Debt after ch.7

[Daneosporin]

My girlfriend's brother and his wife recently declared ch. 7 bankruptcy because his wife racked up a huge amount of medical bills. After their debt is wiped clean I'm not sure that they will be able to stop accumulating more medical bills and would like to know what would happen if they find themselves in debt again after the bankruptcy.
So far all I have found online is that you can only file ch.7 every 6 or 7 years, but no mention about what happens when you find yourself in debt before you are allowed to file ch. 7 again. If they get into debt again will they be risking jail time?
Any help would be great!

[Kam]

New law states that you have to wait 8 years between Ch7's.

You don't state whether your GF's brother and wife have health insurance. I would seriously encourage them to check into acquiring health insurance or additional health insurance. There are prescription plans out there for people who need free prescriptions, so that is a start. Depending on what health issues are involved there are medical plans out there to help people with their finances.

America does not have a debtor's prison. Only way you can go to jail/prison is if there is fraud involved. Inability to pay bills does not qualify you for a 4x8 ft room at your local county motel ! LOL

In all honesty, they should seek out additional insurance, talk to the hospital to see what kind of medical assistance programs they have, talk to their doctor and see if they offer anything. You don't indicate what kind of income is involved here, the lower the income the more medical services they might qualify for.

[Minnymouth]

Good advice Kam.....

[StaciMM]

Also, they should look for any ways to cut spending & increase income. Its very easy to lose track of where our money goes, and that is very dangerous!

[FilingOnMyOwn]

If you are filing chapter 7, you need to be absolutely insured out the wazoo for everything afterwards- health insurance, car insurance, and anything else that may apply. If they cannot qualify for health insurance due to pre existing conditions, I'm not sure there is any purpose for them to file at all. It will only prevent them from future protection. They at the very least need to check into medicare/medicaid/ssd.

[FoolAndHisMoney]

My girlfriend's brother and his wife recently declared ch. 7 bankruptcy because his wife racked up a huge amount of medical bills. After their debt is wiped clean I'm not sure that they will be able to stop accumulating more medical bills and would like to know what would happen if they find themselves in debt again after the bankruptcy.
So far all I have found online is that you can only file ch.7 every 6 or 7 years, but no mention about what happens when you find yourself in debt before you are allowed to file ch. 7 again. If they get into debt again will they be risking jail time?
Any help would be great!

Recently under new law or old? It would be 6 under old and 8 years present. Keep in mind that the means test mostly applys to consumer debts (credit cards, etc.) If the majority of someone's debts are for medical or business debts then the sec707b means test doesn't apply. Good luck!

[StaciMM]

The 8 years between filing applies to anyone now. 6 is history...

Technically, if someone filed on 6/1/99 they would have been able to file again between 6/1/05 and 10/16/05 but if they missed that window, they are no eligible again until 6/1/07.

[pink_amulet]

Recently under new law or old? It would be 6 under old and 8 years present. Keep in mind that the means test mostly applys to consumer debts (credit cards, etc.) If the majority of someone's debts are for medical or business debts then the sec707b means test doesn't apply. Good luck!

What do you mean about medical debt? 95% of our case is due to medical.

I never plan on filing BK again, but just wondering.

pink_amuket

[davids]

insurance

New law states that you have to wait 8 years between Ch7's.

You don't state whether your GF's brother and wife have health insurance. I would seriously encourage them to check into acquiring health insurance or additional health insurance. There are prescription plans out there for people who need free prescriptions, so that is a start. Depending on what health issues are involved there are medical plans out there to help people with their finances.

America does not have a debtor's prison. Only way you can go to jail/prison is if there is fraud involved. Inability to pay bills does not qualify you for a 4x8 ft room at your local county motel ! LOL

In all honesty, they should seek out additional insurance, talk to the hospital to see what kind of medical assistance programs they have, talk to their doctor and see if they offer anything. You don't indicate what kind of income is involved here, the lower the income the more medical services they might qualify for.

if they did not have insurance, then they can not get health insurance under pre-existing, otherwise they would have to wait a year without going to a doctor before it would be considered non pre-existing, least it was that way.

[NonSequitur]

medical services

they should read this site VERY CLOSELY:

www.needymeds.com after getting the doctor's office to fill out the forms, have the doctor make sure they have the necessary medications -somehow- samples...whatever.

they might have to depend on emergency room doctors for awhile. if they do, and have tests or whatever done, they should contact the BILLING DEPARTMENT and ask for financial forms to fill out and then state on the forms their inability to pay. the charges should be forgiven for an inability to pay.

they should look for a local "clinic" that offers medical services to people who are not able to afford medical services and/or do not have insurance.

urgent hospital medical service can not be denied to anyone, in this country, legally.

good luck!

[Genenco]

That's kind of scary to say the least..After all, we have seen where "Insurance Companies" said "Oh, gee. In regards to paragraph 7, page 456 seb section 21 appendix 4 "You won't get treatment...So sorry!"

Sure, suing is a option, but mean while??? Ouch!

[FoolAndHisMoney]

Staci, it's 6 years for anyone that filed under old law. This is according to the discussion that bkfiler sent us weeks ago. The judge explained when questioned that it's 6 years for old filers and under new law it will be 8 years.


Pink, under old and new law the section 707b rules apply to debts that are mostly consumer debts. If a debtor has a huge debt load of doctor/hospital bills then the means test wouldn't even be needed. Even under old laws then US Trustee mostly tried to convert debtors with possible disposable income for credit card debts and not medical debts. I guess they feel that people made a personal choice to "charge up" while people with thousands in medical debts were put in that situation beyond their control, so the means test is mostly for consumer debts.