I'm not crazy. Never was.

[mb45]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

New York

I have a $60,000 bill from Rockland county NY which is a result of inpatient psych hopitilization that occurred in 2005.

I recieved a call from their collections office the other day asking for payment and I told them that they would have to take me to court.

When hospitilized I had a lawyer from Mental Health Legal Aid. When he talked to me on Day 2 I told him I wanted a hearing. On Day 3 (3/11/2005) I received a request for a hearing from the Dr to keep me in for 180 days when they had me in for 60. At that time I stopped taking my meds.
(3/28/2005) Dr files for hearing for me to take meds.

(4/4/2005) At hearing Dr says I would need 3 to 4 weeks on meds to then be discharged and I can NOT comprehend my condition as I can not comprehend the NY Times. I tell my lawyer that I had to read the Times in 7th grade. He never asks me my education level (BA statistics ) or did I ever read the Times when he questioned me on the stand.

2 days later I am required to takes meds. 2 days after that I am told that we will have a family meeting on Monday for my discharge.

Since discharged I have requested my complete inpatient chart. I was only given a 2 page summary. I was given the names of some lawyers and they never got back to me. I even asked the legal aid society for help.

I posted the question on a lawyer search website and was told me to come here.

I'm open to suggestions.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Suggestions for what? You didn't ask a question.

 

[mb45]

What should I do?.. I need the bill to go away. And if I am taken to court I need a lawyer.

 

[You Are Guilty]

I'm afraid it doesn't quite work that way. We'd all like our bills to "go away" but it's not that easy. There is no magic bullet that will make that happen. If you are sued, then you will have to provide a defense to the lawsuit. You may be able to locate some free legal help via local clinics or firms looking for pro bono opportunities, but you will not be getting a lawyer assigned to you by the court.

 

[gogo589]

If I can ask, how did you end up in there anyway? What happened and who registered you as a patient? I feel we arent' getting the complete story. How long were you a patient? Filling in some of these details will help us understand.

 

[mb45]

more info

Voluntary admission by myself due to an adverse reaction to an anti-biotic for less than 14 days.( 3 times to the ER thought I was having a heart attack) Discharged to partial hospital program. On day I was told that I was being dicharged from php I had an argument with my father. Prior to discharge from first hospitalization my sister told me that the whole family except me was going to Cal. for our father's 80th birthday as I had to go to PHP. (I had no say in my treatment plan which is a right of an inpatient) A ticket could still be bought. Well I asked him to buy a ticket after handing him the money and he said NO. (it now cost $800 instead of $400) The next day they (Dad and SIS) we with my therapist. Under the guise of needing my meds prior to discharge and the Dr was covering crisis I went with them. Next thing I know I'm an inpatient.

 

[gogo589]

It sounds like there is a lot more going on with you. What does your father's birthday trip have to do with any of this?

With the volutary admission, how are you not responsible for this debt? Are the ER visits part of this debt? It sounds like you went out and sought treatment. Just because you don't agree with the treatment or the outcome, it doesn't relieve you of all responsibility.

I would consult an attorney (free consultation) and provide them with as many details as possible. Is the only reason you want out of this bill is because of the ammount?

We all have bills, and most of us work to pay off those bills. If we get into too much financial debt, sometimes bankruptcy is the only way out. Have you considered that? I'm not sure what else to tell you about making this bill go away.

 

[mb45]

I filed bankruptcy in 2004 as I lost my job as a computer consultant in 2000. Part time jobs have no benefits.

My issue is that as an inpatient you have certain rights and these rights were denied. Right to a hearing ( mental health legal aid should have initiated my request), the right to object, right to participate in your treatment plan, and the right to my own records. The first order of the hearing should have been about my need to be kept as an inpatient for 6 months and if this request valid the hearing would have taken place a week sooner.

Also the Drs never gave me a psych evaluation prior to admission. ( I would have passed)

It was his 80th and everyone went to Cal. to see the world cup cycling races. I've taken him to the races in PA since 1995 and I was checking this event out before I was hospitalized. How would you feel being left out of a family reunion.

 

[sandyclaus]

Voluntary admission by myself due to an adverse reaction to an anti-biotic for less than 14 days.( 3 times to the ER thought I was having a heart attack) Discharged to partial hospital program. On day I was told that I was being dicharged from php I had an argument with my father. Prior to discharge from first hospitalization my sister told me that the whole family except me was going to Cal. for our father's 80th birthday as I had to go to PHP. (I had no say in my treatment plan which is a right of an inpatient) A ticket could still be bought. Well I asked him to buy a ticket after handing him the money and he said NO. (it now cost $800 instead of $400) The next day they (Dad and SIS) we with my therapist. Under the guise of needing my meds prior to discharge and the Dr was covering crisis I went with them. Next thing I know I'm an inpatient.

I don't get it. How does an adverse reaction to an antibiotic turn into a mental health condition requiring inpatient hospitalization (voluntary or involuntary)? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that we're still not getting the whole story here. Were you under the care of a mental health professional prior to the antibiotic incident?

By the way, nowhere in your story did you say that you did NOT incur the hospital charges you are being held liable for. While all of the fringe makes for an interesting tale, if you received the services you are responsible to pay for them. They won't "go away" until either someone pays for them or they get written off by the hospital as bed debt.

 

[gogo589]

I'm sorry, but I'm still not seeing the relavence of this family trip. It has nothing to do with the hospital bill. Your complaint is about the bill, so let's stick to that.

YOU went to the ER three times because YOU thought you were having heart attacks, and then YOU admitted yourself to in-patient psych hospitalization. YOU were the one asking for treatment. You got it, and now you don't like that the bill is so much.

This all happened almost 5 years ago, and you're just NOW bringing it up? If you were dissatisfied, you should have filed a complaint immediately or hired a lawyer. Did you think the bill was just going to go away? Take some responsibility for getting yourself in this situation. I'm not trying to make fun of you, but if you're not crazy, why did YOU feel the need to admit yourself to in-patient psych hospitalization? You obviously thought you had some kind of psych problem. Again, take some responsibility for your OWN actions.

I agree with sandyclaus, how does this reaction to meds turn into a mental health condition? I feel like we're having to pry information out of you, and I still feel like there's more to the story. What made you think you needed to go to in-patient psych hospitalization instead of the ER again?

If you were a voluntary patient, couldn't you have left at any time if you were so dissatisfied with the services? I would think so, but I've never been in that situation. You obviously agreed to stay in psych hospitalization for 60 days. Why would you ever do that unless you thought you had a psych problem?

From what you've been saying, the bottom line is you asked for services, recieved those services, and now don't want to pay for them. Unless they did something legally wrong, you sustained damages, and you can prove it in a court of law, I just don't see how you're going to get out of paying the bill.

 

[mb45]

I went through it and still dont get it.

I tried, (at that time) the local bar association, legal aid, and a neighbor(lawyer). Had a lawyer but he passed away ( wait til they take you to court). 3 yrs since the finance office called.

There is a process that they are to follow and forms to be filled out. I tried to get copies of the chart for the forms. The chart should also have nurses comments, observations. They only gave a 2 page summary.

Amazing, Drs can give you a diagnosis without stating the factual background of how they arrived at the conclusion. How do you prove the negetive.

Dont I have a right to my records?

NY inpatient rights include the right to object the right to a hearing (I'm the petitioner ) the right to participate in your treatment plan

 

[You Are Guilty]

Dont I have a right to my records?

No, not always.

Q. Are there any parts of my medical record to which my physician can deny me access

A. Yes. A physician can deny you access to the following:

* Personal notes and observations.

* Information disclosed to the practitioner under the condition that it would be kept confidential.

* Information that the practitioner believes should not be disclosed regarding the treatment of a minor. A patient over age 12 may be advised of a records request and, if he or she objects, the provider may deny the request.

* Information the physician believes may cause substantial harm to the patient or others.

* Information obtained from other physicians who are still in practice. That information should be requested directly from those practitioners.

* Substance abuse program records and clinical records of facilities licensed or operated by the Office of Mental Health. Mental Hygiene Law provides a separate process for release of these records.

http://www.health.state.ny.us/publications/1443/

 

[gogo589]

You want your questions answered, but you're unwilling to give us more backround and answers to specific questions. I'm sorry, but I can't go back and forth anymore. Good luck.

 

[cyjeff]

For someone that cannot read the NY Times, that is a remarkably well written post.

I call troll.