Corporate Bankruptcy Burdens Workers With Medical Bills

February 25th, 2009 by Reed Allmand

There’s a very interesting article in the Rapid City Journal, which may serve as a sign of things to come. The article features the story of a family that is strapped with over $100,000 in medical bills because their employer went bankrupt.

Jennifer Roberts was facing a cancer diagnosis; but since she and her husband were paying their medical insurance premiums they believed that the cancer treatment would be covered. But just to be on the safe side they checked with their employer who was in bankruptcy and with the health provider, who both gave the green light and assured Jennifer and her husband that the medical procedures would be covered. They were wrong and ended up with over $100,000 in unpaid medical bills after they company they worked for failed to pay for their group health insurance.

Now the Roberts family is facing a huge medical bill and has no way to recover the damages from their bankrupt former employer. But what’s interesting is that this couple is actually attempting to pay this huge debt without the help of bankruptcy.

The article said:

So for the employees struggling with unpaid medical bills, there’s no hope unless health care providers are willing to cut some payment deals with their former patients. It’s the only options the Pope & Talbot employees have left.

Rather than file as a creditor in the bankruptcy courts, the Eye Institute opted to work with patients on payment plans instead, Anderson said. She said the Eye Institute gives patients time to get their bills paid off. “It’s not like we expect them to pay it off in six or 12 months.”

There is help for employees struggling with unpaid medical bills–bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is not just designed to protect corporate assets; it is also designed for these types of situations where ordinary people are faced with extraordinary debt through no fault of their own. This couple needs to be very cautious about signing any agreements to repay this debt with the medical providers. Debtors facing huge medical bills need to ask themselves—can this debt be repaid within a reasonable amount of time under the repayment plan being offered by the creditor? Or, would bankruptcy offer more favorable terms? If you’re facing unplanned and very large medical bills contact a Dallas-Fort Worth bankruptcy attorney today to discover your options for repaying or discharging those medical bills in bankruptcy.