Paying hospital bill from out of country

[dragonxrider8]

My boyfriend lives in Iowa, and is looking at moving to Canada sometime in the not too distance future. He has an outstanding hospital bill still which he is slowly paying off, but we'd both like for him to come up here before it would be payed off if he continues his current payments of $200/ month, which would put it at a year. Essentially just want to know, is there a way of continuing payment from out of country? Do hospitals do billing online, or could he send them cheques from Canada? Just trying to get ideas, options, before such time as he goes in to pay next time. Any thoughts are appreciated, much thanks ^-^

 

[sandyclaus]

My boyfriend lives in Iowa, and is looking at moving to Canada sometime in the not too distance future. He has an outstanding hospital bill still which he is slowly paying off, but we'd both like for him to come up here before it would be payed off if he continues his current payments of $200/ month, which would put it at a year. Essentially just want to know, is there a way of continuing payment from out of country? Do hospitals do billing online, or could he send them cheques from Canada? Just trying to get ideas, options, before such time as he goes in to pay next time. Any thoughts are appreciated, much thanks ^-^

I'm sure that a hospital isn't going to turn down a check just because it is drawn on a bank from Canada. Just a suggestion on this, I would recommend that if he DOES send payment by mail, that he sends it using a traceable method or something with a signature required, and send it with enough lead time just to make sure that the check actually arrived at the hospital's billing department and on time for the billing cycle. The farther a letter travels, the more likely that there could be delays or mail items lost or damaged.

Some MIGHT have online billing and payment options available, so it wouldn't hurt to ask them.

 

[ecmst12]

Don't they have mail in canada?

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Keep a US based bank account. Use bill pay to pay the hospital bill each month.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Or, many times, you can pay with a Visa/ Mastercard. Pay the bill using that and pay your Visa/Mastercard in Canada.

 

[dragonxrider8]

Don't they have mail in canada?

Nope, send everything via delivery by sled dogs in the snowy areas and beavers in the non-snowy areas, didn't you know?
But really.. that's why I said "send them cheques".. does that not mean mail to you? That's the only way i know of "sending" things that far..

Thanks to everyone else for their meaningful advice, it's kind of what I figured already, but it's good to get some reassuring thoughts, having health care in Canada, I've never had to pay a hospital bill like that, I have no idea how they take payments, but really, I figure as long as they get their money, they're not going to be terribly picky about how they get it..

 

[cbg]

I just had to respond to the above post. When I moved from Canada to the US, there were dozens of neighborhood kids piled around the moving van, curious about whether or not it had been snowing when the van left Canada. The moving men, who all had a sense of humor, assured them that yes, there were six feet of snow in the streets and it was coming down in torrents, and as soon as they hit the US border, the snow disappeared.

The date was June 19. My southern Ontario town is further south than a good portion of the US.

 

[ecmst12]

It just seemed like a very strange question. A hospital bill is like any other kind of bill.

 

[dragonxrider8]

It just seemed like a very strange question. A hospital bill is like any other kind of bill.

Well, I was just in emerg a few nights ago for xrays on my ankle, and when they sent me home with crutches we were informed that the charge for them would be billed to us, but there was no possible way for us to pay it then and there - we tried.. as well, he has been going in to the hospital to pay it since he got the bill, and I just had the thought that maybe no other way had been offered to him, but he is also cautious about mailing things like cheques, so it also makes sense that he would have just opted to drop off the payments since it was local. Some of my reasoning for being uncertain. I am relatively uneducated in the whole bill payment thing, having only been out of my parents house for school for 2 years, one of those spent with my sister, and nearly all of my bills paid online, but again, having health care, i have no clue how hospitals typically do the payments, other than the fact that these crutches are now going to be billed to me, and i'm assuming I will be able to send a cheque in, but also was the fact that he would be in Canada, I wasn't sure if that would have any affect on it, other than time.. my apologies for us young, naive folk i suppose ^-^

 

[las365]

It is refreshing to see a question from someone who wants to make sure to meet his financial obligations rather than try to find a "legal" way to avoid them.