(11-01-2023, 08:16 PM)ancientlight Wrote: Hi all.
I hope everyone is doing well and had a great Halloween
Yesterday my brother went to the ER and was admitted to a hospital for colon problems.
His colon had knotted in on itself (can't rememeber the term ) and they corrected it through a colonopsy .
He will need another colonopsy (spelling sorry) on Friday and possibly surgery.
His surgeon thinks it's a 50% chance of it happening again within a year without surgery. So he will need surgery as well.
And not only do we have the stress/worries of this medical situation, we also need to worry about how to pay for this.
He's uninsured, and unemployed. He does have some savings from an inheritance(father) , I'm not sure how much , but around 200-300k. He lives of that basically, no other income. He has some mental health issues imo, and has never worked.
We are in Florida, alachua county. Does anyone know what to expect? Will he have to pay a 300k bill (don't know the amount yet) with all his money and be left penniless, or are there other options? Can they force any of us to pay his bills?
Off course I would help him and sell my house if I have to, but I'm hoping to avoid that.
Thanks for any input
Pretty much almost all hospitals in the US do payment plans for those without insurance but the question is: Is it considered an emergency, necessary procedure or do they consider it an elective procedure? Because by law emergency procedures must be done and they have to accept a payment plan (as little as paying $20 per month keeps it out of court and off of your credit regardless of how much money you have) but with elective procedures they can demand payment up front. Regardless, they can only go after your brother for payment and nobody else. Edit to add: Unless he is legally married, then they can go after legal spouse.
As an American it's your responsibility to have your own strategic duck stockpile. You can't expect the government to do it for you.