Being Sued for Medical Debt?
Your Rights and Options

Being sued for medical debt can be an emotionally and financially taxing experience. Not only do you have to deal with your own health issues, you now also have the added stress and strain of dealing with lawyers, medical bills, and financial stress. Our advice will make this process as painless as possible.

While you may feel the weight of the world upon you, rest assured that there are laws in place to protect you in this situation. There is a specific process that needs to take place before a medical institution can legally sue you for an outstanding medical debt.

Filing a legal action is generally the last resort after a drawn-out process, so if you have been sued without completion of this process you may have legal recourse.

The Medical Debt Collection Process

A creditor must go through the normal process of trying to collect a medical debt before they can sue you in an attempt to recover money. The first step in this process is to give you notice of the existence of the debt. This must be done in writing and clearly explain the reason for the debt and the amount due. A medical creditor will have to produce documentary proof in court that you were notified of the debt.

You also have the legal right to request verification of the debt after you have been notified that an outstanding medical debt exists. The creditor then has 30 days to respond to you with verification.

You normally cannot be sued if:

• You were not informed that a medical debt exists and is outstanding.
• You requested verification of the debt and have not received within 30 days.
• Less than 30 days have passed since you requested verification.

If a medical creditor does verify the outstanding debt, you will then have 30 days to pay the balance in full or arrange a long-term plan. If you are unable or unwilling to do so, the creditor then has the option to pursue the debt via legal action.

Going to Court After Being Sued for Medical Debt

If a medical provider or creditor does decide to sue, you should receive two documents, a summons and a petition. The summons will instruct you to appear in court at a predetermined time and place while the petition will outline the details of the case, why you are being sued, and what they want from you.

You will be granted a hearing in which you can make your case, and if you have a legitimate reason to dispute the outstanding medical debt a trial may follow. In this scenario you will need to hire a lawyer, discuss the details of the case with your attorney, and come up with a plan for defending your position. If the legal process for collecting the debt was not followed by the creditor, this can work to your advantage in a trial. This is one reason why it is particularly important that you make sure all correspondence between you and the medical provider and/or creditor is in writing. You will likely need to produce these documents for the court.

Possible Outcomes of Being Sued for Medical Debt

In the event that the judge rules in favor of the medical creditor, you will be expected to pay the debt and possibly cover their legal fees. If you cannot afford to pay the debt, the creditor may be granted the right to garnish your wages. This means the debt payments would be taken from your wages before you get paid. Should you prevail in court the medical debt would not longer be your responsibility

You should keep in mind that taking any kind of medical legal action to an actual trial can be very expensive. It also takes all possible settlement negotiations out of your hands and puts a judge in charge of making the final decision and determination. This may or may not be good for you.