An unexpected hospital stay can place any family in a bad financial situation. This is true even for those with health insurance. Medical bills can reach upwards of tens of thousands of dollars or more, leaving insured individuals responsible for the remainder that their insurance did not pay. For uninsured patients, hospitals and medical providers may reduce the amount you owe them. However, this amount owed may still be too much for you to pay considering your other bills.
Medical Bills and Bankruptcy
Medical bills are unsecured debts and are dischargeable under Chapter 7 debt liquidation or the Chapter 13 debt repayment plan.
In Chapter 7 bankruptcy, 100 percent of medical bills can be discharged. If you are not eligible to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you may be able to discharge a large percentage of your medical bills by filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy. In a typical Chapter 13 repayment plan, you would pay only pennies for every dollar of debt over a three-to-five-year period. At the end of the payment plan, any remaining medical debt would be discharged.
Clients usually do not feel comfortable discharging medical bills because of the care they received. Clients feel that the doctors or hospitals may not treat them again in the future. Fortunately, doctors' offices, hospitals and other medical facilities are prohibited from discriminating against patients who have had to file bankruptcy to take care of medical bills.
Contact Our Houston Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Debt Discharge Attorneys
Our Beaumont and Houston bankruptcy attorneys offer a free initial consultation to talk about how filing bankruptcy can eliminate your hospital bills. Contact our Beaumont office at 409-291-5117 or our Houston office at 713-987-3910 for your consultation.
