Here is my story:
On the morning of June 14, 2015, I woke up with severe pain in my side. My son woke up soon after me and requested breakfast. I told him to go wake up his Dad because I could not simply make breakfast...the pain was too bad. When my husband woke up, he immediately called my in-laws about taking our son for the day because we were going to the ER.
It was decided at the ER after a CT that my appendix was on the verge of rupturing; however, our local hospital did not do surgeries on Sunday. I was loaded onto an ambulance was taken to a town 30 miles away. By this time I was given morphine to manage the pain. Once at the second hospital, I was put in the ER while I waited for my husband to get to the hospital. In the ER I signed all my consent forms (while under the influence of pain medication). Six hours after initially arriving at the first ER, I finally have the surgery. It was successful. End of story....
Until the bills started coming in. Granted I pay $300 a month in insurance premiums. I knew I would not be able to pay in full any of the bills because one surgery would equal to at least 3 to 4 different bills. My default amount is $25 until I know the final amount and the final number of bills. I pay $25 each and every time I receive a bill in the mail. When the hospital got its first payment, I was called and told that the payment was insufficient. I was required to pay $40 an month to keep the bill out of collections. I paid on the bill for six months without missing a single payment; however, I was turned over to collections for insufficient payments. My medical bills were over $7000. As a family who lives paycheck to paycheck, this was a hardships. But I was determined to pay on each bill each month in order to show that I was at least trying to pay off these bills. Only the hospital, Forrest General Hospital, would not work with me. They even lost my tax information that I sent them to try to get financial assistance.
I was turned over to a collections agency, who refuses to sent out bills. I am currently paying on seven different medical bills. With the day to day stresses of just living, I need a monthly bill sent to me. Collections agencies are the worst at working with people to pay off debts.
I am now in the process of being sued for the amount of $1200. I was told by the business office of Forrest General Hospital that I had a choice when I went to the ER, so therefore I don't have a choice in the amount I owe each month to them. The lawyer told me that since I am a certified public school teacher I can afford to pay him $200 a month to pay off this debt. This lawyer told me to go get a loan...I am loaned to the max. He told me to borrow the money from a relative. I have a solution: just let me make the payments I was making!!!!!
I have worked very hard to only make purchases that I can afford. This surgery was life or death for me. I didn't have a choice. I couldn't go home and think about it before I choose to have it done. This wasn't a cosmetic procedure. I was faithfully making payments. I paid off five of the medical bills related to this surgery. Forrest General Hospital didn't give me a chance to paid off their bill. This lawyer doesn't know my financial situation. I never once refused to pay this bill. I just can't pay what the lawyer and the hospital want me to pay for a surgery that saved my life. I still want to pay off this debt because a service was rendered to me. This lawyer and Forrest General Hospital are literally going to cause severe hardship on me.
And I am angered to see all the people who frequent the ER for runny noses and what not....and now, I can't even afford to take my son to the regular doctor even though I paid for health insurance every month.
No one is the voice of the middle class who are struggling to keep their heads above water. No one wants to speak out against the medical industry who is causing the working class to lose the war everyday. No one cares about the average person who is struggling to keep this country together.
Somehow I will not let this story will not stop here.
