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Medical BillsAccording to the AP, a study shows that medical bills are behind over 60 percent of personal bankruptcy filings for individuals with health insurance. Often in these cases, the individual suffered a short-term illness resulting in time off from work and a loss of wages, insurance only covered a portion of medical bills, or debt was incurred on behalf of a third party such as an ailing parent or child. Many of these individuals are forced into bankruptcy for the simple reason that the medical collection industry is so inflexible and will not work out reasonable payment plans for those who can not pay the debt off quickly. Instead, hospitals, doctors, and medical collection agencies rush to the courthouse to file small claim lawsuits (those less than $5,000). In fact, many small claims courts are clogged with such suits, with medical debt lawsuits making up a large portion of a court's docket. And this trend is only going to increase as many hospitals, doctors and other medical-related businesses turn their delinquent accounts over to collection agencies in 30 or 60 days rather than waiting the traditional 150 days before doing so. Another trend is for medical-related businesses to sue in small claims court for very trivial amounts, say $100, rather than just write the debt off as a bad debt. Medical bills are unsecured debt, which makes them eligible for discharge in bankruptcy. However, it is important to remember that a bankruptcy will only include debt incurred prior to the date of filing. You will not be able to discharge future medical bills for 8 years from the date of filing your first bankruptcy, and for this reason it is important to discuss the timing of your bankruptcy with the attorney. www.bcsalliance.com  For a free consultation about bankruptcy, contact us toll-free at (800) 775-1820. We are available to represent people in Lisle and the surrounding parts of Illinois, including Will, Cook, Kendall, Kane, Kankakee, Lake, McHenry, LaSalle and Grundy Counties.em> |
