Medical Bills - To Include or Not To

[ksgirl38]

I'm filing on Thursday and today I came home to find a bill in the mail from my last dentist visit. This was a new dentist I had seen for the first time and they did my checkup on one visit and the cleaning on a second visit. The first visit I paid $170 after insurance. My insurance is pretty lousy, but I still thought this was pretty high. Then on the second visit they didn't collect a payment from me, but I got this bill in the mail for $114. I knew I'd have to pay $29 for a fluoride treatment, but I didn't expect to have to pay $284 total for a checkup and cleaning. After my first visit I had already decided I wasn't going to return to this dentist due to the high prices, but my question now is, do I include them in the BK or not?

Are medical bills dischargeable? I thought I read somewhere that they are. I hate to do this since I had planned to pay the bill myself, but I didn't realize I'd have to pay this much. The first bill for $170 was taken out of my flexible spending account, but now I'm not sure what to do with this second bill. Advice?

Thanks.

[philslyn]

well mr/mrs. you are filing bk anyway, to get a fresh start, medical bills are dischargeable i would include it..

[AngelinaCat]

As long as the medical debt in question is incurred BEFORE you file, you can include it.

Even if the incident happened before you filed, but because of the way the insurances, hospitals, et. al. work, you won't know the total bill before you file. Include it. Put a placeholder token of $1.00 in each place where called for--with the notation that the actual amount is not yet known.

[justbroke]

I'm just adding on to what Mrs. Cat wrote...

It may be more simple to say that... if you have medical bills before you filed, then you MUST include them.

Now that I wrote that, there is nothing in the bankruptcy code that prevents a debtor from paying back any discharged debt. In fact, my discharge order even states that "A Debtor may voluntarily pay any debt that has been discharged." Emphasis on "voluntarily". If you have a long and almost "familial" relationship with a particular medical provider, many debtors, after having discharged the debt, still pay it so that they can keep seeing the same medical professional(s) and keeping the relationship amenable.

[AngelinaCat]

To also add to what JB wrote: 'Hub was finishing off residual medical bills from a radical prostatectomy in 2004.

In August 2007, I fell in the bathroom and broke my right arm and left knee. November 3rd of that same year, 'Hub had an accident with a skil-saw cut to his abdomen. This involved an emergency helicopter life-flight to the nearest trauma center.

There was no way we would possibly know any totals to our medical bills at the time we filed on December 28, 2007, so the attorney told us to put the $1.00 placeholder amount in the proper places.

We had no problems at all, other than the medical provider for my injuries trying to attach bills for services after we filed. The problem there was, that these were all follow-up visits for my initial injury, and NOT new bills or services.

One of the bills that we discharged was a $6++.00 something Emergency Room bill that our local community hospital tried to charge us for 'Hub's life-flight. For what service? The ambulance went straight to the waiting medical helicopter on the helipad and transferred the patient straight in, and off they went.

[ksgirl38]

Thanks everyone. I had every intention of paying the bill, but I just didn't realize a cleaning and checkup would cost me $284 after insurance. The last dentist charged me $87. I feel kinda bad including it in the BK, but it's not as if I was planning to go back to that dentist anyway.

[AngelinaCat]

If you want to keep a relationship with that dentist, then go and talk with their office personnel. You can generally work out something with them.

What we (especially 'Hub and I) are trying to convey to everyone else reading this thread, is that yes, major medical catastrophes are dischargeable.

[ksgirl38]

I wasn't real impressed with this dentist anyway so I guess I'll just keep shopping for a different one.

[Tater]

Wow, seems kind of high for a cleaning after insurance kicks in! We included all medical bills but it was just one. It was from my husband and we had been paying on it. The hospital agreed to a lower payment since I was unemployed. The day we filed, we got a nasty call from a collection agency regarding the bill. We had only missed one or two payments before filing. It was a pleasure to tell them we had filed bankruptcy. It was an ER visit and we have no intention of going back there. They were out of state and they were horrible!!

[frogger]

I'm just adding on to what Mrs. Cat wrote...

It may be more simple to say that... if you have medical bills before you filed, then you MUST include them.

Now that I wrote that, there is nothing in the bankruptcy code that prevents a debtor from paying back any discharged debt. In fact, my discharge order even states that "A Debtor may voluntarily pay any debt that has been discharged." Emphasis on "voluntarily". If you have a long and almost "familial" relationship with a particular medical provider, many debtors, after having discharged the debt, still pay it so that they can keep seeing the same medical professional(s) and keeping the relationship amenable.

Best answer that you could get!

[ksgirl38]

Wow, seems kind of high for a cleaning after insurance kicks in! We included all medical bills but it was just one. It was from my husband and we had been paying on it. The hospital agreed to a lower payment since I was unemployed. The day we filed, we got a nasty call from a collection agency regarding the bill. We had only missed one or two payments before filing. It was a pleasure to tell them we had filed bankruptcy. It was an ER visit and we have no intention of going back there. They were out of state and they were horrible!!

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks $284 for a checkup and cleaning is high. I mean I know my insurance is bad, but this is ridiculous.

[NoMoreCards]

The debt is probably dischargable if the services were received before filing date. However I don't think you've filed yet (going off memory). I know you've been here a quite a while so perhaps still in the "getting ready" stage. $284 isn't all that high if the cleaning and check up included xrays as well, that is when the prices tend to skyrocket. Well, at least you got one more thing done that can be included in the BK.
All the best

[bcohen]

After my first visit I had already decided I wasn't going to return to this dentist due to the high prices, but my question now is, do I include them in the BK or not?

Usually, the only reason people pay a debt that would be discharged in bankruptcy is because they feel bad for the person/company they'd be "stiffing" or because they want to continue using their services. Since you have already made the decision to never use this dentist again, why would you pay him anything? It's not like he's being totally "stiffed" here--he got money from the insurance. Add him to your BK and never look back.

[ksgirl38]

Thanks. I just wasn't sure since it was so close to my filing date.