Husband sued for deceased wife’s unpaid medical bill

KSL ^ | MATT GEPHARDT AND CINDY ST. CLAIR

[liberalh8ter]

I get that but on the other hand, why is it that my spouse and I each have to meet our own separate deductibles? If he's responsible for me and I him, how come our insurance carrier gets to treat our “responsibility” as separate?

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

It seems to me that doesn’t put any money in the hospitals account to pay nursing salaries and other costs associated with providing care.

Meh. Cost of doing business.

[Gunslingr3]

Meh. Cost of doing business.

.. is born by the paying customers, or the business folds.

[1Old Pro]

My golfer friend gave his property to his daughter when he got cancer.

If you have a great family, moving assets to trusts is smart in your 70's.

[Eagles6]

Call the hospital and set up a payment plan.

$1 a month for the next 250 years.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

.. is born by the paying customers, or the business folds.

And, yet, eleven states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Vermont and Washington have outlawed the practice of suing a surviving spouse for medical debt incurred by their deceased spouse as it violates the Equal Protection clause.

See: Doctrine of Necessaries

Somehow, hospitals in these states stay in business without going after surviving spouses.

[Gunslingr3]

Yes, by charging people who didn’t receive the services higher rates to compensate for the deadbeats (pun intended).
There’s no free lunch, Keith just wants someone else to pay for the treatments his wife received.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Yes, by charging people who didn’t receive the services higher rates to compensate for the deadbeats (pun intended).

So an operation or treatment costs more in Alabama than in California?

Care to cite a source for this assertion?

[Gunslingr3]

Defend your own strawman, after you look up the meaning of ceteris paribus.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Defend your own strawman, after you look up the meaning of ceteris paribus.

That's what I thought.

FRegards,

[Gunslingr3]

Did you think a comparative of COLA between CA and AL underlined an erudite point regarding the inescapable fact deadbeats must be borne by those who pay?

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Did you think a comparative of COLA between CA and AL underlined an erudite point regarding the inescapable fact deadbeats must be borne by those who pay?

States that have outlawed suing surviving spouses for medical debt:

Alabama (AL)
Alaska (AK)
Arkansas (AR)
Florida (FL)
Georgia (GA)
Idaho (ID)
Maryland (MD)
Michigan (MI)
Mississippi (MS)
Vermont (VT)
Washington (WA)

Let's look at the figures as of 2020, shall we? (See: Average hospital expenses per inpatient day across 50 states)

Average hospital expenses per inpatient day across 50 states:

Alabama

• State/local government hospitals — $1,453
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,731
• For-profit hospitals — $1,561

Alaska

• State/local government hospitals — $1,160
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,353
• For-profit hospitals — $3,052

Arizona

• State/local government hospitals — $2,371
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,854
• For-profit hospitals — $2,220

Arkansas

• State/local government hospitals — $2,305
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,817
• For-profit hospitals — $1,830

California

• State/local government hospitals — $3,269
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,879
• For-profit hospitals — $2,392

Colorado

• State/local government hospitals — $2,486
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,365
• For-profit hospitals — $2,941

Connecticut

• State/local government hospitals — $4,160
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,802
• For-profit hospitals — N/A

Delaware

• State/local government hospitals — N/A
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,061
• For-profit hospitals — $1,062

District of Columbia

• State/local government hospitals — N/A
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,674
• For-profit hospitals — $ 2,548

Florida

• State/local government hospitals — $1,953
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,495
• For-profit hospitals — $1,867

Georgia

• State/local government hospitals — $822
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,061
• For-profit hospitals — $1,937

Hawaii

• State/local government hospitals — $1,619
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,851
• For-profit hospitals — N/A

Idaho

• State/local government hospitals — $1,930
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,819
• For-profit hospitals — $3,148

Illinois

• State/local government hospitals — $2,892
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,650
• For-profit hospitals — $2,023

Indiana

• State/local government hospitals — $1,798
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,827
• For-profit hospitals — $2,548

Iowa

• State/local government hospitals — $1,635
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,578
• For-profit hospitals — $1,571

Kansas

• State/local government hospitals — $1,757
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,983
• For-profit hospitals — $2,149

Kentucky

• State/local government hospitals — $2,237
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,915
• For-profit hospitals — $1,909

Louisiana

• State/local government hospitals — $1,962
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,020
• For-profit hospitals — $2,179

Maine

• State/local government hospitals — $1,541
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,688
• For-profit hospitals — $1,126

Maryland

• State/local government hospitals — N/A
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,821
• For-profit hospitals — $1,338

Massachusetts

• State/local government hospitals — $1,976
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,228
• For-profit hospitals — $1,967

Michigan

• State/local government hospitals — $1,216
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,463
• For-profit hospitals — $2,294

Minnesota

• State/local government hospitals — $1,560
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,535
• For-profit hospitals — N/A

Mississippi

• State/local government hospitals — $1,260
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,385
• For-profit hospitals — $1,772

Missouri

• State/local government hospitals — $1,721
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,558
• For-profit hospitals — $2,023

Montana

• State/local government hospitals — $600
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,567
• For-profit hospitals — $2,631

Nebraska

• State/local government hospitals — $1,137
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,244
• For-profit hospitals — $3,040

Nevada

• State/local government hospitals — $2,710
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,130
• For-profit hospitals — $1,799

New Hampshire

• State/local government hospitals — N/A
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,679
• For-profit hospitals — $2,121

New Jersey

• State/local government hospitals — N/A
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,879
• For-profit hospitals — $1,918

New Mexico

• State/local government hospitals — $3,001
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,001
• For-profit hospitals — $2,476

New York

• State/local government hospitals — $2,919
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,869
• For-profit hospitals — N/A

North Carolina

• State/local government hospitals — $2,112
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,334
• For-profit hospitals — $1,705

North Dakota

• State/local government hospitals — N/A
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,820
• For-profit hospitals — $5,326

Ohio

• State/local government hospitals — $2,914
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,842
• For-profit hospitals — $2,351

Oklahoma

• State/local government hospitals — $1,515
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,011
• For-profit hospitals — $2,290

Oregon

• State/local government hospitals — $3,845
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,380
• For-profit hospitals — $3,053

Pennsylvania

• State/local government hospitals — $820
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,380
• For-profit hospitals — $3,053

Rhode Island

• State/local government hospitals — N/A
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,857
• For-profit hospitals — $2,161

South Carolina

• State/local government hospitals — $2,481
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,049
• For-profit hospitals — $1,625

South Dakota

• State/local government hospitals — $496
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,550
• For-profit hospitals — $4,114

Tennessee

• State/local government hospitals — $1,709
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,345
• For-profit hospitals — $1,986

Texas

• State/local government hospitals — $3,112
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,750
• For-profit hospitals — $2,130

Utah

• State/local government hospitals — $3,002
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,053
• For-profit hospitals — $2,593

Vermont

• State/local government hospitals — N/A
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,633
• For-profit hospitals — N/A

Virginia

• State/local government hospitals — $3,496
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,943
• For-profit hospitals — $1,866

Washington

• State/local government hospitals — $3,514
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,608
• For-profit hospitals — $3,032

West Virginia

• State/local government hospitals — $1,082
• Nonprofit hospitals — $1,994
• For-profit hospitals — $1,261

Wisconsin

• State/local government hospitals — $3,072
• Nonprofit hospitals — $2,518
• For-profit hospitals — $2,830

Wyoming

• State/local government hospitals — $1,180
• Nonprofit hospitals — $3,499
• For-profit hospitals — $2,740 

[Gunslingr3]

All that time wasted on your strawman about COLA differences between AL and CA?

LOL. What a maroon.

Notice your reference to the law, not reality. Bastiat fingered deadbeats (like you?) ages ago:

The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.

[boycott]

You misunderstood my post. I may not have expressed it well.

“If they were illegals, it would cost them nothing. If they were life-time welfare collectors, it would have cost them nothing.”

Healthcare generally doesn’t cost illegals or those on welfare anything. They don’t get denied. They show up at the ER and get taken care of if they can pay or not. It just raises the cost for all the rest of us.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Notice your reference to the law, not reality. Bastiat fingered deadbeats (like you?) ages ago:

[Gunslingr3]

I notice you still can’t refute the underlying reality, those who don’t pay for what they consume must be paid for by others.

[Jim Noble]

Forced insurance will do that

If you have forced service (EMTALA), then you have to have forced insurance, because the unicorns have all quit.

[Jim Noble]

I write orders for outpatient IV antibiotics multiple times a week. This involves insurance, home care companies, visiting nurses, pharmacies, labs, and sometimes transportation.

For years, I at least tried to figure costs out, but I have given up. Almost all parties to the transaction have “hold harmless” arrangements where “estimated cost” is meaningless. None will provide that information to doctors.

[Jim Noble]

I wonder if an argument could be made, based upon the outcome that the treatment was unnecessary.

Everybody dies. The mortality of Medicare beneficiaries is 100% (eventually).

[Jim Noble]

I got the bill for $6,000 for a shot and a bed pan!

And for a fully staffed and operational facility open on a Sunday evening, required by Federal law to diagnose and stabilize all who walk through the door.

When Congress passed EMTALA in 1986, they neglected to pass a funding source for what have amounted to trillions of dollars of free care.

The $6000 is your share of the system Congress created. These hospitals are not public utilities. The way they keep the lights on and maintain emergency services is spreading the cost over all who are paying bills.

Don't like it? Call your congressman.

This was done, and continues to be done, by the way, to make you demand nationalization. The Uniparty actually can't believe their programs since 1965 haven't already done this - but the good news is that the end of what we have now is very close.