Medical Bills Bankruptcy
It is said that as many as fifty percent 50% of the bankruptcy cases filed in the United States are due to medical bills. Many times clients lack medical insurance or they have high deductibles, which causes them to file what is known as a medical bankruptcy or medical bills bankruptcy.
Fortunately if you have a significant amount of medical bills, which you are unable to pay, more likely than not the medical bills can be wiped out, or, to use the legal jargon, discharged in a medical bankruptcy filing. Medical bills are considered to be general unsecured debt and this debt can be discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.
If you are filing for medical bills bankruptcy, you must include all of your creditors in the medical bankruptcy case. Moreover, if you are expecting to incur more medical bills, it is best to wait to file your bankruptcy so that you will not be left with any medical bills following the closure of your medical bankruptcy case.
It is especially important that you have a significant amount of debt before you file a Chapter 7 medical bankruptcy case. It is usually recommended that a single person have $15,000 to $20,000 in debt if you are considering filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. The reason for this is that a person is only eligible for a Chapter 7 discharge every eight (8) years.
Therefore, because a person may only discharge debt every eight (8) years, it is recommended that the discharge is not exercised for an insignificant amount of debt. Most medical bankruptcy attorneys will counsel a client against filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy if the debt is less that $15,000 for a single individual.
More specifically, medical bankruptcy lawyers generally will point out to the client that the discharge should be used sparingly based on the client’s circumstances. Depending upon the client’s health and whether the client has health insurance, it may be better to wait to see if the client develops significant medical bills which may need to be discharged in a medical bill bankruptcy case at a later date.
Many times clients are being garnished for a past due medical bill and simply are unable to make a payment arrangement with the medical provider that the client can afford. This is a typical scenario which forces a client to file a medical bankruptcy case in order to stop the garnishment and eliminate the judgment. If a medical provider has obtained a judgment against you for past due medical bills, it is possible to legally wipe out the judgment in a medical bills bankruptcy case.
If you have no health insurance and are in poor health and expect to incur a significant amount of medical bills, you may want to consider filing a medical bankruptcy at a later date when the health issue has been resolved, or, at least when you know how the future medical bills will be paid.
Law Offices Of Roger Ghai, P.C.
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Code.
Disclaimer: This website contains general information about various areas of bankruptcy. It is highly recommended that if you are considering bankruptcy as an option, that you seek the advice of an attorney. The information on this Website is not intended to be legal advice and viewers should consult with an attorney.
