Originally Posted By: Win
Did you make some sort of personal guarantee of your fathers bill(s) when he was admitted for, or as a condition of, medical treatment?
1st off DragRace I am very sorry for the loss of your Dad. I lost my Mother to diabetes related issues in 1996 and it still hurts that she is gone. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.
I am going to relate a personal experience, it may be long so I apologize in advance, of how you can get in trouble in your situation and not even know it if you get distracted with concern for your loved one. You need to be ever vigilant and closely scrutinize every piece of paper/bill/contract/agreement/etc... that come across in front of you and/or your loved one. Hopefully this hasn't happened to you?
My Dad lives with me now and I care for him. I am on his bank accounts so I can pay his bills and make sure everything is taken care of. I do not have POA nor am I in anyway responsible for his bills. I just pay them for him and handle any conversations that come up about his bills. He is fully functional just elderly( 87 heading to 88 )and with an approx 75% hearing loss. It is easier for him if I take care of stuff.
You do have to be very careful when in the care giver situation as I am and you were it sounds like about signing ANYTHING! People these days are just not honest and will do everything they can to ensure they get their money regardless of where it comes from and even if they have to mislead you, lie to you, or even try and trick you to get it.
Last summer(2011) my Dad fell and broke his leg. He needed to go into a short term rehab facility until the leg fully healed and he was strong enough to come home. As always he had me deal with the insurance and billing at the center for him because he just doesn't hear well enough to do it. The people at the center who cared for him were great but the billing dept was extremely unethical IMO.
1 - they CONSTANTLY kept going to my Dad's room to try and talk to him about the bill when I was not there despite him telling them time and time again to talk to me as I paid his bills. When I would get there I would have to go to the billing office and see what they were up to. They constantly claimed no knowledge that my Dad said talk to me. It was almost laughable the way the same person kept telling me that. That tactict stopped finally when I recorded our conversation.
2 - When his main insurance ran out after 30 days we had to work something out with them for him to stay as his Dr felt he needed another 2-3 weeks before going home. Medicare only covered part of it so we had to agree to pay the rest p/day. Once again they tried to get my Dad to sign an agreement when I was not there so he called me right up and said you better get up here. When I got there they were trying to get him to sign a form saying he would pay in full upon discharge. I took over and told them he didn't have $4K+ to pay it all at once. At one point they actually tried to get me to sign my name which I flat refused to do. We left it that they would mail a form to our house after Dad went home for him to sign agreeing to a payment plan of a minimum $$$ a month w/ no interest. I thought it was finally settled but NOPE!
3 - After Dad came home we got a bill for the full amount( 2 days later )and no payment agreement. I figured the payment agreement was coming so I made the 1st installment as agreed to before he stayed those extra weeks. Even included a note with it explaining the situation.
4 - A few days later a bill shows up with MY NAME on it showing the balance due minus the payment my Dad made. I called them right up and said in your dreams and you will get what we agreed to when we agreed to it. I asked them how in the world they thought I was responsible for my Dad's bill? They said the file stated I agreed to pay what he didn't/couldn't. I said WRONG and NOT happening. I said get the agreement mailed out so we can get on with this and stop all the foolishness.
5 - It actually took like 3 months for them to send the agreement. We kept paying as we agreed despite the bills showing full amount due and threats of collection and such. FINALLY the form showed up but the payment amount each month was double what we agreed to. That lead to another series of calls and fights to get another agreement coming.
6 - The agreement finally shows up and it all looks good until I notice a section at the end where a clause had been added saying I would pay the bill if my Dad didn't/couldn't and it had a place for me to initial and sign. I was furious at that and called yet again and was again told I had said I would which was 100% bull hooey!
My older Sister actually came down( she had seen a lot of the stuff they tried to pull at the center and had been present with me at the original meeting where we worked out the payment agreement )and both of us got on the phone with their billing dept and we told them to either send what was agreed to or stop bothering us. I told them in no uncertain terms I did not nor would I agree to pay my Dad's bill as I am disabled myself and BROKE!
We repeated to them that he could only pay the amount that was agreed to before he stayed on that extra time and any further attempts to alter that agreement would mean we were getting a lawyer and they could see us in court. Period and end of story. They finally sent the correct agreement form and all is ok now( it will finally be paid off in another couple months thank god )but it was a real struggle. They tried every trick imaginable to get their money faster and to even trick me into agreeing to take resonsibility.
You have to watch stuff like this when old folks and money is involved like a hawk. Very unethical industry in my experience( dealt with a lot of it when my Mom died ). Sorry, again, that this was so long but I wanted you to see how they try and do it just in case it reminds you of something. If you truly signed nothing then they have no grounds to come after you for the money.
I wish you the best of luck and again my condolences on your loss.
