12 year old medical bill = jail?

[rdj2027]

I have a quick question. If someone has an outstanding medical bill from 12 years ago that they were told at the time Medicaid would pick up the difference between insurance and the total bill and have never received a notice that they need to pay the difference themselves, is it normal procedure that this person goes to jail? I always thought even if the original bill was not paid, there would be reminders to pay and eventually it would go into collections. None of this has happened and this person just received a notice from a courthouse that there is a warrant for her arrest out until the bill is paid.

 

I find this very odd, any experiences with a situation like that? I don't think it matters per se but it was a private practice, the person in Native American, had insurance through her employer but was below poverty level.

[chiguirre]

You can't be imprisoned for private debt in the US. Either this is a made-up sob story to get money from acquaintances or it's a really low collections technique.

[Hen]

I think after several years, 7 maybe? -someone chime in... that they can't collect on the debt unless the bill collector bullies you into paying a part of it, even a very small part -towards paying it off. If they bully you into this by scare tactic, like saying there is a warrant out for you, then they re-affirm the bill and can start harassing you again and the 7 years starts over. It's possible that a bill collecting company purchased this very old debt (they buy them in batches) and is hoping to bully you into paying it. If it's been 12 years, you can tell them to stop calling you, it's harrassment.

[Annie]

You can't be imprisoned for private debt in the US. Either this is a made-up sob story to get money from acquaintances or it's a really low collections technique.

 

This. Only I would add that not only is it a "low" collections technique, but it is illegal to threaten prison for private debt collection. Plus, at 12 years old, this debt is almost certainly past the statute of limitations.

[Dandelion]

Sounds odd to me. Why would law enforcement be involved in trying to collect for a private medical practice? Even if a business wins a lawsuit against an individual for non-payment (which didn't happen in this case, or this person would have received notification of a lawsuit against them), the police don't get involved. It is up to the business to work through other means in order to collect the debt.

 

I don't have any experience with debt collections, so out of curiosity I just did some googling. Apparently, it is illegal for debt collectors to tell you that you will be arrested if you don't pay your debt. Is this person sure that the notice came from a courthouse and not some other entity?

 

It sounds highly suspect to me.

[Girl Power]

I have a quick question. If someone has an outstanding medical bill from 12 years ago that they were told at the time Medicaid would pick up the difference between insurance and the total bill and have never received a notice that they need to pay the difference themselves, is it normal procedure that this person goes to jail? I always thought even if the original bill was not paid, there would be reminders to pay and eventually it would go into collections. None of this has happened and this person just received a notice from a courthouse that there is a warrant for her arrest out until the bill is paid.

 

I find this very odd, any experiences with a situation like that? I don't think it matters per se but it was a private practice, the person in Native American, had insurance through her employer but was below poverty level.

 

Some bottom feeder collection companies use this technique, illegally, to scare people into paying. Many times older debts will be sold to these unethical companies, who will use very aggressive measures. I bet if you look closely at the "court documents", you will see they are not actual legal documents. Any case should have a case or docket number that can be confirmed with the courts.

 

Good luck. I used to have a company call and pretend to be process servers who threatened to serve me at work. Bleh.

 

Beck

[Miss Marple]

f this has happened and this person just received a notice from a courthouse that there is a warrant for her arrest out until the bill is paid.

 

If a court has issued a warrant, there must have been notice given. Either she was not served or she did not attend a hearing in which a judgment was issued. This isn't the "bill collector" harassing her. It is a court. She needs to deal with it quickly. Somewhere, somehow things moved along without her knowledge or without her thinking it was important. Courts don't just issue arrest warrants without cause.

[zoobie]

Sounds really weird.

 

The medical office could have sued her, she failed to appear, and the judge can issue a warrant for failure to appear. That's *highly* unlikely.

 

Warrants are usually served by the sherriff's department not sent plain old mail.

 

I would look up the "authority" listed on the notice online, then call the real number for the court. Not from my home phone though, lol. She can also call legal aid if she qualifies for assistance. The AG for her state may be interested in that notice. It smells very suspicious.

[Girl Power]

 

 

If a court has issued a warrant, there must have been notice given. Either she was not served or she did not attend a hearing in which a judgment was issued. This isn't the "bill collector" harassing her. It is a court. She needs to deal with it quickly. Somewhere, somehow things moved along without her knowledge or without her thinking it was important. Courts don't just issue arrest warrants without cause.

 

Courts do not issue warrants for collection issues. I would be willing to bet money this was not issued by an actual court. This, of course, can be easily verified with a phone call.

 

Beck

[unfrumpable.]

I have received a couple of phone calls like this recently. The first one was 2-4 months ago. I picked up the phone, they asked for me by my maiden name. I replied it was me, but that was not my name anymore. I did not supply any new info. Person on phone told me that I was going to be subpoenaed, IIRC and that papers were going to be served to my address (which I doubt they had) within 48 hours. Person on phone would not tell me what this was in regard so, said I had to call some 1-800 number law office. I do not have any recent debt, but I do have debt that is close to 20 years old. I did not call the law office, I Googled the phone number. The phone number I was given appears to be a scam number, many people had posted about it. I could not find the supposed law office at all. I figured it was some type of bill collector trying to collect on an ancient debt. When bill collectors are trying to collect on older debts, they get the vast majority of the money, only a small part actually goes to the original holder, if any at all. I did some collection work with my boss at one of my old jobs and that was how it worked for us anyways, it may be different if the company actually bought the debt.

 

Anyway, I pretty much forgot about that, then several weeks later I got another call. This time I didn't answer it, but got a voicemail and it was similar in nature. Googled the phone number again and same thing came up. Scam. Some people were posting that these people were calling relative too and work trying to get in touch with them.

 

I don't know if this is the case in your situation. Since you know what it is in regards to, I assume more communication must have happened then what I had. All the posts I've read so far seem to give some good advice.

[Miss Marple]

Courts do not issue warrants for collection issues. I would be willing to bet money this was not issued by an actual court. This, of course, can be easily verified with a phone call.

 

Beck

 

I agree, unless she has a judgment against her. It certainly sounds fishy, though, esp. after 12 years. I cannot imagine my husband's practice trying to collect a 12 year old debt. That debt would have been washed off the accounts years ago.

[unfrumpable.]

 

 

Good luck. I used to have a company call and pretend to be process servers who threatened to serve me at work. Bleh.

 

Beck

 

Yes, this is what the person who called me said he was! I had forgotten until I saw your post. Thank goodness for Google.

[poppy]

She is lying or being lied to. If you trust her, I think #2 is very very likely.

[Candid]

You can't be imprisoned for private debt in the US. Either this is a made-up sob story to get money from acquaintances or it's a really low collections technique.

 

Could be a scam, too. Don't pay money to anyone without an attorney.

[unfrumpable.]

Sounds really weird.

 

The medical office could have sued her, she failed to appear, and the judge can issue a warrant for failure to appear. That's *highly* unlikely.

 

Warrants are usually served by the sherriff's department not sent plain old mail.

 

I would look up the "authority" listed on the notice online, then call the real number for the court. Not from my home phone though, lol. She can also call legal aid if she qualifies for assistance. The AG for her state may be interested in that notice. It smells very suspicious.

 

I was once served a warrant through the mail. I had a court date for a ticket (speeding or something like that) and I totally forgot it. I called the next day to tell them that I had forgotten and see what had to be done. I was told I had a warrant out for my arrest and I would have to come to the courthouse and post $100 bond and reschedule my court date.

 

I also received in the mail, not a nice, closed up envelope with the information, but a postcard for everyone to see that I had a warrant out for my arrest. And it went to my mom's house because that was still the address on my driver's license. Plus, my mom had the same mailman for forever and he knew who I was because I lived around the corner. How embarrassing!

[rdj2027]

Thank you all for replying. I thought it was fishy, this is an old (how about longtime friend, she is my age and I will never be old :laugh:) friend of mine, I know she isn't fishing for money. She just read "arrest" and "jail" and being a single mom with several kids it sent her into a tizzy. I told her what you all wrote and she is a little more composed. She is going to call the court tomorrow to start and then she'll go from there.

[Mommyof4ks]

Calling the court system is a good plan. If there is a warrant, then she will just have to pay the amount owed and it will be cleaned up, but if not, then they should be able to tell her how to file a complaint. oneof my family memebers was served with a warrent over a $4 charge in the 80s lol. He cleared it up that night he was served. It seems crazy, but it can happen.