It has been almost 5.5 years since the debt incurred and they have threatened to sue me, but haven't yet. Is it likely that they will sue me or is this a scare tactic? I tried contacting a lawyer, but they never called me back and I don't know if I can find a lawyer with free consultation.

The debt it self shouldn't exist because my insurance company should have covered it but decided not to. Long story short, I was under my mothers health insurance plan when I got pregnant with my son. They covered all my maternity care and the labor and delivery, but decided not to cover my son's nursery bill. It has been 5 years so I don't think at this point I can do anything about the insurance company. I am unsure about insurance laws in NY and am also not sure if there is some law that state that if they covered the delivery that they had to cover the nursery bill since you can't get insurance for an unborn baby.

The higher the bill, the more likely they are to sue.

Yes, many agencies will use the law suit threat, without intending to do so.

That, is an illegal activity, under the FDCPA, it is illegal to make any threat that you do not
Intend to follow through with.

The next time they call, tell them that you are going to record the conversation with their permission, or there will be no conversation at all. If they agree, and the threat of suit is mentioned again, simply tell them that you have no intention of paying, if that is where you stand on this debt, and that when you receive notice of the suit, you will contact your attorney, and let them take care of it.

You can also send them a letter, stating that they are no longer allowed to contact you by phone, at home or at work, and that any further communications must be in writing.

There are many attorneys that will give you a free initial consultation, just grab the phone book and start calling.

In addition, once you tell them that you are not going to pay, legally, they can no longer continue to collect the debt without taking you to court.

Lastly, these recommendations could easily result in you receiving notice of the suit so if you aren't prepared for that, you need to try to figure out how to pay them.

So then I am guessing that the statue of limitation in NY for medical bills is more than 5 years? They just sent me a piece of mail, this time with nothing about a law suit or passing a judgement against me.

New York is 6 years on medical debt.