Surgery bill in Son's name...

[marshallgirl]

Hi. I have a question please... Our 19 year old Son had surgery in May, and the staff made him sign his name on all the papers since he is over 18. He just now received a bill for the remainder of the balance that my Husband's insurance did not cover. Over $3,000. Can we include that bill in our bankruptcy if it is in our Son's name? The address on the bill is our address also. Since we paid thru my Husband's work insurance, we assumed the bill would be sent to us. Our Son is in college full time, and does not have a job. There is no way he can pay it back at this time. Thanks in advance.

We live in Florida.

[frogger]

If your son signed as the responsible financial party, then it's his debt and you can not discharge it in your bankruptcy.

[Flamingo]

Do you claim your son as a dependent on your taxes and does he live with you? In order for him to be on your health insurance, he has to be a dependent of yours and in order to claim him as a dependent, you need to provide more than 50% of his support and he has to live with you 6 months out of the year. Since you are responsible for his support and he is a dependent, talk to your attorney about this situation. Dependents on parents' health insurance do get billed directly or information sent to them directly when over 18 due to HIPAA privacy laws.

[marshallgirl]

Ok. Thank you.

[papie]

I would call the hospital (or have your son call the hospital) and see what you need to do to have the guarantor (responsible party) changed on the account. That way you'll have a bill in your name. Of course, I wouldn't suggest telling them it's so you can get it through on your bankruptcy, but tell them you need a correct name on it. When I worked in medical billing and collections this was a pretty common occurence- kid is over 18, kid went to hospital, kid gets bill, mom calls and needs it put in her name, happened on a near daily basis.