As the title says, old provider pinned me with a ~$48,000 bill for an emergency air-lift after I fell 30 feet during a hiking accident and was unable to be driven to a hospital. The accident happened in Northern Arkansas(Ozark Mountains). Below are some of the relevant details:
-30 foot fall onto rocks -shattered ankle -large facial laceration -2 hours from fall to first medical attention(secluded & 2 mile hike out)
The first responder to arrive told me that they were airlifting me because they didn’t know they extent of my head injury at that time and the nearest neurological center was across the border in Missouri. Long story short, I was airlifted to the hospital, had CT/MRI scans done that displayed there was no further injuries to my head apart from the 4” laceration. They sewed up my face and I was on my way, with some pain meds of course.
After a few weeks I got a notice saying that my insurance wasn’t covering anymore than they already had. And I don’t remember what the amount was, but it was only for the medical services and not the airlift. This left me with the entirety of the airlift bill which is currently around $48K but started at $50K. I am 24, recent graduate, still looking for a permanent job in my field, living on my own, in a different state, with all the bills that everyone else has on top of student loans. Anyways, I want to know what my best course of action is. I have already had numerous appeals fail and I’m just ignoring the bill for now and only making payments on my deductible for the medical services which I was able to talk down to $25/month instead of $100. Everyone I talk to seems to suggest declaring bankruptcy, but it just seems like something I shouldn’t have to do. I intend to own a house soon-ish, not to mention the other things I’ll need a good credit and financial history for. Declaring bankruptcy, I know isn’t permanent, but it will severely hold me back at a time in my life that I can’t afford to be, literally. What would everyone do if they were in my shoes? Thanks for reading, I really appreciate your feedback 100%, good and bad.
Submitted May 06, 2019 at 01:53AM by IAMUsedToIt http://bit.ly/2E2pw2H
