How long can they do this?

[longsally111]

What is the name of your state? South carolina

Here is a brain teaser of a question. If you owe a hospital bill and they garnish state taxes for the bills, after what amount of time in this state can they not do it? In other words, when the debt becomes 8 years old, ca they still take taxesin this state?

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by longsally111

What is the name of your state? South carolina

Here is a brain teaser of a question. If you owe a hospital bill and they garnish state taxes for the bills, after what amount of time in this state can they not do it? In other words, when the debt becomes 8 years old, ca they still take taxesin this state?

Yup. A judgment has a 10 year SOL.

DC

[longsally111]

hey DC,

NO JUDGEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The hospital simply garnishes wages in this state, no court, no judgement!!!!!!! Now what do you thihk?

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by longsally111

hey DC,

NO JUDGEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The hospital simply garnishes wages in this state, no court, no judgement!!!!!!! Now what do you thihk?

I'd talk to a lawyer.

DC

[longsally111]

ok, mistyped. They do not garnish wages, they take your state taxes here. No judgement, they just file that you owe them and they take it, no questions asked and NO JUDGEMENT

[debtcollector`]

I know there is a lot more to this story than your told. So, my advice stands -- talk to a lawyer.

DC

[longsally111]

DC, I work for a hospital, remember? There really isnt any more to the story than that. People in this state ( south Carolina) who go to GMH and dont pay have their state tax's garnished. There is no judgement involved. They simply file with the state that you owe them medical bills. My question was: how long can they do that? How long in this state can you collect on a medical bill?

[VeronicaLodge]

my guess is until the amount due is paid off

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by longsally111

ok, mistyped. They do not garnish wages, they take your state taxes here. No judgement, they just file that you owe them and they take it, no questions asked and NO JUDGEMENT

Sorry.

I do not believe you.

Cite me the statute.

[longsally111]

cite you what statute? I dont know any statute, that is why I am asking. I am telling you that if you owe money in this state to a hospital, they turn it into the state and take your taxes!!! They do not get judgements!!!1 That is what I am trying to figure out. How to stop it, how to fix it, to find out if they are allowed to collect on menies due from 2000 in this fashion.

[Ladynred]

Unfortunately, it's true. The SC statutes DO allow this sort of thing for medical bills. Thank God my stay at GMH 10 years ago was almost totally paid thru my health insurance and what was left was easily paid by me.

I've seen the relevant statute, I'll have to go dig it up. I know that SC is not the only state that does this either.

Ok, I believe this is it - unannotated code and there may be updates to this:

Title 12. TAXATION
Chapter 56. SETOFF DEBT COLLECTION ACT
[url]http://www.scstatehouse.net/cgi-bin/query.exe?first=DOC&querytext=tax%20refunds&category=Code&conid=3835826&result_pos=0&keyval=239[/url]

and then this comes into play for children under Medicaid: SECTION 20-7-1240. Withholding of income or tax refunds to reimburse Medicaid expenditures on behalf of child; priority. [SC ST SEC 20-7-1240]

Found MORE - more details here: [url]http://www.sccounties.org/services/setoff-debt-collection.htm[/url]

South Carolina counties are collecting delinquent emergency medical services debts, magistrate and family court fines, hospital debts, as well as other fees owed to the counties through SCAC=s Setoff Debt Collection Program. The Association has been assisting the counties with collecting these debts since 1992 under provisions of Title 12, Chapter 56, of the S.C. Code of Laws.

SCAC now has 81 counties, hospitals, and special purpose districts submitting debts totaling almost $325 million. Those debts are matched against individual income tax refunds and returned to the claimant agencies. To date this year, more than $26 million has been returned to the counties as a result of this program.

[longsally111]

lady, my question is this.....is it like a judgement with a time limit? Can they turn you in for taxes in 2000 and still try to collect on a medical bill in 2008? When does it get too old?

[Ladynred]

From what I can find, the only time limit is however long it takes to get the debt paid off. There IS a dispute process, has this been tried ?? Has GMH been contacted to find out how much is still owed ?

Per the statute, this is the verbiage required in the notice to the debtor:

"According to our records, you owe the (claimant agency) a debt in the amount of (amount of the debt), plus interest, if applicable, for (type of debt). You are hereby notified of the (claimant agency's) intention to submit this debt to the South Carolina Department of Revenue to be set off against your individual income tax refunds until the debt is paid in full. Pursuant to the Setoff Debt Collection Act, this amount, plus all costs, will be deducted from your South Carolina individual income tax refunds unless you file a written protest within thirty days of the date of this notice. If you file a joint return with your spouse, this amount will be deducted from the total joint refunds without regard to which spouse incurred the debt or actually withheld the taxes. The protest must contain the following information:

So.. no apparent time limit.

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by longsally111

What is the name of your state? South carolina

Here is a brain teaser of a question. If you owe a hospital bill and they garnish state taxes for the bills, after what amount of time in this state can they not do it? In other words, when the debt becomes 8 years old, ca they still take taxesin this state?

Okay, I looked at the cited laws.

If you owe a government agency money (for whatever reason), you can have your taxes grabbed.

That's significantly different than what the poster first said.

[longsally111]

how is that different? I said medical bills and state tax garnishment and that is EXACTLY what I meant and EXACTLY what they do!!!!!!!!! I didnt say anything different. I sorry you did not believe me