Legal Question in Health Care Law in Illinois
My parents are on a very meager and fixed income and do not have insurance.
While my father was in the hospital for a heart attack in June of 2004, my parents explicitly asked if they could make payments and they were told "yes" (I bore witness to this). There were no conditions stated to them or in the paperwork (i.e. minimum payment, length of time to pay balance off, etc...) at the meeting between them and the "financial advisor".
There were no bills sent to my parents, however my parents began making $100/month payments (all they could afford). After three months, the hospital turned around and demanded payment in-full, gave them a bad credit report and subsequently took them to court.
(I do not know the full details of courts decision other than my parents owed the money and my mother was determined to be responsible for the debt should my father pass). They continued to make payments (and still do) during the entire process.
The problem lies with the following:
They (my parents) have made continual requests to get a bill or remaining balance on their account which have remained unanswered.
They have made several attempts prior to and after the action of the hospital taking them to court to negotiate a lower "pay-off" due to their financial situation. This isn't an attempt on their behalf to "get out" of paying what they owe, but more to try and pay what they can afford. They have not received any correspondence regarding this request either.
The hospital has reported them to the credit bureau despite the fact that my parents have not missed one payment since the receipt of their first bill. Every time my mother has called the credit bureau to address the above facts, the "bad mark" has been removed only to show up under a different name one to two weeks later.
The final straw, which has resulted in this e-mail is they have received a statment from an unknown law firm claiming that their balance is $15K more than what they have documented as their remaining balance (sill not having received any correspondence from the hospital regarding their remaing balance or a bill). This "statement" had no documentation in regards to services received, date of services, or any other related informtion.
They finally received a response stating that they are being charged 9% interest on "unpaid" amounts for a medical bill (in which they have yet to recieve). My question is 2-part.
1) Is this legal if the health care provider never disclosed or announced this (interest fee) as an intention?
2) The recieved the service in 2004 and have NEVER received a bill until last month, is this possible?
1 Answer from Attorneys
This is simply shameful. People doing their best to pay their exhorbitant bills, and they get treated this way. Bankruptcy is always an option in situations like this. Otherwise, I would recommend having an attorney familiar with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act review all of the correspondence they have received. If there was a violation, your parents can have some real fun with these entities.
If there was never a written agreement to pay interest, then no interest can be charged. Have your parents demand copies of all documentation, and have them dispute the debt in writing to this "law firm" (not sure what you mean by unknown law firm; does this mean that you have never heard of this law firm, or that they are not disclosing their name on the correspondence?). Not receiving a bill since 2004 is not only possible, but it does not even surprise me. Keeping people confused about how much they owe seems to be a common modus operandi these days. Heck, try asking how much a procedure will cost before you have it done.
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