In Wisconsin and across the nation, people’s finances are a growing challenge due to the current health and job situation. People are losing their jobs and along with it, they are losing their health insurance. If they or a family member becomes ill as many people...
Medical Debt
Options for Managing Burdensome Medical Debt
According to a 2020 survey, close to one-third of American adults carry some level of medical debt. A medical debt is a debt formed from an unpaid medical bill and while not all medical visits and procedures are expensive, some can soar to unimaginable heights. For...
What are your options for dealing with medical debt?
Learning that you have a medical issue that needs immediate attention can be frightening. You may worry what the situation may mean for your health, your family and other aspects of your life. After learning about available treatment and moving forward with the most...
Rising medical costs and medical debt continues to drain American families
Americans continue to feel the weight of rising healthcare costs. The cost of obtaining healthcare is especially high for residents of Wisconsin. The cost of healthcare in the state is the second highest in the nation behind Alaska. The cost of 235 common medical...
Fighting higher medical bills
Health care expenses and high medical bills may cause insurmountable debt for Wisconsin patients and their families. Twenty six percent of respondents in a national survey conducted by the New York Times and Kaiser Family Foundation said that they or someone in their...
Automatic stay provides relief for debtors from collection activities
Last time, we looked briefly at the increased incidence of medical debt collection litigation in states with low court filing fees. As we mentioned, debt collection litigation can be very difficult and disruptive to debtors, but it is something that can be addressed...
Medical debt and bankruptcy: looking at the connection, P.2
Last time, we began looking at recent information gleaned from a poll conducted in Florida regarding the connection between medical debt, financial difficulties and bankruptcy. As we noted, even those with health insurance are not protected from financial hardship...
Medical debt and bankruptcy: looking at the connection, P.1
Medical care is considered a necessity, a basic cost of living, in the same way that food, clothing and shelter are consider basic needs. Unfortunately, medical care can be very costly, especially those who are still without insurance or who have high premiums and...
Negotiations may lead to lower medical debt obligations
Many people in Wisconsin are not prepared for the costs of medical procedures. While a visit to an emergency room can cost as much as $700, a hospital can charge up to $10,000 for labor and delivery of a baby, and thousands of dollars can be charged for surgical...
Unfortunate reality: health insurance won’t necessarily prevent medical bankruptcy, P.3
We’ve been looking in recent posts at the issue of medical debt, and about addressing this debt in bankruptcy. As we noted last time, determining which form of bankruptcy is best for a medical debtor requires an examination of a variety of factors.Debtors who...