Back in January I wrote about how I’d accepted a settlement offer to pay off an old Medical bill for less than what we really owed (we paid $3,647 and they forgave the remaining balance of the $5,610 debt). So for the past 3 months we’ve been making huge ($1215/month) payments.
The last payment was April 17th. I did a little happy dance, and celebrated with hubs about how the last of his medical bills from his mystery illness (which occurred in the fall/winter of 2013) was finally paid in full. Every time a bill has been paid in full, I always like to reflect back on the item that caused us to go into debt, and to be thankful to move on from having it be a part of our lives. In this case, the “item” that caused us to go into debt was emergency medical care. Hubs was hospitalized off-and-on for a 2 month period (longest stay was 10 days). We traveled around to see specialists, only to come up empty-handed as no one seemed to have any answers. Hubs has long since recovered, but the medical bills continued. We had insurance coverage at the time (thank goodness – as we literally bought his insurance only 3 months prior to the mystery illness’ onset). But even with insurance, we had to pay co-pays and deductibles. Our medical bill originated at $9,000 (read more about it in my first ever debt post, from back in 2014). Moving on past that debt is definitely symbolic in our lives – putting behind us a scary time and moving forward with faith and hope. Like the effort to move forward in hope, brandishing the metaphorical bruises and lessons learned of the whole IRS debt situation. It parallels how I feel about my dad’s current medical situation. The past couple years have had some heavy burdens but I feel hopeful about the future, even with the inherent challenges of moving a parent to a live-in care facility (my dad has FTD and is soon moving to a dedicated memory-care facility).
So I feel hopeful. That’s my underlying feeling these days.
That is….until I just received a phone call from the medical debt collector (referenced in this post). They called and asked how I planned to pay the remaining $1963 balance. You know, that balance I have in writing that would be forgiven as part of the debt settlement agreement? After explaining the settlement situation, I was told that the account would be forwarded to the business department to be straightened out. I pray this was a one-time mishap and not signs of a battle-to-come. I do have the full settlement letter, so hopefully that should be enough to make the problem go away easily. Cross your fingers for me!
Happy Monday!
