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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    3

    Default Swimming in Collections

    My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Pa

    Hi all, ok here's the deal. My husband and I operate a small trucking business, and have carried our own health insurance for quite a while with a large ins
    co. In Jan 07 our son was diagnosed with a blood disease that made him very ill. He spent 4 months in a children's hospital. Our insurance provider paid 90% of his bills after the deductables were met. Seems easy enough right. Well , I ended up with a giant ten percent. I started making payments right away . Some of the doctors still turned us over to collection , because in there words we needed to resolve the balance quickly . Ok I get that , but at the time I was slightly overwhelmed with All of them . Who do you pay first type thing. I gave more to older claims and less to newer ones. The ones that ended up in collection I tried to make payment arrangements with . Now some are paid in full with others still oweing. Our work has became exstreamly slow with in the last 4 months . Now I don't know what to do . I haven't made a medical payment in the last two months , and instead am trying to pay car payments truck payments and keep our home. I got a collection call yest from a wicked lady explaining I have an agreement and if they don't get their money I will have a judgement against me. At this point i'm about to say ok go ahead whatever. I know it's not the doctors fault and they deserve to be paid , but i'm not made if money . Should i nicely ask them to hold the bill till things turn around , if they don't turn around quickly enough i may be headed for bankruptcy.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Swimming in Collectios

    Hopefully you have incorporated your business and have the business assets like the trucks in the company's name (and not your personal names) where they would be more protected and not easily attached by any of the companies who might seek a judgement against you. Being able to keep company property apart from personal property is vitally important.

    Even if the assets are still mixed in with your personal assets, all is not lost. Bankruptcy courts understand that certain assets are necessary in order to continue to generate income, so even though loss of some of those assets is possible, the court isn't going to be "gunning" to take away your ability to earn income.

    Before you make another payment on a bill that is either in or headed for collections, you'll need to sit down and do a realistic budget. The expense side will be easier than the income side since, working for yourself in this environment means it's difficult to project how much business you'll be doing. So if you have to err, do so on erring on the side of caution. Figure out how much you have to pay on essentials - mortgage, utilities, food, etc. Look at how much is left over and divide that amount by the number of outstanding accounts. Call each one, tell them that you've squeezed every penny you can out of your budget, and THIS is the amount you can pay. They'll either be willing to work with you or they won't. At the end of the day, look at how many accounts said "yes" and how many said "forget it, we're gonna play hardball".

    Then take your list to a local non-profit consumer counseling program. Do NOT use the services of any company telling you that they can "settle your accounts for pennies on the dollar" or similar claims (more often than not, they take your money, sit on it to earn interest, and IF they ever pay any of the debtors, it's usually too late and you end up out the money you paid and STILL have the problems you started with - and there is NO creditor that has to do business with them in the first place). If you're not sure if a consumer counseling program is legit or not, call your local better business bureau and check them out. Let them help make the next round of phone calls to the collectors - sometimes they can get better results (the creditors know that the agency working with you has already gone over your finances and is giving them a realistic amount that you can pay). If that fails, then you really have two choices:

    1) try to pay the higher balance accounts off first - these are the ones more likely to seek a judgement in court against you (especially if in the thousands of dollars) and hope that the smaller ones will hold off on taking similar action (the collection calls will still continue, but annoying phone calls at the end of the day are only annoying, and not actually adverse to your bank balance)....or

    2) go get consultations with a couple of bankruptcy attorneys. Many even give free seminars on options, the process, types of debt that can be discharged, and a chance to ask questions and hear the questions of others considering bankruptcy. Rules differ for each state, so it's vital that you speak with attorneys in your state before reaching a decision.

    If the bankruptcy option is looking like your only way out, then that's ok. Medical issues and the associated expenses are the most common reason families seek bankruptcy protection (did it myself once). If you're going to wipe out debt, wipe it ALL out so you can start with a clean slate. Stop making payments on accounts that you'll be including, gather up your records and make an appointment with a bankruptcy attorney to get it filed. They'll send out letters to each creditor, and after that point the creditors will have to work through your attorney.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Swimming in Collections

    thanks for the reply !

    I guess the most frustrating part is that i had insurance at the time that i was paying $650.00 a month for coverage that still got me in this position. You know when i look back though i have to say my son was touch and go for so long , and i remember argueing with one physician who said they had to wait for the insurance to approve one of the procedures my son desprately needed, and i took him in the hall and said please just help him , one way or another you will be paid . Now here we are and i can understand their hesitation . If only these companies could be patient i assure them they will eventually account for every dollar . I don't want to be drug into court , or to be forced into a bankruptcy that could be prevented. If they do that they may never recover all the money they would like me to pay. What a mess !

    No we aren't incorporated !

  4. #4

    Default Re: Stop loss

    Does your insurance policy have a stop loss provision, i.e., a maximum that you are required to pay?

    It is possible that your 10% share is more than the maximum that you are required to pay.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Swimming in Collections

    hi again,

    yes it is supposed to have a $ 2500.00 max out of pocket per person. I ran into a couple things with that though , some testing the insurance simply refused to cover , and some other things they are telling me they didn't approve and the hospital did the procedures anyway . The little guy had 4 ct scans because his intestines kept shutting down and they only cover two saying enough time hadn't lapsed for them to approve more testing. So if it were only the $ 2500.00 trust me i would be more than happy !

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