I recently became unemployed and uninsured, and during that time had an accidental head injury -- a serious cut from a fall that could not wait to be treated. The public hospital is far from me, urgent cares closed for the night, and I could not afford an ambulance (or even a taxi) and no one would help me, so I had to walk to a private hospital ER nearby.
The bill has been much more expensive than I expected (I haven't been to an ER in over 30 years). I've chosen to borrow money from family to pay the doctor's bill, because he offered 50% off for a "prompt payment discount" and won't offer financial assistance. I still consider the bill to be "excessive" since he billed for a level 5 event for something I consider to be more minor, but, what can you do ? I have lingering head, neck, back, and hip problems, but I am holding off on seeking treatment for those things due to the ER bill and lack of income/insurance.
That leaves me unable to pay the hospital bill at the moment -- they are not offering much of a discount for prompt payment, they only offer a monthly payment plan, and what they want is more than what I can pay right now. The hospital has a "financial assistance" program and is sending me a form to fill out. I have only one checking account that I use and consider mine, but have my name on my elderly mother's checking account with a different bank so that I can manage her money (she's a "shut in" and can't go to the bank to do those things). I know legally with my name on the account I am a co-owner, but I consider it off-limits to me, since that's money that she lives on. She has substantially more in her account than I do, and I'm afraid that could negatively affect getting a bill reduction.
I'm not looking to "skip out" on paying the bill, I'm hoping for at best a reasonable reduction so that I CAN pay -- either borrow more money from family to pay right away, or to be able to make more reasonable monthly payments.
I guess my question is, if I don't list what i consider my mother's account will the hospital be able to search somehow and find that account ? I know .gov agencies like Medicaid can look at all accounts going back years, but I don't know if a private hospital can do an extensive asset search like that. I'm considering going to the bank tomorrow to remove my name from her account, but still I'm concerned that they might do a "look back" search (like Medicare does) and see that at the time of the accident my name was on her account.
And yes, I know, I should have had insurance -- even just a limited "short-term" policy. Even though I would have needed to borrow money to pay for it, and the high deductible. I had insurance for many years and was fortunate enough to never need to use it for an emergency, or much of anything -- my luck has run out though, and now I'm in a bind. This is the Dallas, TX area, if that matters. Thanks for any advice you may have.
March 04, 2018 at 12:33PM
