Can you go to jail for unpaid medical bills?

Can you go to jail for unpaid medical bills?

Wait I found something Kasey.

Are Debtor Prisons Returning To America?

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Hospitals hound uninsured patients for bill payments and now rank among America’s most aggressive debt-collectors using one of the harshest and least-known collections tactics of all: seeking the arrest of no-show debtors. We speak with Jim Bean who was jailed in Illinois in part because he failed to pay a hospital bill and we hear from the CFO of the hospital that sought his arrest as well as a member of a grass roots citizen action organization in Illinois.

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Maybe they're getting him for lying to a judge or something like that but as far as I know they can't arrest you for debts. No debtors prisons in the United States unless the court twists it about like it sounds happened in this case.

Sounds like he should at least try to get a Legal Aid attorney if he can't get a PD.

I owed the hospital $72,000 for a stroke and they wrote it off before they even presented the bill ... most hospitals have donors who will back these debts but the person has to apply for them and NOT promise to pay them and show they have no means to pay. If you're up front with them they will find a program that will take care of it for you. The hospital's main intention is to get paid but they usually need the patient's co-operation and perhaps the signing of a few documents to cover the hospital. The judge probably knew this and was upset that the proper channels had not been followed so he came down hard perhaps not knowing that your relative did not know that alternatives were available. Oftentimes the hospital will not volunteer the info unless asked since that could cause a run on the donors generosity and the hospital may fear the loss of some donors if that occurs.

I think the only step at this point is to bring in a public defender or contact Legal Aid in your area. They're not easy to find but if you contact your local county health clinic they should have a number for Legal Aid or be able to steer you to someone who does. The charities will all have the numbers too. Catholic Charities can often recommend a Legal Aid attorney.

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Dartagnon

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RE:

Can you go to jail for unpaid medical bills?

My dad's first cousin, who I will call John, and his wife are asking my parents for money to bail John out of jail. John accrued a $1300 hospital bill last year. He went to court and was ordered to pay. To my understanding he said in court that he would use his tax refund this year to pay...

my guess is that the bail money would disappear and never be repaid.

maybe the court is irritated that John received a court order and did not comply after promising to do so. that is called contempt of court and you can be jailed for it. in my area, that rarely lasts more than 30 days and is usually 7 days.

you don't file bankruptcy over 1300 dollars. the lawyer alone will probably want 700 or more.

like everyone else in this situation, John should imp along after he gets out of jail, take any work he can find, and try to make a deal with his creditors.

I agree with everyone else about not going to jail for owed money.

Tell your parents to have john send them a copy of the court order that says he must pay with his income tax refund or go to jail. Actually, it would be on public record and they could go to the court house and find out for themselves, but that would be a pain. But, if they have the time and inclination, it's there for anyone to look at.

It's seems more likely John was arrested for something else, and like everyone else said, your parents will probably never see the money again. A good rule of thumb when lending money - don't lend it unless you don't care about getting it back.

Something about this is just not right. Even if you get sued & ordered to pay the money they can't throw you in jail if you don't. If that were true O.J. would have been in jail years ago because he refused to pay the Brown's the settlement they won. That's the thing about a civil suit, they can get a judgment against you but getting the money if you refuse or can't pay is almost impossible.

There is no debtors prison unless it involves the IRS! LOL!

Blessings!

We have no debtors prisons in America. However, he may have been found in contempt of court. There would be no bail on a contempt charge, the Judge makes him go to jail and that's it, until he repents.

There's still something wrong with this story though. I suggest if they decide to pay the bill, they just pay it directly (don't give cousin the money) and call it a gift, never expecting to be paid back.

No, you can't go to jail for owing a debt!

So, he was NOT arrested for owing money.

They can call the hospital and work out some kind of arrangement-- even if you pay $ 5 every month..

This guy is not telling you the whole truth , because you don't get arrested for owing money!!

As others have said, you cannot be incarcerated for debt.

However, you CAN be incarcerated for Contempt of Court.

If there was only a court ruling that he owed the debt, then it would be up to the creditor to collect the debt. However, for whatever reason... perhaps evidence during the lawsuit indicated that the defendant would not pay, no matter the ruling, or perhaps it was a followup lawsuit that the defendant didn't pay... whatever the reason, the judge specifically ordered the defendant to pay upon certain terms. The defendant failed to follow the court order.

He has been jailed for contempt of court. His bail will be an amount that is a minimum portion of his debt. He needs to pay that, just to get out of jail. He's also going to have to continue paying the debt, or face being arrested again for contempt of court, again needing bail to get out which, of course, will be another portion of the debt owed.

It's a fine point, but the law IS a surgical series of fine points, not just a general broadaxe.