my middle class squeeze courtesy of BUSH But does he care???

[greenbriar]

Okay.

My husband had to go to mayo clinic for what should have been throat reconstruction surgery. His throat collapses when he breathes out. We spent 8 days at mayo and they opted not to do the surgery (I think because he didn't have good enough insurance) They gave him a C-pap machine and some medicine. So we get home, our insurance pays not even half. We are stuck with a bill of over 7,000 after insurance and on top of that the insurance sent a bill saying they paid 600 too much and could we please send that back to them. HA

NOw mayo says the 200 dollars we send them is not enough they want 475 a month. yea right

I need to go back to college to obtain enough hours to update my teaching license but I can't afford it and we both have too many days off because his throat STILL closes

Yesterday I was THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS close to just taking all 15 darvocet pills and just going to sleep forever.

Bush doesn't know how his crap affects the middle class nor does he care

[greenbriar]

1. we don't have credit cards

and not enough equity in our house yet.

sheesh

[elehhhhna]

2. greenb--talk to a bankruptcy attorney, better yet,

surf your state BK law faq's on google. Honey, you can make the bills go away, but you don't have long. STOP paying and put the $ into your license and a BK filing, fast. You may have been this close to gulping the darvo's (consider pro help, if necessary) but you are also THAT close to a MUCH better solution.

[greenbriar]

15. We don't have enough

bills that qualify for bankruptcy.

Studnet loans don't count

[AP]

3. Call your congressperson and go to the press.

[greenbriar]

11. and say what?

I didn't run away,

I don't have a feeding tube,

I am no one special, just a teacher trying to keep her family together

[AP]

16. That's it's ridiculous that this situation exists and that the government

allows it to continue and that any member of congress who doesn't put the concerns of middle class people like you ahead of the interests of the health care industry ought to be voted out of office and replaced with someone who does care.

[greenbriar]

17. I agree

but the sheeple and dittoheads don't see it until it affects them.

[Jo March]

4. greenbriar, listen to me, please

I read this and one line jumped out, "Yesterday I was THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS close to just taking all 15 darvocet pills and just going to sleep forever."

Please, please, please do not do that or anything like that. I know that you are hurting and in a bad position. I have been where you are.

Please do this: STOP PAYING THE BILLS. Yep, stop paying them. Sock your money away and go file for bankruptcy (if you have enough debt to qualify.)

Turn on your answering machine and screen the calls. Don't talk to bill collectors right now. Save your money. Stick it under the damn mattress if you have to in order to be able to keep it.

I went through this when I got divorced. Ex didn't pay for squat. I was over $100K in debt. I just quit paying. I lost the house and my car but was able to have some CASH on hand to move and start over. My credit was horrible for a while but I got through it. I paid a lot of the stuff off later when I was able to do so.

Please DO NOT KILL YOURSELF (literally or figuratively) TO PAY THESE BILLS!!!

[elehhhhna]

6. YEs, yes, yes! Stop paying NOW.

[Jo March]

12. We're not saying be deadbeats but if you just can't pay, don't

I'm serious. You need to make sure that you can eat and get your teaching credits.

Oh, I am praying so hard for you!!

:hug: and blessings O8) to you!!

[greenbriar]

19. Thank you

.

[tom_paine]

18. Yes, Greenbriar, please do not kill yourself

I recognize you were likely speaking figuratively (at least I pray you were)

but if not, please hang in there.

And listen to Arnheim. Sock whatever cash you have away now while you can.

(you also might want to consider socking the money someplace where there are no records of it, and check with a Bankruptcy Lawyer about what the new Evil Bushevik Law changes and what your options are under the new Evil Bushevik Law)

But stay with us. You are not alone.

tom

[Jo March]

21. I recommend the mattress, tin cans in the back yard, etc.

Sock that money away so that you don't have to account for it.

Tom, you are dead-on when you say, "new Evil Bushevik Law."

[xchrom]

5. damn greenbriar -- that is really tough.

i feel for you -- others here are wiser than me about what to do -- but man, i'm sending good thoughts your way.

p.s. i've been in the same place with med bills.
it soo crazy making.

[Straight Shooter]

7. Write Mayo a courteous but firm letter and tell them "a deal is a deal"

They agreed to $200, that's the deal, they have to live with it. They do not need your $475 a month. They're just hoping you cave to pressure.

If the insurance made a mistake and paid $600 too much, too bad. They're not the IRS.

For both of the above situations, just keep writing letters, once a month. String it along. It's amazing how long you can keep creditors at bay just by writing reasonable, considerate letters but sticking to your guns.

Bankruptcy is probably not the answer, because you are THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS close to going back to college to update your license.

I don't know where you live, but a significant number of people where I live obtain grants for whatever skill they may have (lots of artists, writers, what-have-you), and that's what they survive on.

Best of luck. You have my total sympathy here. It's stories like yours that make me really really want to win the lottery big-time, so I could offer something other than words.

:hug:

[Palacsinta]

8. Oh, my dear, I understand............

I'd like to sleep for a while, too......not forever.........but, it does cross one's mind every once in a while.....My family is getting into dire straits, too. My daughter's bi-polar disorder is sapping her family of it's resources and now we are heavily into helping her out. We have to. Her medical bills are staggering and this is WITH "good" insurance. We are close to retirement age, but it is not going to be possible. Her medical care has deteriorated significantly over the past three years. Less, good consistent care, more runarounds, higher bills, longer waits etc. etc. etc.

I didn't give you any support, did I? sorry. I'll be thinking of you. sigh.

[greenbriar]

9. Thanks, its okay

If I win the lottery, I will pay off my bills and help others.


It is up to us to help each other because no one else will

[Palacsinta]

10. Yeah, you're right........

Conditions are starting to very, very slowly resemble what we see in hospitals rooms of third world countries. Entire extended families are necessary to care and provide for the sick member. One relative would be cooking something on a little hibachi thing; the grandma would be caring for the kids , the aunts and uncles would be lifting and toting; the poor patient would be moaning, the husband would be railing against the poor care.........

Welcome to Bush's America...and what is that POS working on...... SOCIAL SECURITY?

Once AGAIN......A RANT!! Yes, I hope I can help someone else out one day, too. I feel guilty that I can't send any money Andy's way. Maybe someday.

[seabeyond]

13. this is what i am saying. even the insured is not ok

yes. and i have had odd issues of late. me, and each boy. and they do all this stuff, cost high, and then hospital shrugs, dont know. then, thousands out for a dont know

but thru a cat, heart xray, and sonogram of organs, i know they all look good.

fuck

and i am sorry for you. i am right there with you, insured and being fucked

[greenbriar]

14. you got that right

Insured and being screwed.

[greenbriar]

20. UPDATE

Talked with Mayo today

they said if I could get the bill down to 3000 then they would be happy with the 200 monthly. Like I have 3500 in my back pocket

I said thanks I would see what I could do...


sigh....


like I have it in my back pocket. ARe these people even real, do they not have bills

[Jo March]

22. At least they are willing to work with you - now, the $3500

Are they completely unwilling to budge on that? Why $3000? I mean, what's so magical about 3000?

I wish you luck. Try to pay as much as you can afford BUT -

- still bury some money for you. I'm serious. Sock some funds away.

Pay $10 a week to Mayo and with every single check that you send them write that you are doing your best to pay, can't afford the payments, blah, blah, blah. Make sure that you say that you are trying to work with them.

If this ever goes to court or if you get someone else at Mayo to talk to you, it will show that you tried to pay the bill.

I've had to fight this battle before after my divorce. I sent what I could and wrote letters explaining how poor I was but that I was "trying my best to pay the debt" blah, blah, blah.

I'd continue to talk to the Accounts Receivable folks. Got to supervisors and the supervisors' supervisors. Keep trying. Stay in touch with them if you have to but do it IN WRITING.

[Yupster]

23. Are you a former teacher?

If so, there is a financial hardship exception to taking money out of your 403(b) account early without penalty.

Medical bills should qualify for the exception.

[Stephanie]

24. This is the exact same thread that you posted in GD Politics?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1760183

I was confused for a minute.

[ultraist]

26. Thanks for clarifying that!

I was confused too when I saw the same thread here that I had posted on in Politics GD!

As I basically stated on the other thread, this situation is tough and I feel for the OP, but I think she can get through it! :hug:

So many more people are feeling the squeeze, thanks to Bush. 1.5 MILLION more people feel into poverty last year alone, increasing our poverty rate to around 13%. 45 MILLION people are without health insurance. That is shameful.

[paparush]

25. Mortgage Marches

I was reading some Science Fiction recently. One story described an economic collapse in the country that resulted in hundreds of thousands of Americans defaulting on their mortgages. I can see something like this happening to us today. ('course, in the story, the repug govt planted soldiers in the march who started shooting, which resulted in a massacre, which the repugs adroitly blamed on 'radical elements')