Shellie
“Dear Steve,
I had cancer and a lot of complications with it, at the same time my youngest son had lung surgery. I don’t have any other outstanding bills other that medical. Even with insurance i still owe about 6 or 7 thousand dollers in medical bills.
I am getting disability but it isn’t much. My husband works but we have a morgage and a van payment and other utility bills as well as grocries and medicine. I would love to ber able to pay everyone ASAP but I don’t know how. Many of the bills I owe are in collection or I have put the people off so long they are ready to take me to court to garnish my husbands wages.
What do i do?
Shellie”
Dear Shellie,
Well the first thing we do is stop living in fear of your debt. Debt won’t kill you but the stress and anxiety of being in debt can. Let’s focus on creating an environment where you can look forward to a safe and better life moving forward.
I think you’d agree with me that in a perfect world you would not have had cancer and then the subsequent medical bills. While the obligations of owing money to others is nearly absolute, life isn’t. Life is unpredictable and uncertain. We are guaranteed nothing more than our last breath.
You have several options.
Pay What You Can Afford
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You can pay what you can afford to pay to the collection companies. Tell them the truth about your situation and what you can realistically afford, not what they are demanding. Don’t over promise a payment that you can’t meet.
But any repayment plan is dependent on one factor, your ability to have extra money leftover each month to use to pay down your debt. And even before you start repaying your debt, I want you to put at least $50-$100 each month into a savings account to protect you from any more financial surprises.
If you are feeling intimidated about contacting the collection agencies and bill collectors, ask a debt management company for help.
I suspect that since the cancer that your household income has dropped, now that you are disability. If that is the case and you just can’t find any extra money to repay those medical bills, then we’ll have to consider the second option.
Bankruptcy
I don’t think it will surprise you at all to learn that medical debts are a major factor in going bankrupt. In just one day someone can incur so much medical debt from an accident or sudden illness that they will never be able to repay it in their lifetime.
Bankruptcy is a legal process that can eliminate your debt, stop collection calls and allow you to focus on being well and moving forward with your life. I would suggest that you talk to a local bankruptcy attorney and ask for a free bankruptcy review.
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