lien prior to surgery

What is the name of your state?California

I'm enrolled in a low-income/no income medical program in our county. I was advised by my doctor that i would be needing an operation. I will only have to pay $550 however the hospital requires me to sign a lien on real property prior to the surgery. The cost of the surgery can not be estimated until after the procedure. I am hesitant to sign the lien since i will only know the total cost until after the surgery and they said i need to sign the lien before the surgery. what is your advice?

Lien

If your insurance plan states your limit is 550. then there is no reason to sign a lien. I certainly wouldn't!

RTMD said:

What is the name of your state?California

I'm enrolled in a low-income/no income medical program in our county. I was advised by my doctor that i would be needing an operation. I will only have to pay $550 however the hospital requires me to sign a lien on real property prior to the surgery. The cost of the surgery can not be estimated until after the procedure. I am hesitant to sign the lien since i will only know the total cost until after the surgery and they said i need to sign the lien before the surgery. what is your advice?

Click to expand...

My response:

Excuse me, but am I understanding you correctly? You need surgery. You're in a taxpayer funded insurance program. You OWN real estate, and you want ME, a taxpayer, to take a chance on whether you'll pay your share of the costs? Um, I don't think so.

I hope this isn't a life threatening problem that requires surgery, because if it is, and you don't sign that lien, then let me be the first to say "good-bye" to you. I'm NOT paying one, stinkin' penny of MY tax money to you, all because you FAILED to plan for your future! If you own property, and you don't pay, I'm taking your house, baby. You can go to the bank on that one!

IAAL

From: Cindy Ortiz
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 1:18 PM
Subject: IAAL Response


Greetings:

I was just cruising your site and ran across the thread concerning the lady in CA in need of surgery and is being asked to sign a lien on her home to ensure she will pay her portion of the bill.

I laughed my ass off at the response from IAAL! There are so many people out there without health insurance that have to rely on public programs but this woman actually thinks she shouldn't have to risk her assets by signing a lien for her surgery! It's not like they told her to sell her property to pay for whatever the procedure is!

It's funny when you look at the big picture:

1) She doesn't think she should have to pay for the procedure
2) She's not happy about having to be responsible for the minimum fee for her state of $550
3) She certainly doesn't think she should have to sign a lien against her HOME to ensure the minimum payment to the state. I mean, why should she have to risk losing her home if she fails to pay the measley $550? GIVE ME A BREAK!
4) Finally, she does research via the internet (which means she probably has a computer with a high speed connection ha!) and finds your site offering FREE legal advice!

This person is definitely a professional deadbeat! IAAL's response hit the nail right on the head! Thank you for laying the "cyber smackdown!" You made my day!

Sincerely,

Cindy Ortiz

They want you to demonstrate some responsibility for your care? How disgusting.

I think you should refuse to go to that hospital. In fact, you should protest by refusing all medical services reimbursed by the state.