Hospital bills? (serious answers, please) ?!
Question:
Hospital bills? (serious answers, please) ?
A friend of mine was rushed to the hospital last month after a sever reaction to prescription medicine. His hospital bills came in recently totalling up to $1300. He was told that he can pay $5 a month to the hospital to "keep them off his back". His concern was the interest buildup. Is there interest?? Anyway, my main question is, what can be done about paying these bills? He goes to school full-time and holds a part time job that pays in peanuts. (He's 18, by the way.) What are his options, if any? Any serious advice will be greatly appriciated.
Additional Details4 months ago
Thank you all for your time answering this for me/him! This should take alot of his stress away.
4 months ago
Did the hospital confirm that the medical emergency was caused by the prescription drug? YES Was your friend using the drug exactly the way it was prescribed? YES Did the prescribing physician warn of the potentially hazardous side effects? NO-HE SUFFERED A "SIDE EFFECT" THAT WAS NOT LISTED ON THE PAPERWORK. Did the pharmacist warn of these side effects? NO
Answers:
I work in a hospital as a medical biller. I would be the person you would call about your bill. Sending in $5/month WILL NOT keep the hospital off of your back or keep your account from going to collections.
In our hospital, we do not charge interest if you can pay the bill off within 8 months; any longer than that we have a bank loan (if you qualify) with minimum monthly payments and a 1% interest rate. If you can pay the bill in full w/in 30 days, we can discount it 30-40%. Call and ask for a discount.
If somebody is truely living under the poverty line, we have financial assistance applications in which the hospital will review your financial situation and basically "write-off" your bill if you qualify.
The one thing I will tell you is DO NOT ignore the bill. You don't want it going to collections and coming back to haunt you in 5 years when you are ready to buy a house or a car; it will be too late then.
Call the hospital, tell them your situation, ask them how they can help you.
That is their job, they are there to help.