Medical debt question
December 6, 2024 6:50 AM Subscribe
I have a fair bit of debt with one of my providers. They've sent over a financial aid form for me to complete.
The form asks about my savings. I do have savings, about 6K. The debt is about 1K.
I've had a (very low-paying) job for the past several weeks but it's ending soon and I don't yet have another job lined up. Before that I'd been unemployed for more than half a year. My savings account has already been severely diminished.
I'm afraid that if I disclose my savings they'll refuse financial aid and also pressure me to fork over a giant chunk of my savings.
I've never been in this kind of situation and don't know how it goes. Are my fears realistic? Am I better off just asking for a payment plan?
The form asks about my savings. I do have savings, about 6K. The debt is about 1K.
I've had a (very low-paying) job for the past several weeks but it's ending soon and I don't yet have another job lined up. Before that I'd been unemployed for more than half a year. My savings account has already been severely diminished.
I'm afraid that if I disclose my savings they'll refuse financial aid and also pressure me to fork over a giant chunk of my savings.
I've never been in this kind of situation and don't know how it goes. Are my fears realistic? Am I better off just asking for a payment plan?
I don't know how it "usually" goes but I've gotten complete forgiveness from a major hospital system in very similar circumstances. All they seemed to care about was my earned income and that I wasn't sitting on unearned income-generating assets, not that I wasn't literally completely broke. Is there any room to provide a written statement, even if the question they ask doesn't quite get at this? I do remember finding somewhere to wedge in a comment that their bill represented a huge percentage of my savings.
I'd also imagine you can ask for a payment plan if this doesn't pan out, right? It's not either/or?
posted by teremala at 7:22 AM on December 6 [2 favorites]
I'd also imagine you can ask for a payment plan if this doesn't pan out, right? It's not either/or?
posted by teremala at 7:22 AM on December 6 [2 favorites]
Tell the truth and see what happens. Don't fork over your savings. Some US states cannot report medical debt to credit bureaus so the overall stakes here are low.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:48 AM on December 6 [3 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:48 AM on December 6 [3 favorites]
I am not your lawyer. Report honestly and grieve any denial.
Near me, what you're describing would be vanishingly unlikely to be the cause of any financial assistance denial; you sound like a solid candidate for most financial assistance policies, especially if you can document the forthcoming end of your income. Some providers-- especially hospitals-- list their actual policies on their websites, so you can see if based on their written policies savings in excess of the debt would be grounds for denial. (I doubt it.) Even if so, you can challenge the denial based on your specific circumstances.
As for being pressured to pay the debt out of your savings: you don't have to do that. The best way to prepare for that is to decide in advance that if they call you and ask to pay the debt out of the savings you'll say no. Remember that in order to actually collect said debt, they must take you to court and win. Think of the communications from the collectors as requests, to which you'll be prepared in advance to say no, since you can't afford to say yes.
posted by peppercorn at 9:59 AM on December 6 [3 favorites]
Near me, what you're describing would be vanishingly unlikely to be the cause of any financial assistance denial; you sound like a solid candidate for most financial assistance policies, especially if you can document the forthcoming end of your income. Some providers-- especially hospitals-- list their actual policies on their websites, so you can see if based on their written policies savings in excess of the debt would be grounds for denial. (I doubt it.) Even if so, you can challenge the denial based on your specific circumstances.
As for being pressured to pay the debt out of your savings: you don't have to do that. The best way to prepare for that is to decide in advance that if they call you and ask to pay the debt out of the savings you'll say no. Remember that in order to actually collect said debt, they must take you to court and win. Think of the communications from the collectors as requests, to which you'll be prepared in advance to say no, since you can't afford to say yes.
posted by peppercorn at 9:59 AM on December 6 [3 favorites]
Sorry, that's "grieve" in the sense of, file a grievance/complaint/challenge. Not "grieve" in the sense of mourn.
posted by peppercorn at 11:14 AM on December 6 [3 favorites]
posted by peppercorn at 11:14 AM on December 6 [3 favorites]
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A) Have no current balances on your credit cards.
B) Plan on using your credit cards to pay for things during unemployment (and then pay the balance off with your savings) and
C) they ask about credit card debt
I would consider taking that money and paying it off onto your credit card. Then you can spend it down during your period of unemployment. I have no idea if this is legal. I am not a lawyer an accountant or anything relevant, nor do I live in a place where medical debt is a thing.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:57 AM on December 6 [1 favorite]