Question for the lawyers of OSS

[bremmel]

I was in a wreck awhile back and was injuried better bad. I don't have any insurance. I was working saving money to go back to college but now that's all gone.(I'm trying to get Rehab help). My question is I can't pay my medical bills which exceed $100,000. Is there anything I can do beyond not paying or filing bankruptcy.(not sure if that is even an option). By the way I was denied temporary disablity by social security.

[OSUFan]

I'm not a lawyer but I'm curious -- was the accident your fault or someone else's? You might be able to take the person to court if it was his/her fault.

[CowboyJD]

I don't have much advice on dealing with the hospital bills. You're in a real bind where bankruptcy might be your only viable solution. If you decide to go that route, wait until you're fully healed and are certain you can't deal with some payment deal. Debts accrued after a bankruptcy will not be dischargeable for some time.

If another party was at fault for the accident, you should look into making a claim on their insurance.

[Boss 24]

One thing is for sure, if you don't pay the medical creditors will sue. You have around 60-90 days of non-payment before that happens, but then you'll be responsible for costs and attorney's fees.

You don't mention the type of insurance you don't have but I'm guessing health insurance. What kind of auto insurance coverage did you have and what were the bodily injury coverages and/or non-insured motorists coverage did you have?

[bremmel]

I'm not a lawyer but I'm curious -- was the accident your fault or someone else's? You might be able to take the person to court if it was his/her fault.

Well The highway patrol put it on me. What happened was a bus come around a corner on a county road on my side. I hit my brakes but it was wet so I skidded in to the bus tipping it on it's side. Funny think is bus was laying on it side and was in middle of the road. The high patrol never asked me a question about the wreck when I tryed to tell him what happened he kept telling me it doesn't matter right now. I think maybe I will try and get the accident report and see if there is any way of proven it was not my fault.

Thats for the help I appreciate it.

[WyomingOSUAlum]

Did you get a ticket? If so, what was the charge?

[bremmel]

I got a ticket for excessive speed in bad road conditions. I was going 40 mph. I caught speed skidding. I guarantee you the bus driver was goin faster. He always does he almost ran me off the road a few weeks before. Everyone that lives on his bus route has wanted him gone for a while now cause they know he drives that bus as fast as he can up and down the roads.

Boss I forget to answer your question I don't have medical insurance. I had full coverage on my truck I learned the hard way that you have to pay extra for any kind of medical help through your car insurance if you have a wreck.

[legelegel]

I was in a wreck awhile back and was injuried better bad. I don't have any insurance. I was working saving money to go back to college but now that's all gone.(I'm trying to get Rehab help). My question is I can't pay my medical bills which exceed $100,000. Is there anything I can do beyond not paying or filing bankruptcy.(not sure if that is even an option). By the way I was denied temporary disablity by social security.


How far is "awhile back" in years or months?

The amount of time past is important if you are going to try to find someone else at fault.

I agree on the bankruptcy advise from CowboyJD. Wait until they are jumping on you with all fours before you declare. Try to get all your medical needs taken care of someway first.

[frankeaton]

"I agree on the bankruptcy advise from CowboyJD. Wait until they are jumping on you with all fours before you declare. Try to get all you medical needs taken care of someway first."

Having just been through bankruptcy, I suggest getting a very, very good lawyer. Interview 3 or 4. Someone correct me if I am wrong but backruptcy lawyers are towards the bottom of the lawyering chain

[legelegel]

"I agree on the bankruptcy advise from CowboyJD. Wait until they are jumping on you with all fours before you declare. Try to get all you medical needs taken care of someway first."

Having just been through bankruptcy, I suggest getting a very, very good lawyer. Interview 3 or 4. Someone correct me if I am wrong but backruptcy lawyers are towards the bottom of the lawyering chain

You are corrected.

Did you have a bad experience in your bankruptcy?

[AnniePokely]

I don't have any legal advice, but i hope you get it all worked out.

[BobBarker]

If you have any further medical trouble related to this accident (say your knee starts acting up, and you need surgery) try to switch your care over to OU Medical Center. They are used to getting stiffed on the check.

[bremmel]

[QUOTE=legelegel;2398]How far is "awhile back" in years or months?

The amount of time past is important if you are going to try to find someone else at fault.

I agree on the bankruptcy advise from CowboyJD. Wait until they are jumping on you with all fours before you declare. Try to get all your medical needs taken care of someway first.[/QUOTE}
My wreck was in march. I am not going to file bankruptcy unless I absolutely have to.

[bremmel]

If you have any further medical trouble related to this accident (say your knee starts acting up, and you need surgery) try to switch your care over to OU Medical Center. They are used to getting stiffed on the check.
Well that is where I had my surgery but I was medflighted to Integris. Just those two are around 70,000. I think my OU medical is 40,000 or so.

[bigbadbob]

Listen, I don't know what kind of job you have, but 100K is going to eat you up with interest, attorney fees and court costs added on if you start getting sued.

If you have a decent job paying pretty well, and you feel that you morally owe the money, you need to start cutting back on everything, and I mean everything. Think Ramen for the next 5 years, hoopty car, etc... Then start a debt snowball like Ramsey talks about. Pay minimum payments on everything except you rlowest bill-pay that off as fast as you can. Then start with the next smallest until you get to the last one. Its going to take a while. You are going to have to negotiate some (realize three things about negotiating with creditors-first, even if they orally agree to take a smaller amount, i have heard of isntances where they say it was never really agreed to. Second, if the amount of the debt is due and owing, you have no reason to believe it is inaccurate, then they are under no obligation to accept any amount of money under the full payment if they don't want. and third, if they take less money, you rcredit is ruined almost as bad as a bankruptcy.

Now, if you don't have a really good job, then bankruptcy is going to be your best bet. Take JD's advice and make sure you are done with the doctor and aren't accumulating further debt. Don't go on any trips to cancun. Don't make any large credit purchases (car, house, etc...) Under the new BNK laws, you will have to pass a means test (determined by your income, among other things) to even see if you can file a chapter.

Take whoever elses advice on who you hire for your attorney. While BNK lawyers are not necessarily, as a whole, at the bottom of the food chain, there are some BNK mills out there where a secretary will do most of the work.

The thing about lawyers is that just like every other profession, there are bad ones out there. What I have seen is that people take advice from their friends who they should hire, regardless if that is what the lawyer did for them, assuming all lawyers do every kind of work. If you talk to a lawyer you know and trust, and ask for a referrral, other lawyers usually know who the good lawyers in a field are. For example-I don't do complicated tax cases, but I know the two lawyers in town who are very good at it.

If it was me, and my debt was that much, I would be retaining an attorney very quickly and making plans to file, unless I had a job paying 60K+ a year. 100K+ is a lot of freaking money.

[bremmel]

Listen, I don't know what kind of job you have, but 100K is going to eat you up with interest, attorney fees and court costs added on if you start getting sued.

If you have a decent job paying pretty well, and you feel that you morally owe the money, you need to start cutting back on everything, and I mean everything. Think Ramen for the next 5 years, hoopty car, etc... Then start a debt snowball like Ramsey talks about. Pay minimum payments on everything except you rlowest bill-pay that off as fast as you can. Then start with the next smallest until you get to the last one. Its going to take a while. You are going to have to negotiate some (realize three things about negotiating with creditors-first, even if they orally agree to take a smaller amount, i have heard of isntances where they say it was never really agreed to. Second, if the amount of the debt is due and owing, you have no reason to believe it is inaccurate, then they are under no obligation to accept any amount of money under the full payment if they don't want. and third, if they take less money, you rcredit is ruined almost as bad as a bankruptcy.

Now, if you don't have a really good job, then bankruptcy is going to be your best bet. Take JD's advice and make sure you are done with the doctor and aren't accumulating further debt. Don't go on any trips to cancun. Don't make any large credit purchases (car, house, etc...) Under the new BNK laws, you will have to pass a means test (determined by your income, among other things) to even see if you can file a chapter.

Take whoever elses advice on who you hire for your attorney. While BNK lawyers are not necessarily, as a whole, at the bottom of the food chain, there are some BNK mills out there where a secretary will do most of the work.

The thing about lawyers is that just like every other profession, there are bad ones out there. What I have seen is that people take advice from their friends who they should hire, regardless if that is what the lawyer did for them, assuming all lawyers do every kind of work. If you talk to a lawyer you know and trust, and ask for a referrral, other lawyers usually know who the good lawyers in a field are. For example-I don't do complicated tax cases, but I know the two lawyers in town who are very good at it.

If it was me, and my debt was that much, I would be retaining an attorney very quickly and making plans to file, unless I had a job paying 60K+ a year. 100K+ is a lot of freaking money.

I currently don't even have a job. I am mostly healed don't have a lot of my strentgh and stamina back yet. I broke my Radius bone in my forearm and my whole wrist was out of place. My wrist is still messed up they believe I have liagament damage but I can't afford to get it checked out. I can't pickup anything that weighs much more than ten pounds with it. So I really can't work any manual labor jobs.

The job I was working was as a gate guard where I got payed well. But I was basically like contract labor so that job is know longer there for me.

I filled out Charity papers with OU and Integris. Haven't heard anything from them in a while about that.

I don't know what I am going to do. Someone told me that I should look in to Title something but he couldn't remember what number it was. So I believe I will look through the internet to figure out what he was even talking about.