Medical bills for spouse that has passed away

[momma_2_four]

A friend of mine's husband passed away from the cancer he was being treated for in the hospital. After the insurance there were thousands in medical bills left to pay. Is she responsible for paying those even after his death?

 

[army judge]

A friend of mine's husband passed away from the cancer he was being treated for in the hospital. After the insurance there were thousands in medical bills left to pay. Is she responsible for paying those even after his death?

No, but those lousy creeps will hound her.
She should get extra copies of the death certificate (or make plenty photocopies) and write a letter to the collection creeps when they start hounding her telling them Mr. Fred Flintstone is dead. His body is located at Boulder Bluff Garden of Eternal Rest. His death certificate is enclosed. She has no money to pay his debts as she was recently widowed.

She is now a destitute widow.

End it with,

Thank you for not allowing me to grieve the death of my beloved husband.

With many tears,

The Widow Wilma Flintstone.

It works.


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[cbg]

While I do not disagree with the legality of AJ's response, I've often wondered why it is considered such a moral or ethical crime for a medical facility to want to be paid for the services they provided.

 

[army judge]

While I do not disagree with the legality of AJ's response, I've often wondered why it is considered such a moral or ethical crime for a medical facility to want to be paid for the services they provided.

"CBG", I don't think most of these these medical facilities make much of an effort to collect these debts.
Most write the debt off, or sell it to debt collectors.
If the debt is written off, the facility takes tax break against it.
They also get a couple cents, maybe even a few dimes on every dollar against the debt.

You can't sue a dead person.
Well, you can, but no court has the power to compel or summon the dead to appear.
If they had such a power, how could they enforce it?
The deceased might have an estate.
The estate is the entity that legally owes the debts, not the decedent's family.
But, most people in the country die without much to pass on, except an interest in a home.
I would speculate that the 1%, or even the 10% pays these debts.
The problem is for the 99% or 90% that can't pay their rent, let alone hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.
One could argue that a parent or spouse might be held liable for a debt.
But, most of the debt collector's go too far and harass, annoy, pester, and harangue extended family members and even friends.
That is a line that shouldn't get crossed.
Society (or at least our legislator's) believe the grieving family should not be pestered during a very difficult time.
I believe this is driven by sound, sympathetic public policy concerns.
Bottom line, no one is required to pay a debt they didn't incur, or have a responsibility to pay.

 

[cbg]

I'm not debating that, AJ. I fully understand that the patient's relatives are not responsible for the bill. I simply don't understand why it is considered so heinous for a medical facility to expect payment. I am not questioning that it should come from the estate of the decedent, but to vilify them for sending legit bills for services offered in good faith is a little over the top, to me.

 

[army judge]

I'm not debating that, AJ. I fully understand that the patient's relatives are not responsible for the bill. I simply don't understand why it is considered so heinous for a medical facility to expect payment. I am not questioning that it should come from the estate of the decedent, but to vilify them for sending legit bills for services offered in good faith is a little over the top, to me.

It isn't just sending of a bill, it's the way it's done.
Imagine losing your mom, dad, child, or spouse, grieving, sad, agitated, and getting hounded about a bill you don't owe.

But people are preying upon you, intimidating you into paying a bill you don't owe.

Even a funeral home, a reputable funeral home, allows you time to grieve before trying to settle your account.

Finally, it's not the hospitals or physicians who go beyond the pale, it's fatten the debt collectors.

But, not to worry, ObamaCare will remedy everything in one more year. Hang on America, it's going to be all better soon.


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[momma_2_four]

I will agree with Army here. It isn't so much that she is unwilling to pay the bills. She has tried to set up a payment plan with the debt collector, and that worked for a time, but now they say it isn't enough they want more than she can possibly pay each month and still provide for their children. That is when it becomes a problem. If the person is trying to pay why do they hound them more? That is when a person tends to step back and say look, I'm not even responsible for this bill so you can just go to hell.