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who is responsible for these bills???

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kidzndogz

Junior Member
We live in NJ. My grandfather had a life or death emergency at home and was unable to call 911. I called for him and an ambulance arrived and I accompanied him to the hospital and signed him in. My grandfather ultimately signed the papers agreeing to emergency surgery as he would have died within hours without it. He ended up needing several surgeries from complications and struggled on for 12 days before he lost the battle and died. In the meantime my grandmother (legal wife) refused to sign any papers at the hospital as she felt unable to make decisions. She signed papers giving my father (their only child) power of attorney. That was the first day. Since then, my dad gave all written and verbal consent for procedures. My grandparents do not believe in doctors as per their faith. Therefore, they had no health insurance, save Medicare plan A which came automatically when they turned 62. Plan A covered the bills of hospital nurses, the room in the hospital, medicines, food and the dialysis. The physicians bills and the ambulance bill are not covered. My grandfather had many more medical personnel on his "team" than we knew at the time. His bills are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and are unpaid through Medicare plan A. My brother and father applied for charity care at the hospital but got denied because the hospital had to take into consideration my grandfather's income (he worked part time and got a pension and social security) even though he is no longer living. The part time job money is no longer coming in and the pension ended when he died. My grandmother is not able to work and is receiving only her social security now. She sold 2 of their 3 junky cars to get some money and even had a yard sale. She got her household bills down as much as possible by cancelling the cable, etc. My brother has called all the physicians about this and most of them have lowered their bills substantially which we are grateful for. My grandparents did not own their home. Only a car now. My question is this: My grandmother cannot afford to pay these bills. She can barely pay her rent on the social security she gets. That does not include her food and other household bills like heating and water. If she cannot pay my grandfather's bills, is she legally responsible as she never signed any papers in the hospital? Or is my dad responsible since he accepted power of attorney? My father also does not own his home. If my grandmother and my father have no way to pay the bills, will the collectors come after my brother and I who DO own our homes since we were the ones who signed my grandfather into the hospital?? Thanks in advance.
 


kidzndogz

Junior Member
Ps

NJ
I forgot to add that the hospital said that grandfather would have been 100% covered had he been treated at a Veterans Hospital since he was a veteran. The problem is that the nearest veterans hospital is in DE which is several hours away. They said he never would have made it there on time. And he never stabilized enough to move him. Please offer advice.
 

somarco

Member
What kind of POA was executed? A health care POA allowing your father to direct the care your grandfather received? Was a durable POA involved as well?
 

JETX

Senior Member
kidzndogz said:
If she cannot pay my grandfather's bills, is she legally responsible as she never signed any papers in the hospital? Or is my dad responsible since he accepted power of attorney? My father also does not own his home. If my grandmother and my father have no way to pay the bills, will the collectors come after my brother and I who DO own our homes since we were the ones who signed my grandfather into the hospital??
No one can answer your questions without reading ALL the documents to see who, if anyone, took the role of payer or guarantor to pay.
READ all of them.... the answer is there.
And if you can't read them.... I suggest you take them to a local attorney who, for a fee, will read them for you.
 

kidzndogz

Junior Member
OK, thank you for the replies. My father signed a paper handed to him by the operating physician right after the first surgery that my grandfather signed for himself. That was the only paper he signed except a DNR the last day when it became apparent that my grandfather was shutting down. Again, thank you for the advice.
 

JETX

Senior Member
From your original post:
"My grandfather ultimately signed the papers agreeing to emergency surgery"
"my dad gave all written and verbal consent for procedures."
ALL of those documents need to be reviewed to see if they contain a promise or obligation to pay.

As for your other questions:
If she cannot pay my grandfather's bills, is she legally responsible as she never signed any papers in the hospital?
No. If she didn't sign anything, she is not liable for the bills (your state is NOT a community property estate).

Or is my dad responsible since he accepted power of attorney?
Unlikely.... however, it depends on EXACTLY what the POA says. Read the documents.

If my grandmother and my father have no way to pay the bills, will the collectors come after my brother and I who DO own our homes since we were the ones who signed my grandfather into the hospital??
Depends on EXACTLY what you mean by 'signed my grandfather into the hospital'. Read the documents.

Re-read my ORIGINAL advice in this thread.
 

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