Debt Negotiation Advice
hospital debt lawsuit?
A hospital filed a summon against me for $6565 + their attny's fees. I think that bill is way too excessive and unreasonable. I represented myself in court a couple of months ago for a hearing, and now the case is set for trial. I planned to stipulate with the plaintiff's attorney (hospital) for mediation, but I don't think I have time. I contacted a couple of debt negotiation service. One company said they may be able to settle the case by contacting the provider directly and hopefully reduced the charges claimed by 30-40%. Then my fees to the company is 30% of what is saved. Does anyone have any suggestion regarding this. I'm looking to make payments but not sure if that is possible. Please advise. Thank you.
Public Comments
- I feel for you and how sad is this.
- Hospitals will always work with you to make payments. That is what I've done in the past. $6565 is a lot of money but that is about normal for what hospitals charge anymore if you are there for the day. I've seen them much higher. I would try to work a payment plan out with the hospital before you end up paying thier laywer fees too.
- I suspect you're well past the point where making payments will solve your problem. If you'd set up a payment plan with them from the beginning, they couldn't have come after you in the first place (even if you're only paying $5/month.) But now that it's gone this far, you're unlikely to get them to agree to that kind of payment plan. You can call them and ask them about it -- but they've already invested a lot of money in attorney's fees and you can bet they won't be in any mood to reduce your overall debt. If you've already had a hearing and a trial was scheduled, chances are pretty good you don't have a leg to stand on and they're planning to garnish your wages and/or force sell whatever you may own to cover the debt. Whatever you do, you'd better do it FAST! Call them and ask what your options are. But don't believe anything till you see it in writing... Good luck!
- um... i take it you didn't have insurance? if you didn't have insurance there was a study done that concluded hospitals charge uninsured people more as an industry wide practice. if you have the stomach for it and the time.... you could file to subpeona billing records for comparable cases. A. if they do charge more you could get a more favorable out of court settlement.or B you get the records and it is really obvious then that invalidates the contract because there wasn't a meeting of the minds... also try to get a jury trial... everyone is pretty disgusted by the healthcare industry. ofcourse i am not a lawyer but it may be worth it to get like 1 consultation from a lawyer.
