My daughter called tonight, distraught.
Backstory:
Her fiancé had surgery three years ago for a hernia. At the time they did not live together, he was an unemployed part-time student, living in his own apartment. He had no insurance, and the hospital assured him there were programs that he could apply to that would cover the surgery, and encouraged him to go ahead with it. He filled out all the paperwork, had the surgery, and never received any bills from either the doctor or hospital for it. He made the assumption, perhaps an extremely naive assumption, that his surgery was covered.
Last year he moved in with my daughter. They are in another state, but he had his mail forwarded, and has received mail from other places, including bills. Nothing whatsoever from the hospital, however. In the meantime, he completed a trade school program and graduated in Dec with HVAC and plumbing certification. He is actively seeking a job but not found one yet. My daughter works as an occupational therapist and pays to have him on her insurance plan. They manage to keep up with their bills, but barely. Once he gets a job, things will be better, and he is diligently trying to find employment.
Today, out of the blue, he got a letter from a collection agency seeking payment of $38,000 for the surgery. They called the hospital (twice, the first person she talked to promised to call her back and never did.) they were told that bills were sent - it is not their problem that they were never received. They were told that the hospital would only take the account back from the collection agency if he agreed to pay $900 a month. They also said that the amount could be reduced if he filled out paperwork to prove a low income and financial need. Most likely he will not qualify due to my daughter's income. The hospital is giving them until Jan 19 to agree to the $900. After that, they say they cannot take the account back from collections.
She has contacted an nonprofit agency that helps with debt problems. They will meet with someone on Friday. However, the person at the agency said they can only negotiate with the collection agency - if they manage to get the hospital to take the account back, they are on their own.
My daughter realizes that this will ruin their credit rating. They are getting married in June. She is afraid - realistically - that they will never be able to get a loan to buy a house.
If we could afford to help them, we would. But we are already paying her student loans, and paying for their wedding reception. It is rather modest, but still a significant expense. There is just no way these kids can pay $900 a month. She tried asking the hospital if they could work out something like $200 a month, and the people laughed at her...
I KNOW there are ways to fight this. To negotiate a reduction in the amount of the debt. To set up a smaller payment plan. We are all trying to find these resources. I know he was stupid and naive to have agreed to the fees before finding out whether he could get assistance. But he was pressured and reassured by the hospital that he would qualify. Now they are saying they have no record of any applications for financial assistance.
I feel so bad for them but it is ultimately their problem to resolve. I am frustrated and saddened, but also angry that the hospital did not try harder to contact him. He truly did not intentionally skip out on this bill...
