Having surgery 4/10, when to file?

[Recessionist]

I had a gall bladder attack in November and am finally having the recommended surgery on Friday. I am covered under COBRA insurance, but it only covers 80%.

This is a Catholic Hospital that will not try any heavy handed collections efforts. I already owe them about $125.00 and planned to list it on the Bk.

I have several other credit card type creditors who are in default and will get judgments soon if I don't file.

I am unemployed and prospects are iffy at best.

I had wanted to file in the next 30-45 days.

I have someone who will help cover the medical bills, but not all at once. I could also use some money from my tax return when it shows up, but I need a lot of it to pay my BK lawyer. All told, we could probably cover it, but I am not sure, especially if the surgery doesn't go perfectly.

If I go ahead and have the surgery, which is not elective and I only have COBRA until May, would this be considered fraud if I file in the next 45 days? Should I wait to file? How long?

[StartingOver08]

Have your surgery first. Get your medical situation straightened out before you attempt to file.

I would wait at least until all the medical bills are in from the surgery, the hospitalization and other associated medical costs before filing. You are probably looking at at least another 3 month wait, but of course this depends on your actual surgery and medical care afterward. Add all of the medical to your future BK. Don't waste your funds or someone else's funds on medical expenses before you file.

Do not be too anxious to file - It would be a shame to file too early and have a large medical expenditure afterward to happen. Be cautious here. JMO.

Also, it is important to have a steady income so you will probably want to wait until you have a job to file. It is impossible to budget without an income.

[Recessionist]

I am receiving Unemployment Insurance, and my husband's income is intact. I would be filing alone though, as all of the debt is in my name only. This is a no-asset case. We are in a community property state.

[Flowers]

Have the surgery.
Have a good recovery.
See you when you are back here. & file in the allotted amount of time.

[relief13035]

Definately have the surgery while you at least have COBRA. If you wait, and the COBRA is gone, you might have another gallbladder attack and end up with nothing covered by insurance. You don't want ALL those bills.

[willbfree]

Definitely wait on the bk. You will have many different bills besides the hospital. The surgeon, radiologist, anesthesiologist, pathologist etc will all bill you for their services. You won't believe how many separate bills you will receive. All of these can be included in the bk if you wait. Definitely makes sense to have the surgery while you still have the cobra and then use your bk for any bills that the insurance didn't cover.

[Recessionist]

I had my surgery a week ago and feeling fine. I am waiting for the bills to come in, but continuing to do all I can to prepare for the BK.

I wish I didn't have to go BK on the medical bills because the Hospital and doctors and nurses were so good to me. I was so scared going into surgery and aside from being in incredible pain when I came-to, it's been a breeze.

[TEW]

I had my surgery a week ago and feeling fine. I am waiting for the bills to come in, but continuing to do all I can to prepare for the BK.

I wish I didn't have to go BK on the medical bills because the Hospital and doctors and nurses were so good to me. I was so scared going into surgery and aside from being in incredible pain when I came-to, it's been a breeze.

You can pay whom ever you want even if hte debt is discharged. My Wife had the same surgery and I paid the Dr.

[nervousss]

I work at a Catholic hospital. Trust me. It gets ugly. Don't count on the religious factor of the hospital easing their aggressive behavior towards collections, especially after it gets into the thousands. It's probably in the Ascention group (most Catholic hospitals in the states are,) and they're getting much more aggresive about money collection. Hospitals are still businesses, even if they're religious and charity based. They've got to go paid, and will go after you.

File, and include them. Make sure you're out of the woods with your recovery, and then go for it.

[AfraidOfBK]

i am having a delivery (c-section) at a catholic hospital in may.....how long do u think it will take to get all med bills?

Does not paying a hospital like this (or other med bills) damage your relationship with those docs for future? I mean, if i include al med bills in bk, even pediatrician...will the pediatrician not treat me the same after with other kids?

Do the medical ofcs even keep track that you discharged their debt in bk, even if u plan to pay future debts?

[anime-chicka]

Private practices can refuse to see you if they choose to. However, I have seen on many hospital ER rooms a sign that states that they have to treat you, regardless of your health insurance status. I take that to mean if you have it, don't have it or may have defaulted or filed BK on a debt owed to them. Another person's interpretation of that statement might be different.

I know I included some bills from my doctor's office that were discharged and I'm still being seen by here. Then again, she knew that I was filing and knew I was stressed from it.

[nervousss]

Most doctors offices will not see you without insurance coverage and copays paid before treatment. In the ER, we end up with a lot of non-emergencies because of this. It's normal, but it's annoying, not only to the nurses and doctors, but every other staff member. It's an emergency room, and having your time soaked up by someone with a boil on their butt is not something you are happy about when you have two strokes, a sexual assault victim, a suicide attempt, and three gunshot victims in the back. It sounds harsh, but it's reality. Non-emergencies are a fact of ER life, but they are not happily recieved when the place is hoppin'.

Rule of thumb: If you have no insurance and need to be seen by a doctor, can't find a primary care doctor that will take you as a self pay, BE KIND TO THE ER STAFF! Also, act thankful for your treatment (even if you don't feel thankful.) Nurses will go to the ends of the earth for someone that is sweet, and in turn unload a rude patient as quickly as possible. They don't care if you can pay or not. If you are nice and thankful, and give them a laugh or two, they will bend over backwards to make sure you leave feeling wonderful. If you go in and act entitled to their dedicated servitude, you will be leaving sooner than you might wish.

Also, If the ER is busy and you have a toothache or a cold or the flu, don't complain that people are getting to see the doctor before you. Those people have something more serious wrong with them than you, yes, even though they look less ill than you. Yes, you're in a lot of pain. I'm sorry, I know that person that arrived two minutes ago got in right away and you've been waiting for three hours, but they're having a heart attack right now.

Emergency rooms are obligated to see and stabalize you if needed, but they are not legally obligated to treat you if it's not medically necessary. They have to assess you and make sure you're not about to die. Most of them will go ahead and treat you, but they don't have to if it's not life threatening. Also, many hospitals will not elect to keep you if you need to be admitted without insurance or proven ability to pay. You will be transfered to a state hospital with a lot of funding for patients without insurance.

As far as how long it should take for all of the bills to drop, it depends on how efficient your hospitals billing system is, and how long/if you have complications arise related to your c/s. Every hospital is different. Your chart is completed by the doctors and nurses and then sent to coding and billing. If everything is perfectly smooth with both your hospital billing system and your health after the surgery and you don't have insurance, you could have your final bills within a couple of weeks. If you do have insurance, then the bills will first be sent to your company before ultimately being passed on to you to cover the remaining. That could take days or months, once again, depending on the efficiency of your insurance company.

Will it hurt your relationship with your doctor? Probably not. It depends on how closely they are involved in the financial aspect of the practice. If they are very closely tied, the worst thing that could happen is you would be forced to release copy of your records to take to a new doctor.

Look up the teaching hospitals in your area. They are usually frequented by the financially less fortunate, but they are the most likely ones to treat you no matter what you have wrong with you, as they are resident physicians and still unjaded to the ways of the masses and eager to practice their trade.

[Trixie007]

Just a thought on the medical bills. I had surgery Jan 19th, and I just had a bill come in for about 1k a week ago! Go figure, I don't know what took them so long. I also ended up going in for extensive testing two months after my surgery because of severe fatigue - I was waking up in the morning ready to go back to bed, and often did! So that was more bills coming in.

As for including the bills when you file shortly after receiving medical care, we all went to the dentist for cleaning/check-ups in March and they elected to bill us. Turned out they overcharged by about $400 and wouldn't correct the bill... my attorney said to include them! He also said that paying them this close to filing would cause more issues than including them! I find the BK world to often be counter-intuitive.