My name is Bridget... 2 years ago I went to the hospital and was uninsured... My bill is now 20,000 accruing interest with collection agency? I don't know what to do... can they seize my bank accounts without my permission?

Yes they may go to court and get a judgement. If they get a judgement they may get an attachment of your bank accounts and also may get a garnishment of your pay check

What you need to do is talk to them and work out a payment plan with them

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Originally Posted by Bridgetallen

My name is Bridget.....2 years ago I went to the hospital and was uninsured.....My bill is now 20,000 accruing interest with collection agency? I dont know what to do.....can they seize my bank accounts without my permission?

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What are the chances of say your paying off the debt? Is is so large compared to your income, assets, disposable income that it would be impossible to pay it off over the next few years? If not, talk to the hospital, tell them you are aware that there is a price for those insured and a price for those uninsured, in other words you are aware that by simply being unisured you pay more for the same services than those who are insured. If they understand that you understand this, they may allow you to successfully negotiate the debt down to an amount you could soon repay. If not, I am afraid your only choice is personal bankruptcy in order to wipe your plate clean and give you a fresh financial start on life. A lot of people are not aware that one of the leading causes of bankruptcy is being without health insurance. It's unfortunate that we Americans are so sophisticated a society yet over 40 or 50 millions Americans have no health insurance.

There are ways to fight hospital bill or to get them written off entireley if it was a non-profit hospital that is supposed to be providing charitable care in return for its tax exemption. Most uninsured patients are charged 200% what insured patients have to pay for the same services. I wrote a manual on fighting hospital bills--it is available online free. Go to Illinoislegalaidonline and find the document entitled "Defendiing Hospital Collection Cases."