I got injured+I have no insurance+I refuse to accept medicaid=I'm ruined

[darkstar725]

When I was 22, I was in a bad car wreck that left me in the hospital for 4 weeks. I fractured my neck in two places, ruptured my spleen, broke three ribs and punctured both my lungs. Had to be life-flighted to the hospital after crawling out the back of my car and lying under a bridge until a trucker spotted me there the next morning.

At the time, I was self-employed and without insurance. The hospital workers assured me and my family all the while not to worry, that medicaid would cover the bill. Their confidence that the bill would be covered was largely the reason I was able to rack up a whopping $200,000 bill while I was there (this doesn't include the $10k helicopter ride out there).

Unable to work for several months after I finally got out of the hospital, my landscaping business all but dissolved itself. I had a recovery that couldn't be considered anything short of a miracle, and as soon as I was able, tried to pick up the pieces and start over. Well, come to find out Medicaid DIDN'T cover me...nor did any sort of social security benefits I might have been eligible for had I laid on my ass a little longer. Within a short time I received a large bill from the hospital for $196k (my car insurance covered $5k of it!). At the very bottom under the total, it listed all the convenient forms of payment they accepted...Visa, Mastercard, & Discover! This is of course in addition to all the everyday bills I already had piling up from being out of work for so long.

Needless to say, I put that one in the back of some file in the back of a cabinet somewhere and tried to forget about it. It's been 6 years since then and I'm honestly not sure what ever happened to the bill between now and then; I've never received another one, and according to my most recent credit report I can't tell that it ever existed. I can't be sure, but this could be because while I was in the hospital some of the "higher-ups" took a bit of a liking to me. Whether that has anything to do with it or not, looking back it makes everything else seem minuscule in comparison and I feel more optimistic about life in general.

I think what I'm trying to say but not wording very well is, don't let this overwhelm you! You can pay it off as you can, and that's all you can do...believe me, my bill overwhelmed me and this kept me from trying to pay what I could. I may have gotten lucky, but in the end I would be more than happy to go back and give whatever I could to the men and women that are the reason I'm alive today.

 

[tttppp]

A few weeks ago my arm went through some glass cutting a flexor tendon and a vain in my wrist. Between the E.R., surgery & other bills its going to cost me at least 15k.

I was working moving furniture over the last few years and have managed to save up a handful of thousands in the bank and about 5k worth of PMs. Now with this injury I will be lucky to be working again in 6-12 months and only have some income on the side..its just enough to pay my share of the bills(rent and food).

Every billing person I talked to tried to get me to apply for medicaid since I have no insurance but I really rather just carry my own weight in life.. I dont pay anything into the system working under the table and am philosophically against all this nonsense. I would rather not take part in the system of public debt. soo who knows...

I'm thinking about drawing a hard line in the sand and opting out all together...I don't ask for much beisdes an opportunity to live my own life....its to bad that this figurative line is probably going to make life very difficult..it is what it is..if not me who?

I just felt like sharing this with RPF....I d rather go broke then be part of the problem...just wish I wasnt alone.

I'm willing to bet that of the $15,000 they charged you, the real value of the service they provided was less than $1,000. I wouldn't pay them...at least not the full amount. If you explain to them you have no money and are not going to pay because they are scamming you, there is a good chance they won't report this to the credit agency. If you don't want to stiff them, you can at least get them to work out a payment plan for you. They know you can't work, so get them to give you a payment plan that starts in 1 year.

 

[Mark37snj]

Hospitals also have charity care. You can apply for it. People donate money to it to help those who cannot afford it and I do not believe it is goverment funded. Just from people and corporations. Some who actualy care, others looking for a tax writeoff.

 

[Kluge]

If these other suggestions don't work out, another route to consider is bankruptcy. I don't know much about it, perhaps someone else does.

 

[Paulatized]

I know a person that had a huge hospital bill and eventually the hospital wrote the bill off because the person did not have the means to pay. And as MelissaWV posted, the hospital will not take the action of a bill recovery service as long as you are paying $50.00 per month. You will need to talk to them though and set it up and they will ask what you can pay per month and it is possible they would end up writing it off. I think I would rather go this route than medicaid route, you would be dealing with a business rather than the government.

 

[speciallyblend]

15k that is pennies, let me know when you hit 500,000 in medical bills , Sorry that happened to you though it sucks. We had insurance and they approved her surgery then right after surgery denied everything. we still have the approval letters but were left with 1/2 mil in bills, f insurance companies they are evil!!

 

[mrsat_98]

Come on dude, Medicare its from the government and its here to help you.

 

[madengr]

I suppose you are lucky it's only $15k...could have been x10, x20 that. Of course $15k is something that's payable while $300k is unrealistic. Take the Medicare money. Rather it go there than bombing Iran.

 

[jcannon98188]

First off, good for you for believing in the cause enough to turn down medicaid. I would like to say I would too, but I simply don't know if I could.

Like others have said, try and make payments. See if medishare will help you. Also, turn to local churches. Even if you are not Christian yourself (And I would love to take this time to teach you about Jesus Christ ) ask them for assistance. I don't know if anyone will, but our religion certainly tells us to help. Especially people like yourself.

And for goodness sake man, get some insurance! Even if it isn't much insurance, things like this can end up ruining someones day (But you already know this)

Good luck brother, and gods speed in your recovery (Or what ever you believe in's speed)

 

[speciallyblend]

First off, good for you for believing in the cause enough to turn down medicaid. I would like to say I would too, but I simply don't know if I could.

Like others have said, try and make payments. See if medishare will help you. Also, turn to local churches. Even if you are not Christian yourself (And I would love to take this time to teach you about Jesus Christ ) ask them for assistance. I don't know if anyone will, but our religion certainly tells us to help. Especially people like yourself.

And for goodness sake man, get some insurance! Even if it isn't much insurance, things like this can end up ruining someones day (But you already know this)

Good luck brother, and gods speed in your recovery (Or what ever you believe in's speed)

insurance is a ponzi scheme and we had insurance and we were left holding 500,000 in medical bills. Insurance companies still screw you over .Then they leave you with no money to fight. there is no pro-bono when it comes to medical and insurance corruption/fraud . Every attorney we have tried wants 20 grand to even start. 4 yrs later. All i can say is f it all!

 

[TomtheTinker]

Hospitals also have charity care. You can apply for it. People donate money to it to help those who cannot afford it and I do not believe it is goverment funded. Just from people and corporations. Some who actualy care, others looking for a tax writeoff.

you have to apply for Medicaid to be able to get charity..that's what they said.

 

[Mark37snj]

you have to apply for Medicaid to be able to get charity..that's what they said.

Huh, quite the condundrum. If you apply for Medicaid and get accepted your moral position goes down the tubes and if you get denied then you can apply for charity care. But you won't know if you will get denied till you apply. Damned if you do, Damned if you don't. All control cough I mean all roads lead to goverment.

 

[LibertyEagle]

The problem is that government involvement has drastically increased the cost of medical care; in addition to insurance companies and their "negotiated rates" with healthcare providers. It results in a person, who doesn't have insurance, lining the healthcare provider's pocket with 4x what they would have received from a well-insured patient.

 

[The Free Hornet]

I too am recovering from paying medical bills. I got a 30% "discount" for being uninsured and then another 10% off for paying within 30 days. I got $15,000 worth of medical services for about $9,000. I was feeling pretty good about myself until I found out that a typical insurance company screws the hospital for something like 90% of the bills. I should have just told them that all I was going to pay them was $2,000. They would have settled because it still would have been more than they would have gotten if I had hired an insurance company to screw them.
We uninsured people are subsidizing those insurance companies.

+1. TomTheTinker - be sure to negotiate HARD with these people. The AMA has a monopoly on training doctors (and they actively reduce the number of practicioners to keep fees high). Licensing restricts competition. The AMA has prevented doctors from advertising prices because *gasp* it encourages competition. I would hope you can settle for 50% or less of list. Find out what insurance would pay. Let them know you are willing to work with them. Consult a cheapo lawyer or utilize some free consultations.

There are medical bill consultation services if you don't want to play hardball alone:

http://www.healthadvocate.com/
http://www.medicalcostadvocate.com/
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=negotiate+medical+bills

If you won't use medicare - and that is admirable - use that to your advantage. Their only chance of getting money is to deal with you.

 

[tttppp]

15k that is pennies, let me know when you hit 500,000 in medical bills , Sorry that happened to you though it sucks. We had insurance and they approved her surgery then right after surgery denied everything. we still have the approval letters but were left with 1/2 mil in bills, f insurance companies they are evil!!

What kind of surgery costs $500,000? For $500,000 you can cure about 10-20 people with very serious diseases with acupuncture and herbs. How can one surgery, which could be no more than one days work for the doctors, cost $500,000?

 

[puppetmaster]

go ask your church for help.....if you are religious. I know the LDS church helps out its members.

 

[LibertyEagle]

What kind of surgery costs $500,000? For $500,000 you can cure about 10-20 people with very serious diseases with acupuncture and herbs. How can one surgery, which could be no more than one days work for the doctors, cost $500,000?

I would imagine a good deal of that is hospitalization. Hospitals ripoff people without insurance, making multiple times from them, what they would have received from insurance companies.

 

[jcannon98188]

That they do. I would even wager to bet they would possibly help a nonmember, if they are willing to try and help themselves. That is only an assumption though, don't try and tell them I sent you

 

[ronpaulhemp]

Your convictions are really admirable. Unfortunately I think the system is rigged to where even us who wish to opt out can't afford medical care without Medicare, etc. It's up to you whether you take it or not but I really admire the fact that you're still standing by your principles despite the threat of huge medical bills.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Take the money and use it... the faster the gov't goes broke, the faster we regain our liberty.

I'm in agreement with this nowadays.