write off of medical bills

[njboater777]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey

My wife has died from lung cancer. I have many large medical bills after insurance payments. I have been told that medical balances must be written off and that there cannot be balance billing when an insured is deceased. The insurance is in my name and my wife was listed as my spouse.

Thank you for any advice.

 

[JETX]

When your wife entered the hospital she completed a lot of forms (same for the physicians). One of the declarations on these forms is to state who the responsible party for payment is. Since you used YOUR insurance for coverage, it is probable that your name is shown as the responsible party. If correct, then both you AND your wife's estate are equally liable for the debts.

 

[cbg]

To the original poster: I worked for a major health insurance carrier in the Northeast for five years between and I have never heard of any law saying that medical bills must be written off when the insured is deceased. Contact your state insurance commission in the unlikely case that there is something of the sort at the local level, but I think you will find that the health care providers are still entitled to be paid for their services regardless of the outcome.

 

[JETX]

Don't fall for this 'pre-paid legal' SCAM.

Yep, have already lodged complaint about him! And getting him kicked off the forum.... soon as California 'wakes up'.

His intent is to try to get you to sign up for a MLM (Mult-Level Marketing) SCAM. If you want to find out about them BEFORE you lose your money, take a look at:
http://www.prepaidlegalsucks.com/news.html
http://www.prepaidlegalsucks.com/
http://www.odwyerpr.com/archived_stories_2002/july/0723crudele_intimidation.htm

 

[sivanppl]

Thanks for your comment mr. negativity.
Prepaid Legal is a 30 year old NYSE company.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

For Silvan:

Why would anyone want to use your company when your company, through you as their agent, blatantly violate rules, and stoop so low that you have to "ambulance chase" JUST to make a "buck"?

"FreeAdvice Forum Terms and Conditions of Use

"You agree that you will NOT use the FreeAdvice Forum to post any advertisement, chain letter, solicitation or other commercial message."

If you find it so easy to violate "our" rules, perhaps you'll find it easy to violate and cheat the writers on these forums.

Would you buy a used car from "Silvan"?

BEWARE!

IAAL

 

[JETX]

Sivan, your post offers NO legal advice (which is the purpose of this forum) and ask that people with legal needs contact you. So, what EXACTLY are you selling?

Since Pre-Paid Legal is clearly a MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) program (like Amway), your sole intent is obviously to try to get persons who need legal help to contact you so that you can try to sell them YOUR package.... of legal services. Then, like all MLM's, you get a percentage of their payments and want them to go out and resell the same pyramid scheme to others. Correct??

So, let me ask you a very clear question.... "Does your pre-paid legal services cover ALL legal cases and what are the prices?". If it isn't a scam, you should have no problem telling all of your potential customers about it... should you??

Let me give you ONE excerpt from the links I provided in my earlier post...
"In an issue of Connection, David A. Savula, one of Pre-Paid's top recruiters, wrote: "Does our product cover everything? Yes. So if somebody asks does it cover this or does it cover that, we're going to say, 'Yes.'" Stonecipher made similar assurances during an interview in April 2001 on Fox's The O'Reilly Factor, as well as in his folksy corporate memoir, The Pre-Paid Legal Story.

Not so fast. The plans sharply limit coverage for cases involving bankruptcy, alcohol, drugs, preexisting conditions, divorce, annulment, child custody, class actions, hit-and-run accidents, driving without a license and civil or criminal charges associated with a business and tax evasion. The policy covers 60 hours of trial time for the first year that customers join, but there is a big catch. Pretrial work--the bulk of what litigators do--is limited to just 2.5 hours per year in a basic policy.

Customers supposedly get a 25% discount on attorney fees for excluded items--but there's nothing to stop participating lawyers from hiking their rates. What is free under the policy? Will-writing and contract reviews, among other things."
Source: http://www.prepaidlegalsucks.com/news.html

Let me repeat the most important part of the above.... "The policy covers 60 hours of trial time for the first year that customers join, but there is a big catch. Pretrial work--the bulk of what litigators do--is LIMITED TO JUST 2.5 HOURS PER YEAR in a basic policy."
Simply, this means that the ONLY work that an attorney can do in that 2.5 hours PER YEAR is to maybe give you a standard form for you to complete. Everything else will be charged to YOU since it isn't in 'the plan'.