If he’s not poor there are laws already on the books about required treatment and the hospital can send him bills for the rest of his life or he can set up a payment plan.
Hospitals don’t usually charge interest so a $20,000 bill can be paid out at $500 a month for 40 months.
I take it you haven’t been in a hospital lately? I was in the hospital this past May for 5 days for gall bladder surgery, basically a nothing. Certainly not life threatening. The bill exceeded $20K.
Many years ago (1995) one of my kids WAS in critical care at our local hospital for 6 weeks. That bill was just under $400K. That was before he was transferred to Johns Hopkins for two months, and another month in a rehab. Talk about medical bills!!! But what’s your kid’s life worth? Every damned dime you will ever earn!