Overwhelming Medical Debt? Consider Bankruptcy

Anyone who has faced a serious illness or who has been involved in a traumatic accident understands how overwhelming medical bills can be. This is particularly true if you do not have health insurance, but it can still be expensive even when you do have insurance! If you are facing an overwhelming amout of medical bills, you may want to consider filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 filing.

Medical bills are treated as unsecured debt in your bankruptcy, which means that all or the majority of your debt will be eliminated when you obtain your Chapter 7 discharge. If you have had a lengthy stay in the hospital or required extensive and costly treatments, your bankruptcy could save you from being liable to pay thousands of dollars!

If you file a Chapter 13 case, your medical bills will be treated the same as your other unsecured debt under your repayment plan. A Chapter 13 plan outlines how you will pay your creditors according to the type of debt or claim they have against you and limits your payments by your available disposable income. Typically, unsecured creditors are paid a small percentage of what is owed to them which, again, can save you thousands of dollars.

If you are worried that discharging your medical debt will negatively impact your ability to receive medical care in the future, set your fears aside. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act requires a medical care provider to provide emergency treatment (including active labor) despite your inability to pay or your prior bankruptcy case. It is important to note, however, that a private medical provider may have the ability to refuse to treat you for non-emergency medical services based upon your non-payment of bills. If this happens, you have the right to find a new doctor or to negotiate payment options for future services.

When you are facing an illness or trying to recover from an injury, the stress of your medical debt can negatively affect your recovery. Contact an experienced bankrutpcy attorney at Nielsen Law Group for help with all bankruptcy-related matters. You can schedule your initial consultation by calling (480) 888-7111 or submitting a web request here.