     Dawn Casteel (Dawn) | Tuesday, August 22, 2000 - 07:38 am 
Help..I had a child when I was 15. The hospital says that since I had a child I was an adult and pay the $20,000 in bills...I thought that a minor didn't or shouldn't have to pay them. What can I do about it. |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Tuesday, August 22, 2000 - 01:27 pm
Wow! I've never heard that at the moment of giving birth a teenager becomes an adult. I doubt this is true, and if it was, it would certainly increase the teenage pregnancy rates.
I'd really like to know who said that, (name/title/fax) to get some details on the law.
Dispute any collection efforts and related negative credit data in writing via certified mail.
And please post again if they continue their collection efforts and/or negative credit reporting. |
| Dawn Casteel (Dawn) | Thursday, August 24, 2000 - 03:57 am
The person who said it was a collector in San Diego CA. The hospital when I called them also said that too me. I'm waiting for my CR to get here to try and dispute them once again |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Thursday, August 24, 2000 - 02:01 pm
Did you state in your dispute to the credit bureaus that you were only 15?
If you got a name and phone/fax # for anyone stating that a 15 year old is legally liable to pay hospital bills, I'd like to personally verify this. |
| Don Semler (Dsemler) | Friday, August 25, 2000 - 06:33 pm
Contact your state welfare department. Most states have money or programs to help with this.
Also, there is no way you could be considered an adult. If anything they could try and bill your parents, unless you are an emancipated minor.
Assuming your state laws are like most, and I'm guessing your in CA, the hospital can't even enter into a contract with you for services.
I would fight this and first tell the collector never to contact you again. Work with the hospital, they may also know of state programs. |
| Dawn Casteel (Dawn) | Wednesday, August 30, 2000 - 03:50 pm
I'm just waiting on my credit report to go ahead and try to dispute them again....once I receive that I will be happy to post the phone numbers and the names of the collection agencies. |
| Scott (Scott) | Wednesday, August 30, 2000 - 05:43 pm
Send the Collection agencies a C&D - tell the hospital to try to get a judgement - that should be funny. Send the CRA's a copy of your birth certificate - if they don't remove the entries, get a lawyer and SUE THEM. They deserve it, the blood sucking leeches that they are. |
| Shylock (Shylock) | Thursday, August 31, 2000 - 04:13 am
Yeah those BLOOD-SUCKING LEECHES that provided her with medical care on the birth of her child. They're just EVIL I tell you for hoping to get paid.
How DARE those doctors expect to be compensated for having spent years in school and then having spent hours helping her deliver a child. What we need are regulations that FORCE doctors to provide everyone with free medical care for MINIMUM WAGE. That's the only way to stop the GOUGING of the medical system.
That's why I'm voting for RALPH NADER in the next election. He's the only presidential candidate that's pro-consumer. |
| Scott (Scott) | Thursday, August 31, 2000 - 09:32 am
Shylock, perhaps you should bother to FIND OUT something about how health care works in this country before sounding like such a POMPUS ASS!
#1: Doctors are paid SEPARATELY from hospitals. Most of them do their own billing, and are not compensated how you seem to think.
#2: Most hospitals ARE blood sucking leeches - I know, I worked in health care for TEN YEARS - what have you done? Most big HMO's would kill your grandmother to save a NICKEL.
#3: The medical system DOES gouge people: Have you ever seen what one tylenol 325mg tablet costs medicare?
#4: She's a MINOR - she is therefor LEGALLY NOT RESPONSIBLE for the debt - PERIOD!
Please reverse your rectal-cranial inversion before posting next time! |
| Dawn Casteel (Dawn) | Thursday, August 31, 2000 - 11:15 am
Hey all I just got my credit report from Equifax. Not only did they have my birthdate wrong but the collections are still on there. The first 3 collections are from Pacific Coast Collections. (619)560-6000 one for $150 second for $972 and third for $225 the next collection is to The Fallon Agency (619)874-2000 saying that it's paid but it's still on my report and I never paid it. the next is for Consolidated Recovery Group (619)679-4777 in the amount of $102. I just disputed them online but I doubt it will do me any good I have tried to dispute them before. I also am finding stuff that I don't think is even mine. It's saying I have a CC with Credit First with a balance of $504 and I don't |
| Scott (Scott) | Thursday, August 31, 2000 - 04:39 pm
Hire a lawyer. Have him send a dispute letter on your behalf, sometimes these idiots are much more impressed by a lawyers letterhead than your hand written letter. You've done everything you're supposed to do, and the law gives you certain rights. |
| Scott (Scott) | Friday, September 01, 2000 - 09:52 am
Shylock: What's wrong, cat got your tongue? |
| Shylock (Shylock) | Friday, September 01, 2000 - 09:12 pm
Scott you dumbass I know all about the medical industry -- I work for an HMO. Now you can think all you want that we'd gut your grandmother for a nickel but the bottom line is that if it wasn't for us then thousands or millions of people won't get medical treatment at all.
Most HMOs, like the one I work for, are non-profit organizations. That means we charge as little as possible -- only enough to cover our costs.
And you can say what you want the bottom line is our 15-year old friend went in, asked for and received medical treatment. This treatment is not free. The hospital (and many of them are non-profit as well) has to pay for the rent on the building, the electricity to light it, the phones for people to call in, the equipment to do the procedures, the equipment and electricity to sterilize the equipment, etc.
And now that $20,000 worth of medical procedures have been done she isn't interested in paying... and THEY'RE the bad guys?
She doesn't want to pay -- fine. File CH7 bankruptcy but don't blame her personal problems on the hospital. As far as I know she wasn't raped so the pregnancy was something she brought upon herself. |
| Scott (Scott) | Saturday, September 02, 2000 - 11:18 am
Shylock: Are you smoking crack, or did you have to work to get this stupid??? She was a MINOR you dumbass! Go look it up! And to state that "Most HMOs, like the one I work for, are non-profit organizations." is the most LAUGHABLE thing I've heard in a LONG time! None of the big HMO's are non profit. Which one do you work for?
The bottom line is, she DOESN'T have to pay, as a minor she was INCAPABLE of entering into a contract - period. The hospital knows this, and treated her anyway instead of sending her to a county or state facility - A CHOICE they get to live with now. They may have recourse against her parents, or the father if an adult, but NOT HER!!!
Are you really this clueless? I cannot believe that Christine is tolerating this from you!!! |
| Senator (Senator) | Saturday, September 02, 2000 - 11:51 am
Shylock, i believe your comments are to provoke thoughtful discussion rather than just to exemplify neanderthal thinking. You have pushed the envelope on this one. Compassion rather than criticism and "sinners in the hands of an angry God--see Jonathan Edwards--" mentality is needed. |
| Shylock (Shylock) | Saturday, September 02, 2000 - 08:07 pm
Scott: Yeah right -- only 15 therefore 'automatically' a child. Let me ask you this: If a 15-year old kid wanted a fellow classmate's leather jacket and stabbed the classmate to death with a switchblade are you equally convinced that he would not be treated as an adult?
What makes you think that liability for health care is based on contractual obligations? Suppose that you suffer a heart attack and an ambulance is summoned to pick you up and take you to the hospital. Do you think that since the ambulance didn't get your signature on a piece of paper that they won't bill you for picking you up and that they won't refer you to collections if you refuse to pay? Do you think that the hospital won't expect payment in exchange for the medical treatment they provided you when you arrived in the hospital? |
| Dawn Casteel (Dawn) | Sunday, September 03, 2000 - 07:44 am
Well Shylock just to inform you most hospitals are just like big corporations......they don't give a shit...considering my mother signed all the paperwork for it and I don't even have the child in my custody my mother does....I think she's the one who should have to pay for it. People like you really need to grow up and read some things...considering the fact that I was a minor only 15 I should not have to pay for them. I do have some other medical bills that I will pay (actually Bellsouth should pay for them they are the ones who called an ambulance) either way they don't give a shit....and I am sure they are the ones who tried to change my birthdate on my report also...it would have been fine if it would have happened when I turned 16 and my mother hadn't been there trying to claim the child as her own....you know this a pretty sick and twisted world considering a mother can't even have her own child due to the fact it has been living with her mother..but as a minor the childs mother can not get it back because she is a minor |
| Zachary1 (Drcredit) | Sunday, September 03, 2000 - 08:54 am
---and I am sure they are the ones who tried to change my birthdate on my report also.
Doesn't THAT take the cake.
Shylock, I understand your frustration that minors refuse to take their freedom with responsibility, but the above quote and the fact that she WAS a minor kind of leaves the hospital with egg all over their face, too. They had it coming to them, then tried to cover it up with the attempted birthdate change. Two wrongs do not make a right (as my mother always used to say).
One of the advantages of the Canadian public health system is free of charge healthcare for everyone, but this is set back a bit by people taking advantage of the system for minor ailments. |
| Scott (Scott) | Sunday, September 03, 2000 - 10:48 am
Shylock: You wrote "Yeah right -- only 15 therefore 'automatically' a child."
To which the answer is YES. Find me ONE *CIVIL* case (which billing disputes are) where a 15 year old was held accountable and not the CHILDS parents.
Yes, services rendered in a hospital, even emergency care, is a contract. You ever get in the doors of one without signing something? Necessary medical care in an emergency is covered by existing laws - having a baby is not really (most of the time) emergent.
You are either a total crank, or a troll - as such I will no longer respond to your ignorant bait. I just hope the people who actually come here for help - help that the regulars here try very hard to provide despite people like you - are not mislead by you and your garbage.
I feel you owe the board an apology. |
| jonjon (Johnny) | Sunday, September 03, 2000 - 05:27 pm
I'm not sure about other parts of the country, but in my neck of the woods, most all non-private hospitals have specific individuals working at the hospital to aide and arrange some type of assistance to cover medical costs for those whom are unable to pay. If the young lady in question was a minor at the time and her parents refused to take responsibility for her bills, then I feel the responsibility of the bills rest upon both parties. The young lady should have already made arrangements with welfare or some other assistance before the child was born (she had nine months or so to do this), but knowing that she had not made any arrangements when she entered the hospital, the hospital should have recognized that the girl was only 15 years old and most very certainly would be unable to pay the bill and thus should have made some arrangements for her to get with someone who could assist her in meeting these financial obligations. I have known many people whom did not have insurance and went to the hospital for care. Once the hospital recognized they had no way to pay, they were put in contact with someone who could arrange for the bills to be paid in full through some government assistance. As for the problem at hand, I don't believe you can put a hospital bill and murder side by side in comparison. To me that is kind of like the saying " When you're 18 you are old enough to go fight for your country but you're not old enough to drink alcohol". Every situation is different and this particular one is no different.The world is not black and white. There are always alternatives. |
| Scott (Scott) | Sunday, September 03, 2000 - 07:35 pm
You wrote "If the young lady in question was a minor at the time and her parents refused to take responsibility for her bills, then I feel the responsibility of the bills rest upon both parties."
Well, fortunately we have these things called LAWS... And the LAW says, a 15 year old is not responsible for these bills - period! Black and White! No alternative! |
| jonjon (Johnny) | Monday, September 04, 2000 - 12:19 pm
I'm not sure about all the laws, and although it may sound as if I am against this young lady, I'm not. I do not think she should be responsible for paying the bills herself, it sounds as if she has enough to worry about in simply getting custody of her child. I was only implying that both she and the hospital could have made arrangements to have all costs covered and none of this hassle would have taken place. This should have been thought out before the child was born. It is situations like this that make me feel very fortunate to have medical insurance. My wife and I just had a child in January, the total costs of both hospital and doctors totaled more than six grand. The cost to me was only $14.
Fortunately, I was prepared to cover more costs if necessary, but planning ahead and talking with the insurance company, I knew that I would not burdened with heavy financial obligations if everything went OK as it did. I still feel however, that the minor even though not legally liable for the bills, should have made some type of attempt to figure out how these costs would be taken care of just as the hospital should have as well. |
| Don (Don) | Tuesday, September 05, 2000 - 08:44 am
I went through this with my step daughter. Not a pregnancy but a surgery. I cannot speak for everywhere, but I am sure other places must be similiar to NY.
What I told thier lawyer is that, She (even though an adult by this stage) is unemployed and not able to pay. I also stated that her mother who signed her is in on disability on they wouldn't see a dime of that even if they did sue her. And as a step parent, I do not even have the legal right to sign her into a hospital. And my only legal obligations are food and shelter. So take a hike.
I haven't heard a word since in two years.
Dawn,
You were not legally old enough to enter into a contract. However, although you are not responsible for this debt, that does not mean they will not come for you anyway. You need to gather all of the documention you can and prepare to fight. |
| Shylock (Shylock) | Tuesday, September 05, 2000 - 06:24 pm
I had a lovely Labor Day weekend.
Awhile ago I was walking home at night, it was dark and I was beaten up. When I woke up my wallet was gone and I was in a hospital. They kept me under observation and eventually released me.
A week after I got out I got a bill from the ambulence company. Do you mean to tell me that they picked up my unconscious body, woke me up, had me sign something and drove me to the hospital for 'contractual obligations'? Don't be stupid.
Do you think that the hospital had me sign something before they gave me treatment? Absurd. I was unconscious.
A chick who's old enough to get pregnant is old enough to pay her way in society. Don't give me any of this crap about hospitals being 'uncaring like corporations.' Corporations are just groups of people called stockholders working together to provide a product that people pay for.
There is nothing wrong with making money. If there was then all of you would be as big of criminals as anyone else because I doubt any of you work for free. I know I sure don't.
Dawn's mother signed for her. Do you think if a 17-year old volunteers for the army and his parent signs for him that when he turns 18 he can just say, "Oh I was a minor that doesn't count?" HELL NO! His legal guardian signed for him, just like Dawn's mother signed for her.
If you don't want to pay your legal obligations then you file bankruptcy. It'll probably do your credit a world of good too. That's my recommendation. |
| David Temkin (Dtemkin) | Thursday, September 07, 2000 - 09:52 am
Just as a note of record for EVERYONE:
I am 20 years old. I incurred two debts when I was 15 and 16 for various crap. I was successful in getting Experian/TU/Equifax to remove ALL references to both of those debts, by simply faxing them a copy of my birth certificate. In TU/Equifax's case, I didn't even have to open up a formal dispute - I just called, explained it, got a fax number, sent it, and two weeks later it was off my report.
They didn't ask if it was me or my parents who signed for the debt. I think it's irrelevant.
Not going to comment on the politics of everything above. Just giving Dawn some advice.
-Dave |
| Scott (Scott) | Thursday, September 07, 2000 - 06:02 pm
A voice of reason finally! Thanks Dave! |
| Dawn Casteel (Dawn) | Thursday, September 21, 2000 - 03:34 pm
Thank you Dave.....According to my mother I had Medicaid (welfare) she did not show me proof. I got to the hospital 2 hours before she did so I had to sign the papers not her...they didn't even ask for her signature knowing I was only 15. If I had known that I would have had to pay for htem I probably would have made arrangments...but I didn't have a FULL 9 months to make arrangments due to the fact I was in a girls home because of my mother not being able to take care of me...I got out only a month before the child was born. Shylock I don't know how you grew up and I honestly don't care if you work for an HMO they are more of bloodsuckers than the hospitals, I learned that working for LabCorp..wich is a laboratory for urine and blood testing..the HMO's were making Senior citizens pay for the full blood test the doctor ordered up. Now days welfare makes you pick an HMO....they charge you $12 everytime you go see the doctor...my Daughter has an HMO...AvMed actually who went from charging $5 a well visit to $10 a well visit and changing the hospital policy from $25 to $50...they went up a full 100%..talk about milchin people for money. |
