaluated and decided what to do. They brought in experts, blah, blah, blah. There was a LOT of bad mold - we lost almost everything - couch, appliances, stuffed animals, books, mattresses. The church decided to tear down the parsonage and gave us a housing allowance instead and we bought a little 5 acre farm. They have helped a little bit financially in replacing some of the things we lost but they can't do much - they are a small church and this has been hard on them. It's been a frustrating situation and a difficult year.

Check with the insurance company that insured the parsonage - there should be some type of liability coverage that may compensate you for the health problems caused by the mold.

[mommaknowsbest]

Not to hijack....

Our debt is caused by medical debt,too.IME, hospitals are only willing to reduce your bills, if your income is w/i "Their" guidelines. Our problem hasn't always been low income,actually a good income-but with *huge* medical debt. They seem only interested in what you make,not what you owe. Makes me want to :Puke
It also seems, that the most ruthless debt collectors are the ones to take over your debt,from the hospitals....and are so unwilling to work with you in reasonable payments...and as soon as you can't make a $1500/monthly payment,a lawyer is breathing down your back,threatening to garnish wages.

I absolutely feel for you,and continue to search for solutions.

I'm sorry about your lo.

[traceface]

I don't know if this is a controversial view or not, but after your daughter's health improves (no more big bills in sight), I think you should consider filing bankruptcy for the 75 thou of medical debt.

It's just not right to compromise your family's future by being burdened with that level of debt, when it was nothing you could control and you in good faith tried to have insurance!

I hope Obamas health plan is going to bring major changes for us

[lalaland42]

Originally Posted by traceface

I don't know if this is a controversial view or not, but after your daughter's health improves (no more big bills in sight), I think you should consider filing bankruptcy for the 75 thou of medical debt.

It's just not right to compromise your family's future by being burdened with that level of debt, when it was nothing you could control and you in good faith tried to have insurance!

I hope Obamas health plan is going to bring major changes for us

Yeah, I think I would do the same.

[sbgrace]

One thing we figured out with our son is you have to institute a written payment plan for at least some hospitals pretty early on. Once you are over-due it's harder to set up a plan. Also, as someone else stated, sometimes you can get an amount written off based on income. This is especially true in not for profit tax designation hospitals. By law they have to work with at least some of their patients by reducing costs/providing relief.



For in the future this is a christian medical expense sharing plan (not insurance). They don't list asthma as a question so might be worth checking into...$250 an incident would be better than 100%
http://www.medi-share.org/index.aspx maybe it would be better than your present insurance if you and hubby don't have huge bills? Especially if you also had a catastrophe type plan. I've not looked into it but I know this organization has been around a long time.

[Sailor]

Oh, I had this problem - just made my last payment a few months ago. I was in an accident and had NO health insurance. Thus, my medical bills from the ER and surgeries were through the roof.

The hospital offered me a payment plan when I spoke with them about my situation. It wasn't an unreasonable payment plan at all. They gave me a couple of years, with option to extend.

The difference between my situation and yours, though, is that I was single and able to take on several jobs at once to pay them back.

One of my medical bills, through an error, went to collections, and that was a NIGHTMARE. I never want to deal with collectors again - so, try to avoid that happening.

Bankruptcy is an option, of course, if you can not pay that money back.

Otherwise, I told the hospital flat out that I would be declaring bankruptcy unless they could work with me on a payment plan. They did work with me - and, I got through it. But, again, I was single with no kids ... so I had the freedom to take on several jobs, and the energy to make enough money to pay them back.

Good luck with this - I know what it's like to have staggering medical debt through no fault of your own. It's not fun, it's not fair.

[Jilian]

I'd look into state medical aid. Maybe even something like social security disability? Your insurance company should be able to help you determine whether or not you'd qualify and most help you file the paperwork. We're doing that now with DS2. Back when I was uninsured and single I had a visit to the ER that the ER actually helped me apply for "financial aid" for. They applied to some state fund for me and got most of the bill paid and wrote off the rest. Most hospitals are familiar with the various funding available to help you get your bill paid so give them a call.

[Purple Cat]

I would first look at what hospital you are utilizing and consider changing. In my experience, really big teaching hospitals and children's hospitals are better about astronomical medical bills. A large teaching hospital routinely gave me big discounts, even with insurance, when I was having catastrophic medical expenses. Our local children's hospital is pretty well-endowed, so that if you are having trouble with your payment they will help you.

I also would try checking into state programs. I live in Illinois. They have a Division of Specialized Services for Children, for instance, that will cover costs of medical care for children with certain conditions. I don't think state agencies necessarily know what services other agencies offer.

I also would file a claim with the insurer of the house, although you most likely would have to get an attorney to have it be fruitful.

[Guinevere]

Was your family on an individual health insurance policy when they said your DD's asthma was a pre-existing condition? Or was it a group policy? As a pastor, does your DH not qualify for some sort of group policy instead of individual? I ask b/c, while an individual insurer can pretty much disqualify whatever they want (and usually do!), a group insurer cannot. There are laws to protect you in that case. So it's important to know which kind of coverage you have.

Also, you can still have private health insurance AND have your child qualify for Medicaid/state-supported healthcare for children. In that case, the Medicaid acts as a secondary insurance policy and covers whatever the primary policy does not, co-pays, etc. It can also be retroactively applied 3 mos. prior. Please look further into the logistics of this, b/c it could make a huge difference on your debt burden!

Guin

[raingyrl]

I'm sorry you have to deal with this on top of the stress of your child's medical needs.

My experience: I applied for state health for my son while he was covered by Humana. I didn't know that he was still covered by Humana (I was informed that he wasn't) at the time, but it was apparently never investigated. He was awarded coverage, and it was retroactive back to the day he was born.

This site may be helpful. It may also be worth it to hire a health advocate (not sure if that is the correct title) - someone you pay approximately $300 to help you minimize your health care expenses.

Best of luck to you!

[Purple Cat]

You may also want to check to see if your hospital has a financial counselor. This is someone different than who you call to talk to about your bill.

I gave birth in a large, teaching hospital. I had premature twins in NICU. The twins did NOT have insurance. Imagine. . .

A "financial counselor" "liaison" called me from the hospital. She was nice and wanted to work with me to help me get the bills paid. For instance, she told me she was sure the twins would qualify for Medicaid and helped me get that started. We ran into a huge problem with my son's Medicaid card. Medicaid had his birthday wrong, so Medicaid refused to pay any of his bills -- like $33,000. The error was with their computer. They refused to do anything when I went in and told them they had the dob wrong. I talked to the financial counselor I was assigned to. She sent an attorney into the State Human Services Dept. to get them to fix the problem. If it's a large enough hospital, they may have similiar counselors who help people with catastrophic bills get connected with agencies who will help pay them and help navigate the process. It's certainly in the hospital's interest, too. It's worth calling and asking.

Again, this is NOT the same as the person who picks up the phone in the billing dept.

[SleeplessMommy]

Originally Posted by sunnylady303

Does anyone have any experience with hugely high medical bills and how to work with hospitals on them? My youngest daughter has been in the hospital every 6 weeks for the last nine months. We're pastors and moved into a parsonage last August (1 year + ago) and it turned out to have a severe mold problem that damaged my daughter's lungs. ....

We can't get on any kind of public insurance because you cannot uninsure a child who has health insurance to put them on public insurance, nevermind that insurance is doing us zero good at the moment.

Is it an independent church you worked for, or one that is part of a larger order? The church has a moral obligation to pay for your child's medical care if she was severely harmed by the church owned building. There is also a legal obligation, but being church people it should not need to come to that, right? Also, building insurance policies will pay for many kinds of injuries incurred because of buildings. For example, if you trip on the sidewalk or the ceiling falls on you, the insurance will pay. The only exclusions I have seen are STD's and pregnancy Have you asked that church about the building insurance policy and any other insurance the church or denomination has?

Next, contact your local congressman/representatives office. A friend with a high risk multiple pregnancy had many many negotiations to get state health insurance coverage, but did eventually get retroactive coverage -a few days before she delivered. I think there will be a way around the "catch 22" situation you describe and your elected representatives may be able to help with that.

As for the hospital bills right now, bring a pay stub and offer to pay $200 a month for the next 300 years.

[superstella]

I had really good luck with calling the hospital and speaking with a financial advisor person there. Like a pp, she helped me get the ball rolling on medicaid and when I wasn't covered she got almost $100k worth of bills written off as charity. I had very good luck with doctors' offices as well, by just calling and explaining the situation to them and offering to pay $20/month or whatever I could afford. Every doctor except one wrote off hundreds (if not thousands) in bills, and only one turned me over to collections.

[leavemealone]

Call to set up a payment plan but also inquire about financial assitance. I was suprised at the income limit for financial assistance b/c I thought we earned too much, but the income limit was higher than I thought it'd be. We received a part of our bill reduce and a payment plan for the rest.