My son was recently dignosed with cancer, we did not have health insurance, at that time, other than Aflac. The original hospital bills were near $125,000, after the hospital adjusted the bills for non insurance, we still owe $95,000. We have every intention of paying the bills but will need to break the balance out over 5-6 years to keep the payments manageable. The hospital wants the balance broke into 24 payments ($4000 a month). With our savings, sale of our boat and the aflac payout we are able to pay the balance down to $72,000 and would make 72 payments of $1,000. The hospital refuses to adjust the balance anymore, and will report us as deliquent to a credit adgency and in turn threatens to ruin our credit.What our are legal options, if any.
Optional Information: State/Country relating to Question: New Hampshire Already Tried: Convincing the hospital to set up a payment plan thats affordable, but they refuse to adjust to anything other than 24 payments.
Thank you for the post, I am happy to assist you by answering your questions. Unfortunately in this situation the hospital is not obligated to accept a payment plan and to the extent the hospital negotiates a payment plan it is in the hospital's sole discretion. The hospital can sue you for the balance owed seeking lump sum payment and the court cannot force the hospital to accept a payment plan. I'm sorry, I wish the answer was different. Aside from bankruptcy, there are no legal means of negating a legitimate debt. Please let me know if you have any follow up questions.
Experience: Negotiate, Draft, and Review many complex commercial agreements each year.