Medical bills and deportation threat.

[kehills 217]

They kept showing me the scans and making me listen to the heartbeat and such which was even more upsetting. I think they were trying to coerce me into continuing the pregnancy,

Yep. Texas is one of many states that has a forced ultrasound/heartbeat law. Any women thinking of aborting must be forced to listen to the heartbeat and be given a picture of the fetus, regardless of intent or reason for abortion. (There is also a required waiting period between this and the abortion.)

Not your imagination; they were definitely trying to coerce you.

[lizzy33 2]

Yep. Texas is one of many states that has a forced ultrasound/heartbeat law. Any women thinking of aborting must be forced to listen to the heartbeat and be given a picture of the fetus, regardless of intent or reason for abortion. (There is also a required waiting period between this and the abortion.)

Not your imagination; they were definitely trying to coerce you.

Yeah I know that if they're providing you with an abortion they have to do that, but the emergency GYN clinic WASN'T providing me with an abortion.

[kehills 217]

Yeah, "unfortunately", you made it clear you needed/wanted an abortion. So, they toed the letter of the law; this is, after all, the state that recently sued a hospital to make sure they wouldn't remove life support from a brain dead woman who was in her second trimester when she collapsed. Hospitals are terrified of lawsuits and are overreaching/over-applying the law to make sure they don't end up the next hospital in the middle of a lawsuit (especially in an election year).

:/

[Ryan H 3,834]

Three posts removed per poster's request.

[Krikit 1,165]

Additional posts derailing the thread by responding to removed posts have also been removed.

[Jawaree 718]

OP bypass them, go to the finance dept of the hospital to make payment arrangements

the bills MUST be paid and its the responsible thing to do....If they refer U back to the

collection agency inform them due to late night calls and aggravating your health you

will not deal with them , but will contact the DA in your jurisdiction about the matter

No one will deport you for this they R lying to you..I would put a tape recorder on my phone

when they call say this call is being recorded and let them talk....most of them wont believe

you R Taping

[toongirl1892 1]

That is absolutely DISGUSTING behavior on their part!!! I would do exactly what "sus" mentioned and report them to FDCPA. ARGH!!!! So angry for you.

[VOL 425]

You can't be deported for unpaid medical bills.

Texas is a one party consent state, What that means is you can record all phone calls to you and the other party does not have to be made aware of this.

If I was being threatened with deportation by some debt collector I would get there name and hire a lawyer and sue away...

[Hannah B 16]

Lizzyfjt, I feel so bad for your situation. You have been treated very poorly. The medical bills here are so outrageous. I will share a couple of my experiences with you and what I did when I didn't have health insurance for the benefit of others in similar situations.

I have lived here about 16 months. It took a while to get on my feet as I had serious marriage issues and then separated from my now ex-husband. This led to me not being able to afford health insurance immediately. Last summer, I had agonizing toothache. It was a Saturday night and I tried to hold off until Monday to see a dentist but couldn't so in the early hours of the Sunday morning I went to the ER to request a pain killer to see me over until Monday. I was in and out of the hospital in about 5 minutes. The dr. didn't examine me since he wasn't a dentist. He simply signed the prescription. I purchased the prescription for about $25. I then received multiple bills for my ER visit totaling around $1,000 split between the hospital bill and physicians bill. I thought this was crazy and totally disproportionate to the treatment I required, a signature for a prescription. The physicians bill was the largest and I disputed the bill with them, wrote them several letters but they didn't respond. They then turned me over to the collection agency. I paid the bill in the end because I was worried about the effect it would have on building credit.

In March this year I broke my ankle. Another trip to the ER. I sat and waited for about 6 hours to be seen then I was put in the hallway. A doctor asked me what the problem was and I said I think I broke my ankle. He said he would order an xray. The xray was done. Then the doctor returned and said my ankle was broken and the nurse would wrap it in a splint and I should make an appointment in a week to see an orthopaedic dr to have a cast put on. The nurse put my leg in a splint. The medical bills for this totaled around $3000. For the hospital bill when I received it I called the hospital and asked if they had any discounts they could use on the bill if I paid promptly and because I didn't have health insurance. They worked with me and reduced the bill by about 55%. When I received the dr's bill it had a $300 charge for putting on the splint. This made me really mad because the dr. didn't even put the splint on. I contacted the dr.'s billing center and told them the hospital had worked with me and they agreed to apply the same discounts if I sent them a copy of the hospital bill showing the discounts that were applied. In my letter I also disputed the charge relating to the application of the splint. They also gave me a 55% discount but didn't remove the splint charge. I paid it so get the whole ordeal over with. Another thing to point out that surprised me was the multiple bills I received, one from the hospital, one from a company who performed the xray, one from a company who provided the medical supplied, crutches etc. and one from the physician. It was very stressful as I didn't know when the bills would end.

I then got a pay rise in my job and applied for health insurance through Obamacare. I was able to get a $100 credit by going through the marketplace on any plan I chose. Luckily I haven't had to use it but having had two trips to the ER in the last 12 months it is added security. One thing to be aware of though with health insurance is the difference between "in network" and "out of network". My colleague at work (a USC) had comprehensive health insurance, her family pay over $1,000 per month for their plan. She had an operation which she thought would be covered by her health insurance (minus the deductible) and several weeks after the surgery she received a bill of $8000 for a monitoring service who monitored her during the surgery and were considered out of network so her health insurance won't cover it. She is also disputing it.

It is a minefield out there and if a medical problem happens to you it is very stressful.

Lizzyfjt I hope you are able to find a resolution. The medical bills if they don't get paid can have a negative effect on your credit but it has nothing to do with immigration and they cannot threaten deportation on you.

[Ari25 0]

So, if the person is taken to court but doesn´t have money to pay the bill because she's not currently working, what's next? Just curious...

[belinda63 3,052]

They can get a judgment against you to place a lien on your property (with some property being exempt) take a portion of your wages, take money in your bank account. Each state has a statue of limitation for how long they have to file the court action and how long the judgment (if obtained) is enforceable for. For example, a judgment in Kentucky is good for 15 years after the date of the Order.

A judgment can be discharged by Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

[Ari25 0]

Belinda, if she doesn´t have a job, would that portion be taken from her husband's wages?

Edited July 17, 2014 by Ari25

[belinda63 3,052]

No but it could be taken from joint bank accounts and/or joint assets.