Garnashed wages due to WIFES bills!! Is this legal?

[jlea]

I ( the wife ) got hurt in 1998. I incured MANY medical bills ( as you all know about the MRI's, the epidural shots and all the other testing they due before surgery ) but had good insurance for awhile & then I paid as best as I could considering I was not able to work any longer. Overwhelming sadness & deppression set in the next yr when we lost two of our Sons and a few months after than my husband lost his job. Next came another surgery for me that had nothing to do with the first one. I did finally get on disabilty of $500 a month along with his unemployment plus ( swallowing my pride ) I went on medicaid. I feel, through prayer, my husband ( after a yr of looking ) got a job at our local hospital. He has been there for 10 months now & we are just starting to get back on our feet when he comes home with a letter that says he owes the hospital over $3000 & they are going to take $200 a month from his check which, needless to say, is really going to hurt us. When he started work we bought a newer car as both the others were over 10 yrs old. First off, these are MY bills. Next, they are mostly all from 1998! Third, why did they wait almost a yr before giving him this letter? We both also know that if he didn't work at the hosp these bills would just be forgiven. They are not even in my credit report & never have been? I haven't got a statement form them in years?? This just doesn't seem very " legal " I thought there was a 7 yr cut off? I wouldn't have had to go on disability & medicaid if I could pay a $3000 bill? If I do have to pay them though, the least they could do is lower the payment to something I could manage....So is there a legal person or para-professional out there who can talk to me about this?
Thanks!

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

I ( the wife ) got hurt in 1998. I incured MANY medical bills ( as you all know about the MRI's, the epidural shots and all the other testing they due before surgery ) but had good insurance for awhile & then I paid as best as I could considering I was not able to work any longer. Overwhelming sadness & deppression set in the next yr when we lost two of our Sons and a few months after than my husband lost his job. Next came another surgery for me that had nothing to do with the first one. I did finally get on disabilty of $500 a month along with his unemployment plus ( swallowing my pride ) I went on medicaid. I feel, through prayer, my husband ( after a yr of looking ) got a job at our local hospital. He has been there for 10 months now & we are just starting to get back on our feet when he comes home with a letter that says he owes the hospital over $3000 & they are going to take $200 a month from his check which, needless to say, is really going to hurt us. When he started work we bought a newer car as both the others were over 10 yrs old. First off, these are MY bills. Next, they are mostly all from 1998! Third, why did they wait almost a yr before giving him this letter? We both also know that if he didn't work at the hosp these bills would just be forgiven. They are not even in my credit report & never have been? I haven't got a statement form them in years?? This just doesn't seem very " legal " I thought there was a 7 yr cut off? I wouldn't have had to go on disability & medicaid if I could pay a $3000 bill? If I do have to pay them though, the least they could do is lower the payment to something I could manage....So is there a legal person or para-professional out there who can talk to me about this?
Thanks!

My response:

I didn't read your post. You removed the State name question. You didn't answer the State name question.

IAAL

 

[JETX]

Yep!!
"Questions about U.S. law ONLY"

 

[d8ddysgirl]

Legally its 7-10 years.

They might be your bills but you are married and he assumes your debt. You were married at the time of this.

"We both also know that if he didn't work at the hosp these bills would just be forgiven."

They are not forgiven they are written off, which is bad financially for the hospital. Can you imagine if 20 people just let these go? That would be $60,000. I work at a hospital and I see this daily.

It is very legal for you to pay these bills. They are trying to get back the money that is OWED to them. You can call them to lower your payments. They want to work with you. They should see how much your husband makes and lower the payment.

 

[JETX]

Ignore the post by 'D8ddysgirl'. He/She/It clearly has no idea of the LEGAL facts.

 

[jlea]

My response:

I didn't read your post. You removed the State name question. You didn't answer the State name question.

IAAL

The State name question? I assume you are asking me which State I am in. I am in MO. I will now go back and check where I left out that question...Thank You.

 

[racer72]

My response:

I didn't read your post. You removed the State name question. You didn't answer the State name question.

IAAL

The "What state do you live in?" question doesn't show up for those using Nutscrape, er, Netscape.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

The "What state do you live in?" question doesn't show up for those using Nutscrape, er, Netscape.

My response:

Well, that may be so. However, what excuse does our writer have for not reading the simple instructions at the top of the page, before posting? The instructions include "Please Include your state".

IAAL

 

[JETX]

The "What state do you live in?" question doesn't show up for those using Nutscrape, er, Netscape.

Racer, your idiocy is showing again. The 'What state' question shows up on my Netscape (7.1) AND on Mozilla (1.7 Beta) AND on IE (6.026). I suggest you get with the 21st century!!

 

[jlea]

I am from Missouri

Hello, After reading everyone's response to my post I decided to go to the hospital and talk to a patient advocat. That person helped me resolve our mutual problem to everyones satisfaction.

Thank you all,
Jlea

 

[racer72]

Racer, your idiocy is showing again. The 'What state' question shows up on my Netscape (7.1) AND on Mozilla (1.7 Beta) AND on IE (6.026). I suggest you get with the 21st century!!

I have all 3 popular web browsers on my computer here at work, the preinstalled question shows up on both IE and Mozilla. It does not show up on Netscape. I have no control over the versions installed, that is controlled by my employer. I can only post what I see in front of me.