Why do you have to pay a hospital bill if the patient dies?
Because the doctors and the whole medical staff tried their best (most probably). They did what they could have done for any other helpless patient. The doctors have worked hard for years to handle the cases they deal with. That's the least they deserve. Trust me! No doctor would ever be careless in dealing with his patients. (Most of em'). Moreover they have used all the expensive instruments and medicines to save the patient. All the years of studies and expertise! They have given their 100%. Alas! Everything is not in their hands.Take an example. You hire an engineer to build a building that will last a 100 yrs. He promises and you pay him off. He tries his best and builds it. But due to some earthquake or something,it shatters too soon . Would you demand your money back? Even if you would, would the engineer give you?
If hospital failed to submite bill to medicaid, does patient responsible for the bill?
My Ma speaks very little English. she has Medicare and medicaid from PA, was visiting me In Sept 1012 and had a stroke. was in the hospital in CT (near my place) for 25 days. Medicare did not caver some portion of the bill. she never got a bill from the hospital or call, stating that the Medicare did not pay. she is in PA now in her place. i got a call from the collecting agency (one year later), because my cell was named as primary phone to contact in all cases. they do not want to talk to me. i assumed that the bill from the hospital and went to visit them in the hospital: yes there is unpaid bill and its Mam's mistake, because they do not have on file her Medicaid card. Interestingly, when Ma was discharged from the hospital she had visiting nerce, occupational therapist and physical therapy in my house and i received call from all agent's billing department asking about Ma's Medicare , Medicaid status, doctors names and numbers in PA and had no problem with them. i t
If I'm a sponsor of a legal immigrant, am I responsible for her medical bills?
I petitioned my parents a couple years ago. Unfortunately, my mother is now suffering a serious medical condition and, with good care, she can live 2 to 5 years. She's in and out of the hospital at least once or twice a month, and the bills keep accumulating. Some charity organizations have helped with the costs. However, I'm sure that when her time comes, there will be a huge unpaid medical bill after so many admittances to the hospital. My question is, am I, as the sponsor of my parents, legally responsible for this future debt? Somebody told me that the debt will fall into my dad and will be collected from their estate and if there's still a balance and he got nothing left, the debt will be void. But, I got the feeling I will have some responsibility over that debt when the time comes. I'm sure other relatives will help, since my dad is almost 70. He won't be able to deal with this situation. What's going to happen? Believe me, it feels so horrible to think that my mother is dying, that my dad will possibly lose everything he's got left, and that the future and stability that I'm trying so hard to build for my wife and my two children may be dramatically affected by this series of events.
What do US hospitals do when patients cannot pay very large bills?
This happens routinely because hospitals in America are required to take care of all emergency patients regardless of ability to pay. And doctors on staff at the hospital are also required to care for those patients too in order to maintain staff privileges. Sometimes the bills can exceed several hundred thousands of dollars such as when someone comes in with acute leukemia or a traumatic brain injury from a car accident with a month in the intensive care unit and another month or two on a regular ward.Sometimes arrangements can be made for partial payment over time but usually everyone involved including the hospital just writes off the charges and considers it their social duty and responsibility. Uninsured patients are treated every day at the hospitals and ER physicians, surgeons, hospitalists, radiologists, orthopods provide care at no charge. On the flip side of this is that hospitals and doctors when providing this free care are still liable for malpractice.It's not uncommon for my orthopedic friends to be defending lawsuits from uninsured motorcycle riders who have their legs crushed as they slam into something at 80 miles an hour while intoxicated, then need to undergo multiple hours of surgery to try to save the leg instead of amputation. And then the surgeon gets a thank you with a lawsuit because the patient has a bad limp and chronic pain from the injuries.
Can you go to jail for unpaid medical bills?Please help?
The other day I get a letter in the mail from collections saying that I owe thousands of dollars to the hospital from when my son was born.. that was 2 years ago & I was on medicaid.. & was supposed to be fully covered. No one ever even told me that I owed anything.. & I shouldn't anyways. Well anyways the collections calls me today & says that if I don't pay in full today that I will be prosecuted, go to court & possibly jail. I have 30 dollars in my checking account & the amount they say I owe is more then I make in a month.. I'm a full time nursing student. They were really mean to me when I tried to explain & didn't seem to care if I had the money or not.. just that I better get it or else.. I'm so scared now & I've been crying for like an hour.. how can they do this? And why hasn't someone told me before now? And I was on medicaid.. this doesn't make any sense.. what do I do? Please help?
Can I have my hospital bill written off?
Yesterday, I had an emergency surgery to have my gall bladder removed. I am 19, no job, a full-time college student and am on my parents' insurance. They cannot help me with the bill, either, and are in debt to their eyes. I obviously can't just get a job overnight, and will not be able to walk around for at least a few more days without pain. Can I file indigent paperwork? My insurance pays 80% of the bill and I am responsible for my deductible of 400 as well as the other 20%. What can I do from here? I am terrified of having a bad mark on my credit before I even have any, and my mom seems to think I can get the hospital to write off my part of the bill.
Parent of pregnant teen, who is financially responsible for her medical bills?
My daughter is just barely 17 & 5 months pregnant. She does not want to live me. She & the father of the baby have the option of staying with my ex-husbands niece. She currently recieves Medi-Cal ( state funded free health care) which will cover herself and the baby-if she lives with me. She can qualify on her own if she moves out. My question is who is responsible for her medical bills then as she will no longer be included in my household? I have recieved confusing answers from the "state"--one says that I will be billed for any assistance that she recieves. If I am financially responsible then why aren't the baby daddy parents, and her own father responsible as well? I will have private insurance in March but I suspect that I cannot include her if she does not live with me. I can't lie about it because auntie lives in another County.Seeing a doctor in that county will send up red flags. There are of course other issues, but I need to know about the legal implications.~Thank you.
Can a doctor refuse to see a patient due to an unpaid bill?
I had an emergency surgery performed in September of 2009 and today (after SEVERAL trips to the ER this weekend), my doctor, SAMIR AHUJA, is refusing to see me due to the balance on the account, at the time the surgery was performed i was under the impression that i was covered by medicaid insurance (who had dropped me without notice in June 2009). I told my doctor i was willing to get on a payment plan and begin paying the balance (even though it's not technically my responsibility), and he STILL refused to see me... is this legal? Trying to figure out what to do next seeing as though my condition COULD be life threatening, but we don't know for sure since he didn't see me today. So can a doctor refuse to see a patient due to an unpaid bill? Seems a little unethical to me, and FYI all the doctors that answer this question- yes i am fully aware of the overhead cost of a private practice and yes i do believe doctors should be paid... but this isn't a question of ethics or protocol, this is a question of LEGAL issues because as far as i've read you're not allowed to terminate a patient physician relationship without notice.