Medical Collections for a Child's Bill

[Autumn68]

Indiana - A collection lawyer (firm) is trying to collect payment from a medical bill earlier this year. Our daughter was admitted into the hospital in May of this year. The insurance papers contained only my insurance information (because I am the only one carrying insurance on her) but Medical Records dept at the hospital says that the paper didn't contain any phrase that says I am responsible for paying what ever my insurance doesn't cover. However, the admission paper has a paragraph for "Guarantor of Payment" and an "Assignment of Insurance Benefits" which from what I read, pretty much says that the signature at the bottom is responsible for what ever insurance doesn't pay... The only signature on that paper is my ex. I didn't realize this until after I contacted the collection lawyer to inform him that I had half of the payment but would wait to see if my ex started making his payments before paying it in full (since he is required by the divorce decree to pay for half of all medical bills, etc...) Question is... Since my signature isn't on the Admission paper, am I required to pay the bill to the collection agency (or hospital)???

[Mr. Knowitall]

There is authority in Indiana that a parent can be liable for the cost of necessary medical care of his or her child even if the parent did not consent to the treatment. See, e.g., St. Mary's Med. Ctr. v. Bromm, 661 N.E.2d 836 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996).