Collections on medical bill

Subject: collections on medical bill
Question:

My fiance and I clean house for two very dear friends of ours, Martha and Arnold. They are on a fixed income and receive only social security and because they have worked hard all their lives, they both have pensions too.

My fiance and I think they are being taken advantage of by the collections agency that keeps threatening to sue them. The facts concerning the whole mess is that Martha had eye surgery in both eyes by an eye surgeon. The surgery was completely covered by her health insurance. The eye surgeon TOLD Martha to see an ophthalmologist friend of his for her post-op. Because the ophthalmologist was not a "surgeon", the health insurance company refuses to pay for Martha's ophthalmologist bill of $1,200.00 (By the way the ophthalmologist charged $600.00 PER EYE to look at her eyes for 5 minutes and tell her that the surgery looked great!).

The surgery was approx. 6 months ago and since then a collections agency has gotten involved. The bill is now up to $1,700.00 because the collections agency is charging their fee of $500.00! Arnold says he is going to have to pay it somehow because he is terrified that they are going to garnish his bank account and go after their pensions after they file suit. Can the collections company do that? They won't even back down on their collections fee. We really care about this kind, honest people and would like to know if they have any recourse against any party involved. They won't even have enough to eat for a while if they have to pay this bill. If there is no recourse, I would just like to put my two cents in that it's a SAD day in America when two lifelong, hardworking people have to worry their survival because of a stupid, overpriced insurance bill that should have been paid by the insurance company in the first place!!

Thanks for your help in this matter.

Answer:

They really don't have much to worry about. Their ss checks cannot be garnished for any reason by anybody except the U.S. Government. Tell them that and that they should not even worry about it.

On the other hand, while it may be illegal for anyone to garnish their checks it can and has been done countless times simply because oldsters didn't know that and didn't know how to protect themselves.

Here are some of the things they need to learn and do and that you can do to help them learn.
1. Have them get a digital voice recorder. They can get one at many places such as Target, Radio Shack, Circuit City and more. It don't have to be really expensive so long as it has a USB port. Do they have a computer? If not, help them get one and teach them how to use it. The computer can record phone calls too. If they don't want to do any of that then just have them keep a written diary of all the calls, date, time and phone number. If they don't have caller ID then get one. Those are really cheap if you shop for them.

2. Teach them not to take abuse on the phone and teach them to demand validation of the debt. Teach them that although everybody has a moral obligation to pay their bills it is not a crime to refuse to pay that which you cannot pay. Teach them that the necessities of life are far more important than the bills are. Teach them that they can be sued and they can get a judgment against them for not paying the bill but a judgment is only a court order saying that they owe the money but it is not a court order saying the must pay. The court order saying they must pay is a separate process entirely. Tell them that if they get a garnishment hearing summons or a summons for an assets hearing they must go to those kinds of hearings and then they can tell the judge that they are on SSI and have no other income. That should take care of it.

There are lots of things they can learn from me for free. Give them my phone number and tell them that if they have any questions about their problems I'll be glad to talk to them and try to help as much as I can for free. If and when the time comes they need more help than I can afford to give for free I'll tell them and if they can't afford it they will owe me nothing. I do hope they have a computer and internet access however. Just makes things so much easier.

Bill Bauer
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Do the right thing

Debt collection practices

Question: I was unemployed between August 2006 and August 2007 and as a result defaullted on a number of debts with a total value of over $50,000. After obtaining employment in 2007 I began makeing payment on these debts on a regular and consistant basis. Some are already paid off and others are gradually paying down. One account of unsecured credit in the amount of $24,000 was sold to a collection attorney. After 6 minths of payments at $400 per month I increased my payments to $500 per month. For the next few months I found they were no longer taking the payments on the scheduled date, and I had to call each time and set up the payment. Each time the collector first offers me an offer for a settlement in full which I cannot accept as I no access to cash for a lump sum payment. I offer to continue my payments with the expectation of increasing my payment to $1000 per month in October 2008. The collectors have then become abuse and tell me they have no obligation to accept my monthly payment and have intention to sue or take "other" legal actions. Each time they have eventually taken that months payment over the phone. What recourse do I have if they refuse to contine taking my payments?

Answer: You have no recourse at all so long as you are trying to cooperate with them. They take your good efforts as a sign of weakness and much like a barking dog which will become much more aggressive if you show fear.

You need to learn to defend yourself against the possibility that one day they will do just what they threaten to do and file a lawsuit on you. Accept the fact that they might very well do just that. Prepare yourself for that eventuality now. Learn what laws they violate, record all phone conversations with them using a digital voice recorder and keep a written record of them as well. You will soon have a nice history of their violations.

When the time comes that you have a few violations recorded start controlling the conversations instead of letting them control the conversations. If they refuse to take your payments and start their illegal threats tell them that if they want to take you to court then they should do just that. Tell them to either take your money or take you to court. Tell them you are sick and tired of getting this hassle every time you want to make a payment. When they start giving you a hard time demand a full accounting of the debt.

Let them know you are not the least bit afraid of them or their lawyers.
After all, there is no need to be afraid of them or their lawyers if you are well prepared to not only deal with them on a local basis but on a federal basis as well.

What you don't seem to realize is that they will never give you any receipt for your payments and you will probably end up paying forever and stand an excellent chance of ending up in court anyway.

I realize that you are fearful of having to go to court but once you have become familiar with how to go there and defend yourself against their lawyers and win there is nothing to fear except fear itself.

Learn that even though you pay them and try to do the right thing your payments are actually being used against you via your credit reports.
You are actually doing nothing but buying your own bad credit.

I don't blame you for trying to do the right thing and nobody else will either but are you really doing the right thing for yourself? That is a question you should be seriously considering.

I can assure you that while you are doing the right thing from a moral standpoint you are doing the wrong thing for your own good. You are simply paying out huge sums of money fruitlessly hoping to stave off what may well turn out to have been inevitable anyway.

All that money could be going towards your eventual retirement or making a better life for yourself.

Bill Bauer
405-684-9297
405-227-9423

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RECOMMENDED READING
Subscribe to Creditwrench mailing list on google groups.
http://www.shrinkmylink.com/iomqson Creditwrench google group by email.
See all my questions and how I answered them.
Just send an email to ceo@creditwrench.com and ask to join my mailing list of all answers. I'll put you on the list and you can easily unsubscribe any time you wish.

http://www.shrinkmylink.com/hhlqson FDCPA EXPERT
www.creditwrench.com/howjudgmentswork.html
www.creditwrench.com/18questions.html
http://shrinkmylink.com/kmlqson
www.creditwrench.com/objections.html
www.creditwrench.com/howcreditwrenchworks.html
http://www.shrinkmylink.com/bnlqson List of community property states
How to answer a summons
http://www.shrinkmylink.com/exlqson

LISTEN TO THESE CREDITWRENCH STUDENTS CHAT ON OUR FRIDAY NIGHT CONFERENCE CALLS.

http://www.creditwrench.tv/MIKEJM-06-27-08.mp3
http://www.shrinkmylink.com/uimqson Mike JM tells about Greentree Financial case.
http://shrinkmylink.com/xsjqson
http://www.shrinkmylink.com/danqson Mark in Rhode Island gets settlement offer

Statute of Limitations for all states
http://shrinkmylink.com/zlwpson

How to set up your hard drive for creditwrench files. Makes them easy to find.
http://tinyurl.com/3lqxaw
The Creditwrench conference calls will start this coming Friday evening at 7 P.M. Central time. It is free and open to the public. There is no cost or obligation other than what it may cost you for the phone call itself. You can join in and ask questions or just listen or whatever you want to do.

Dial-in Number: (712) 432-1601
Access code: 508548#

You might also want to visit our message forum at http://consumers.creditwrench.com to get answers to questions you need answered before next Friday night.

__________________
http://shrinkmylink.com/qlmqson Try this great new search engine!
This Sigline updates constantly! Try it!
Creditwrench - The lethal weapon against debt collectors
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Creditwrench Blog

(405) 684-9297- CALL ANYTIME
(405) 684-9297 FAX NUMBER
(405) 227-9423 - CALL ANYTIME
(405) 384-4508 - CALL ANYTIME